Three attorneys from the New York office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton have succeeded in obtaining asylum for a Sudanese human rights activist. Partners Daniel Brown and Paul Garrity and associate Amanda Zablocki dedicated nearly 170 pro bono hours over the past 15 months to help Abdalmageed Haroun gain sanctuary in the United States after the Sudanese government kidnapped, tortured and threatened to kill him because of his work.
Born in West Darfur, Mr. Haroun, 30, has been working with human rights organizations since 2002, advocating for government transparency, democratic institutions, women’s rights and raising awareness of the conditions of refugees and victims of the conflict in Darfur. A civil war in Sudan has claimed an estimated 2 million lives, according to the U.S. Department of State’s background report on Sudan. Sudan has been condemned for human rights abuses by the United Nations, the European Union and President Barack Obama, while the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir.
