After a successful Gala held in Bern on Saturday, today marks the start of the First Annual IBJ Fellow Summit, being held all week at the Heim Center in Geneva. After gathering the fellows and highlighting the main aims and goals of the Summit, the fellows each gave a presentation on their respective countries, highlighting the main problems faced, visions for the future, and suggestions on how to go about implementing change. While each fellow highlighted different problems, certain themes cut across cultures.

During the presentation, Indian fellow Ajay Verma quoted the Chief Justice of India, who stated that, while victims are the popular focus of criminal lawyers, the accused, many times are the victims themselves. The idea behind this statement is that, because of the highly prevalent rates of torture and coerced confessions in all of the countries the fellows are from, the general presumption that one is innocent until proven guilty falls by the wayside when one is accused. This reality, combined with over-populated prisons, a lack of lawyers willing to take on criminal defense cases, and institutionalized practices of torture in criminal investigations, all fellows seemed to generally agree that there was much room for reform in their respective countries.

While these fellows have only known each other, in most cases, for a very short amount of time, the common bond and vision of change and criminal defense reform certainly was the underlying theme of the day. As each presenter finished their presentations, the other fellows asked directed questions about their colleagues’ legal systems. The questions presented were clear indications that the fellows were intently listening to compare and contrast one another’s legal systems and challenges. What was most interesting about the questions asked was the commonality and understanding that cut across the countries.

While John Bosco Bugingo remarked that criminal defense cases were simply not willing to be taken on by attorneys because of the lack of money in this area of law, the rest of the fellows nodded enthusiastically, indicating that this problem ran across all systems they work in. What was also striking was the day to day difficulties criminal defense lawyers face. Many fellows remarked on the lack of Bar Association funding for pro bono defense cases, along with the apprehension of judges and police officers towards allowing the accused access to criminal defense attorneys.

Despite the difficulties faced, all of the fellows remain hopeful. As Karen Tse remarked at the opening of the day, the underlying theory of IBJ is that individuals can change the world, aided by the power and support of the community . As the fellows come together this week, this power is realized as communities, both global and local, come together in the name of criminal justice.  (The IBJ team - including our six country fellows - is pictured below.)  

That night we met with our partner Pierre. He was nervous about the training. He had seen our training plan and didn’t think it would work. He told us that Burundians are shy, reserved people who would be uncomfortable sharing their values and participating in the other training exercises we had designed. I was also feeling nervous and Mehdi confided that he had felt like taking the next flight back to France.

We all woke up very early the next day, ready to begin. I was feeling like I always did on the morning of a trial: anxious, stressed and vaguely unwell. I wondered if people would show up. What kind of solutions could we offer people who have suffered the kind of social upheaval that Burundi experienced? Would the training address the major needs to overhaul a system in need of much attention and fixing?
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The training was to begin on Tuesday, May 20th and we went to court on Monday to get a glimpse of the legal system to prepare for the session. The courthouse had seen better days. Many of the windows were broken and litter was strewn about. Inside the building people were milling about in the halls lethargically. Only one courtroom was conducting business that morning.Inside the courtroom three judges sat on their dais. Unlike the common law system, in civil systems there are no juries, just a panel of judges who function as fact finders and arbiters.

There weren’t any court reporters, computers or clerks to update the files. The court dockets were stacked in a large pile on the bench. I could tell right away that getting justice in Burundi would be a painstaking, inefficient and labor-intensive process.

The courtroom, which would only be handling civil matters that day, was filled to capacity with citizens who would be appearing before the judges that day. In an American courthouse, you would see lawyers everywhere. In fact, there would be more lawyers than clients waiting in the halls. This was not the case in Burundi. Only two attorneys were present that day, excluding Mehdi and me. We later learned that there are only about 90 lawyers for the entire country. Of these lawyers, only a tiny percentage practice criminal law and all of them are concentrated in the capital of Bujumbura.

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IBJ is happy to welcome John Tawanda Burumbo and Florence Chatira into its growing team in Zimbabwe. John is a young and dynamic Zimbabwean lawyer who has a sound knowledge of Zimbabwean criminal law, demonstrated legal drafting capability and experience in representing clients. He holds a Bachelor of Law B.Juris and a Bachelor of Laws LLB. from the University of Fort Hare, Republic of South Africa. Under the leadership of IBJ Fellow and Country Manager, Innocent Maja, John will build on his experience in criminal defense to provide effective and timely legal representation to disempowered indigents in vindication of their legal rights.

As the project administrator, Florence will develop efficient working structures to facilitate the coordination of the fellows’ work and provide the on-the-ground administrative support needed.

Welcome to both of them!

Thanks to the generosity of the Open Society Justice Initiative, I was able to spend nine days in Manila last December with several colleagues from the Committee of Chinese Clinical Legal Educators. We went there to participate in an international conference on legal education hosted by the Global Alliance for Justice Education.

We arrived late on Friday to the Manila airport. Manila is very beautiful from the air, and we arrived just at sunset. The cab ride to the hotel was the beginning of my Manila education, it took us an hour and ten minutes to travel four and a half miles. The cabbie observed that the “traffic was a little bad tonight.” The next morning we got up and took a tour to a local inactive volcano, Tagaytay. Tagaytay, a volcano on an island in the middle of a small lake, hasn’t erupted for more than 40 years.

Driving to Tagaytay was also an experience. I learned a new word; counterflow. It is a Manila-taxi word, and is used this way in a sentence: (Spoken very casually) “If the traffic is bad, it is okay to counterflow.” Then the cabbie smiles at you. To counterflow means TO CROSS THE CENTER LINE AND DRIVE DIRECTLY INTO FOUR ONCOMING LANES OF TRAFFIC. This was a great surprise to me, and I was determined to remember that word, counterflow.

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IBJ is pleased to announce that Mr. Astère Muyango, a clinical legal aid expert, has been recruited as IBJ’s Burundi Fellow.

Astère holds a Bachelor of Law from the Law University of Burundi. Astère brings more than 5 years of experience in legal assistance and project management to IBJ. His most formative experience was as Assistant Coordinator of the Clinical Legal Aid Project of the International South African-based non-governmental organization ACCORD (African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes), where he delivered capacity-building to grassroots organizations, provided legal counsel to vulnerable groups and managed partnerships with other legal aid providers in the country. Building on his expertise in legal assistance and his strength in NGO management, Astère will provide the on-the-ground leadership to IBJ’s Burundi program. He will contribute to refine the program’s strategic goals, coordinate the main activities of the program and cement strong working relationships with the local partners.Welcome to the IBJ family, Astère!

IBJ is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of a substantial grant from the European Union. The European Union is financing the Cambodia, Burundi and Zimbabwe Criminal Defender Programs for a three-year period starting from December 2008. With that crucial support, IBJ will significantly contribute to the eradication of the practice of torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment against accused persons through the effective access to competent and timely legal representation for these countries’ most vulnerable groups. With the support of the European Union, IBJ will foster an enduring respect for human rights culture in crisis-torn Zimbabwe and post-genocide Cambodia and Burundi where early signs of progress and recovery are challenged by the weak rule of law prevailing on a daily basis.

Under its criminal defenders programs funded by the European Union, IBJ seeks to build the in-country leadership of the national criminal justice movements, strengthen the capacity of criminal defenders, judges, police and prison officials. Furthermore, sparking dialogue and collaboration among them has potential to effectively implement the criminal legislation, improve ordinary people’s awareness of their legal rights and provide effective direct case support to the most vulnerable.

“The European Union is made up of 25 Member States who have decided to gradually link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, during a period of enlargement of 50 years, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders.”

The European Commission is the EU’s executive body.

International Bridges to Justice Founder and CEO Karen Tse made an appearance yesterday on World Radio Geneva, where she discussed IBJ’s efforts to support emerging legal aid organizations in developing nations.

Click here to listen to the broadcast.

Last week, I had an incredible opportunity to tag along with some of my IBJ colleagues and attend the Skoll World Forum at Oxford.

In many ways, I felt like a groupie… celebrating the efforts of extraordinary social entrepreneurs from around the world. I was in heaven. Jimmy Carter. Jeroo Billimoria. Bill Strickland. These were truly the rock stars of sector - their stories made famous by David Bornstein, Bill Drayton, and Jeff Skoll. The awards ceremony did little to diminish the festive, hopeful environment - with the Skoll Foundation naming their latest fellows - Kiva, Digital Divide Data, and Partners in Health among them.

And yet… among the smiles and endorsements, each social entrepreneur seemed to have an incredible intensity - a feeling that their efforts were only scratching the surface. Al Gore had a particularly strong tone when he talked about the mounting climate crisis - suggesting that, perhaps, we didn’t understand the urgency of the situation; being five years late to act could make a huge difference. Paul Farmer shared the sentiment, wrapping up his closing speech by mentioning that, tomorrow he would be “heading back to work in Rwanda.” A social entrepreneur’s job is never done.

Urgency was also a central theme of IBJ founder Karen Tse’s message during the opening plenary. While highlighting her experience working with Cambodian defenders to promote reform after the Khmer Rouge genocide… she was quick to point out the countless number of defenders who yearned for IBJ’s assistance in countries worldwide. She stressed the importance of helping those people ASAP.

As an observer and IBJ employee, I couldn’t help but agreeing with Karen. Having discovered an effective model for criminal justice transformation, we have an *obligation* to bring IBJ’s services to scale. And… at the same time… that’s what’s so challenging about the environment. A global defender support program necessitates the right systems, the right people, and the right ways to measure the impact of our work. But, given the demand for global justice, can we really afford to take our foot off the gas???

The good news is that IBJ realizes these challenges… and we’re crafting strategies that allow us to give more defenders more access to IBJ services, without the bulk and expense of formal country programs. It’s called the Global Defender Support Program… and it blends elements of the multi-stakeholder governance model pioneered the Marine Stewardship Council… with the social networking and collaboration platforms of igenius and Social Edge. The hope is that defenders will be able to share ideas, provide guidance, catalyze criminal justice stakeholders to affect change without the direct involvement of IBJ staff.

Can we ever live up to Karen’s expectations that IBJ will be global overnight? Probably not. Are we glad she pushes us? Absolutely. After all, if someone doesn’t dare to dream the impossible, nothing changes. Jimmy, Jeroo and Bill can attest to that…