About us

The Team

Alain Werner

Director

Alain is a lawyer registered with the Geneva Bar (CH) and holds an LL.M from Columbia University (New York). He has worked for the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in several trials including the trial in The Hague of the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor.

He also appeared at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav, or “Duch”, before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) in Phnom Penh where he acted as a lawyer for the civil parties (victims of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge). Mr. Werner also represented the victims in the case against former President of Chad, Hissène Habré, in front of the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar, Senegal. Alain Werner also represents Liberian plaintiffs in the first criminal case for war crimes in Switzerland against Alieu Kosiah.

In 2019 he was awarded the”Bâtonnier Michel Halpérin for Excellence” by the Geneva Bar Association.

In November 2020, Mr. Werner was selected as an Ashoka fellow, the world’s biggest network of social entrepreneurs and change leaders. This fellowship is an important recognition of the unique modus operandi of Civitas Maxima, and highlights the innovative method applied by Civitas Maxima and the GJRP.

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Legal

Emmanuelle Marchand

Head of Legal Unit and Senior Legal Counsel

Emmanuelle leads the legal team at Civitas Maxima. Since 2013, she has been working on the organization’s strategic litigation cases and has been conducting investigation on international crimes including conflict related sexual and gender based violence (CRSGBV). She also works on capacity building of Civitas Maxima’s partner organization, the Global Justice and Research Project. As part of CM’s Knowledge and Training pillar, Emmanuelle also provides training to share CM’s know-how on strategic litigation and how to build extraterritorial cases

For more than 12 years she has been working on international cases including at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the African Extraordinary Chambers and war crimes cases at national level. 

In addition, Emmanuelle acts as consultant for the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) and also provides trainings on different aspects of international investigation (including CRSGBV) for both NGOs and UN. She is a Justice Rapid Response rostered expert for International Investigation and SGBV. She graduated with degrees in International Law and Human Rights from the University of Paris II Panthéon Assas (Master) and the University of Aix en Provence (Master).

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Kelsey Guthrie-Jones

Legal Counsel & Capacity Building Coordinator

Kelsey leads and contributes to many of Civitas Maxima’s European and U.S. cases concerning alleged war-time crimes in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in collaboration with GJRP investigators, external legal and investigative partners, and relevant national authorities. She also coordinates CM’s capacity building efforts – primarily with the GJRP – building their legal, investigative, and organizational capacity.

Kelsey is an Australian lawyer (LL.B., Australia/The Hague), with an LL.M. in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (Geneva Academy/Switzerland). Before joining Civitas Maxima in 2018, Kelsey worked for 5 years as a senior legal and policy adviser with the Australian Attorney-General’s Department. She has experience in the investigation and analysis of domestic and international crimes, including on SGBV and historic crimes within the Australian military, as well as at the ICTY.

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Elsa Marguet

Legal Counsel

Elsa contributes to a number of Civitas Maxima’s European cases concerning alleged international crimes in Liberia and Ivory Coast. She also supports Civitas Maxima’s capacity building efforts with GJRP.

Elsa is a French jurist holding a master’s degree in International Public Law from the University of Strasbourg as well as a master’s degree in Human Rights Law and a ‘university degree’ in International Criminal Law from the University of Paris-Nanterre. She worked on international cases at the International Criminal Court and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

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Communications and Outreach

Rebecca-Paris Senior

Communications and Outreach Manager

Rebecca designs and leads Civitas Maxima’s communication strategy, relating to our legal cases and other activities. She is also in charge of the organization’s media presence. In addition, Rebecca develops both national and international Outreach projects, with the help of various media and artistic consultants. She also coordinates with our Liberian partners.

Rebecca is a communication specialist with more than seven years experience in different areas of communication. She specialises in communication for development and digital communications – with a focus on design. She holds a Honours degree in International Relations and Peace and Conflict studies (London Metropolitan University) and a Masters in Communication for Development (Malmö University).

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Irina Saminskaya

Communications Assistant

Irina creates digital content and strategises Civitas Maxima’s social media presence. She also provides translations for the communication department, and assists in outreach projects.

Irina obtained her Masters Degree in Translation and Linguistics in State University for the Humanities (RSUH), Moscow. She then pursued her studies with a Masters in Digital Communications in University of Geneva. 

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Martin Aubert

Communications Assistant

Martin is involved in the translation of the trial monitoring into French and English and is actively contributing to the many projects of the communications department. He also promotes the work of Civitas Maxima on the website and social networks.

Martin studied political science and film. Prior to joining Civitas Maxima, he worked in television. In parallel to his work with us, he works as a parliamentary assistant at federal level.

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Fundraising

Amanda Seilern

Private Fundraising Manager

Born in Geneva and educated there, in America and in the UK, Amanda holds a BA from Oxford University and a postgraduate degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. After working at Sotheby’s London in charge of departmental clients and sales, Amanda was deputy director of a London gallery. 

Since moving back to Geneva in 2009, Amanda has devoted her professional life to brand development, events management and fundraising for a range of enterprises.  In the past couple of years she has devoted her expertise to philanthropy, working for local nonprofit entities including B8 of Hope and Research for Life.  She joined Civitas Maxima in November 2018 where she is responsible for promoting the mission of the organization, enhancing its visibility and developing fund-raising actions.

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Nakil Bieri

Fundraising Coordinator

Nakil coordinates the organization’s institutional fundraising requirements. Besides reporting to existing donors, Nakil researches, identifies and engages in prospective institutional donors. He also contributes to the definition and the implementation of CM’s fundraising policy and strategy.

Nakil has previous experience working as a fundriaser for both private and development sectors. He holds a bachelor in History and Social Anthropology (Fribourg University) and a masters in International History (The Graduate Institute, Geneva).

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Finance and Administration

Jeanette Rouvinez

Finance and Administration Manager

Jeanette manages and coordinates the organization financial and administrative needs. She also closely collaborates with GJRP’s financial officer, building their finance and accounting capacity. She joined the organization in 2014.

Jeanette has worked for both private and non-profit sectors, and has more that 16 years of experience in accounting and finance. Jeanette holds a bachelor’s degree in accountancy (Aquinas University of Legazpi, Philippines).

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Alexandre Flahault

Admin Coordinator

Alexandre coordinates the organization’s administrative needs by providing the team with logistic support.

After having studied philosophy in London and political science in Geneva, Alexandre started a law degree at the University of Geneva in September 2019. 

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