Formation | 2011 |
---|---|
Founder | Eric Volz |
Purpose | international crisis resource |
Location |
The David House Agency is a Los Angeles-based international crisis resource agency [1] that helps international travelers facing wrongful imprisonment and other complex legal and political situations abroad. [2] [3] [4]
The David House Agency was founded in 2011 by Eric Volz after his own experience of wrongful detainment in Nicaragua. In an article about the agency, The New York Times describes it as "a hybrid of international detective work, legal research, political analysis, and diplomatic lobbying." [1] The agency works on all aspects of international detainment cases, including case management, hiring and managing of local counsel, fundraising guidance, strategic communications, private diplomacy and lobbying, and aftercare measures. [5]
The agency has been at the center of many high-profile cases overseas. Most recently, the David House Agency worked on the wrongful conviction case of Matthew and Grace Huang, a Los Angeles couple erroneously accused of starving their 8-year-old adopted daughter to death in Qatar in January 2013. [6] Their conviction was overturned in December 2014, ending a two-year legal saga and lift of a travel ban—enabling the couple to leave Qatar and reunite with their two sons in the US.
The agency also aided Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a 28-year-old former U.S. Marine convicted of spying for the CIA in Iran, [7] Jason Puracal, an American who was wrongfully imprisoned in Nicaragua on charges of international drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime, [8] and the three American hikers taken into custody and accused of spying by Iranian border guards while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan. [9]
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
Evin Prison is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for the housing of Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "Evin University" due to the high number of students and intellectuals detained there. Evin Prison has been accused of committing "serious human rights abuses" against its political dissidents and critics of the government.
A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation.
David Harold Eastman is a former public servant from Canberra, Australia. In 1995, he was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. A 2014 judicial inquiry recommended the sentence be quashed and he should be pardoned. On 22 August of the same year, the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory quashed the conviction, released Eastman from prison, and ordered a retrial.
James Risen is an American journalist for The Intercept. He previously worked for The New York Times and before that for Los Angeles Times. He has written or co-written many articles concerning U.S. government activities and is the author or co-author of two books about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a book about the American public debate about abortion. Risen is a Pulitzer Prize winner.
Eric Volz is an American entrepreneur, author, and the managing director of The David House Agency, an international crisis resource agency based in Los Angeles. The New York Times recognized Volz as a highly sought crisis manager. He specializes in strategy for international show trials and other complex political and legal situations abroad.
On July 31, 2009, three Americans, Joshua Fattal, Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer were taken into custody by Iranian border guards for crossing into Iran while hiking near the Iranian border in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Jason Puracal is an American who was wrongly sentenced to serve 22 years in prison in Nicaragua on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime. Puracal's case went before the Appeals Court on August 16, 2012, nearly one year after his original conviction. On September 12, 2012, he was acquitted of all charges by the Appeals Court.
Radha Stirling is a human rights advocate, and lawyer, specializing in legal issues in the Middle East. She is the founder of the United Kingdom-based organisations Detained in Dubai, Due Process International and IPEX Reform.
Matthew and Grace Huang are an American couple who were convicted by the judicial system of Qatar in March 2014 of neglecting their daughter, thus leading to her death. However, on November 30, 2014, the Appellate Court of Qatar declared the Huangs innocent, and three days later lifted the travel ban allowing them to return home and be reunited with their sons.
Jason Rezaian is an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post. He was convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in Iran in 2015.
Ricky Jackson, Ronnie Bridgeman and Wiley Bridgeman are African Americans who were wrongfully convicted of murder as young men in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975 and sentenced to death. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1977. They were imprisoned for decades before each of the three was exonerated in late 2014. Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman were released that year.
Paul Nicholas Whelan is a Canadian-born former United States Marine with U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship. Whelan left the Marines in 2008 with a bad conduct discharge after being convicted on multiple counts "related to larceny".
Siamak Namazi is an Iranian-American businessman. He had been detained in Evin Prison in Iran from October 13, 2015, until his release.
Morad Tahbaz is an Iranian-American businessman and conservationist. He was born in London and holds British citizenship. Tahbaz is a co-founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF). In January 2018, Iranian authorities arrested Tahbaz along with eight other PWHF-affiliated individuals.
Matthew John Heath is an honorably discharged U.S. Marine Corps veteran, security consultant, and commentator. He took part in the early battles of the Iraq War and was highly decorated for actions taken in the Battle of Nasiriyah. Heath specialized in communication and signals intelligence. After leaving the military in 2004, he began work as a security consultant for the U.S. Govt. On September 9, 2020, Heath was arrested by the government of Venezuela and subsequently charged with offenses related to treason, terrorism and arms trafficking. Following his arrest, his family engaged in a public advocacy campaign in order to secure his release from Venezuela.
Kai Li is an American businessman who has been detained in China since 2016. The United States government considers Li to be wrongfully detained under the Levinson Act. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Li's detention to be arbitrary.
Evan Gershkovich is an American journalist and reporter at The Wall Street Journal covering Russia.