The 2008 JusticeMakers Competition may be over but…the global community is just coming to life. This nascent community has been sparked by amazing individuals, coming from all the corners of the globe, from Nepal to Azerbaijan, Benin, Burundi, Swaziland, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Colombia, etc., who have pursued their passion for justice with ambition, generosity and courage.

And yet, knowing the personal tragedies that affected some of their lives, I know they must have been twice as determined, perseverant and bold to achieve what they did. One of them tragically lost his father 7 years ago as a result of his abduction by the security forces of his country. He and his family know lives with the burden of not knowing what exactly happened but they are driven by the strong will to put an end to forced disappearances through community-based initiatives.

While she was taking care of at-risk population far away from home, one of the JusticeMakers sadly lost both her parents during the floods. She was just 17. And yet, she found the courage not to despair and to build her own non-governmental organization to put an end to gender discrimination and help women from her community to emancipate from the deeply rooted man domination.

Despite these hard realities JusticeMakers had to face, they refused to give up the fight. I feel like each one of them is driven by a flame, a flame of hope that gives them the courage to move their project forward and guides them through the dark. To me, this flame’s name is passion.

I remember IBJ’s Founder and CEO explaining that when she decided to be a social entrepreneur, everyone told her how crazy she was. One day a caring voice told her she was absolutely not crazy. Passion guided her then and guides her still. I hope that somehow this little voice encouraging you to intensify your efforts has been and will be JusticeMakers. Because, believe me, you are not crazy. You are outstanding, fighting to write a new page of your local community’s history in which justice and love is the way in which people relate to one another.

One of the JusticeMakers just reminded me today that ” Sharing is caring and caring is love”. He added the following note that touched me: “I feel that of caring and love from your sharing”. To me, this means that strength to stand up against injustices comes from relating with other human beings and feeling part of a caring community. So remember…love is always winning.

Again, let me thank you all for your kind words of encouragement, strength and faith. Wherever you are, in Kenya, Uganda, Pakistan, Nepal or elsewhere. Thank you.

In some parts of the world, police detain individuals awaiting trials for an unspecified amount of time in prison without consideration of bail under a “holding charge.” This is the reality that Nigerian lawyer Henry Nwaka Dunkwu faces on a daily basis.

Henry worked with Bureau of African Labour, Human and Democratic Rights, where he provided legal aid services and conducted workshops on human rights and good governance. He now works primarily with victims of human rights abuses, including inmates in the Nigerian prison system.

As a lawyer, he is well aware of the overcrowded prisons in his country. Henry sites that some prisons in Nigeria has an average of 250% capacity, where many inmates are still awaiting trial. He points to Ikoyi prison in Lagos State where 1,917 of 2,061 inmates are awaiting trial primarily because of the holding charge. For his JusticeMakers competition project proposal, Henry wants to challenge the constitutionality of the holding charge by litigating two key cases. You can read the project in detail by clicking here.

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.

In the fall of 2007, a few of us were sitting around the conference table at the International Bridges to Justice, discussing IBJ’s programs in China, Cambodia and a nascent initiative in Burundi. IBJ Founder and CEO Karen Tse expressed her enthusiasm with the progress to date… but also an urgency to bring IBJ resources to criminal defenders worldwide. Scale, she said, was the key. “How can we connect and empower a global defender community? How can we set up global systems to systematically address defenders’ needs?”

In IBJ’s JusticeMakers Initiative, Karen might have found an answer.

In the four short months since the launch of www.justicemakers.net, IBJ has connected virtually with more than 2,500 unique web visitors from 125 countries worldwide. And while there is certainly a correlation between site visits and the places where IBJ has programs – we’ve had hundreds (!) of visits from places like Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan – places where IBJ has yet to initiate activities. (This, in large part due to fantastic partners like Legal Rights Forum of Pakistan whose JusticeMakers poster is on the wall by my desk.)

But this initiative was about more than eyeballs on the internet. With eight $5,000 funding awards on the line, IBJ asked community members to propose concrete actions they could take to curb torture and legal abuse on a local level. After receiving 64 proposals from JusticeMakers in 28 countries, we have now identified 40 Finalists. Among them…

• A human rights curriculum distributed via DVD to local justice officials.
• The public exhibition of incidents of abuse to encourage pro-bono legal support.
• A text messaging service to aid women in the provision of counsel.

The ideas are creative, cost-effective and critical… and if we had the resources, we’d love to see all of these ideas come to fruition.

And while we don’t have the funds to finance all these projects, we do have a JusticeMakers community with an eagerness to engage and a deep understanding of criminal justice. Through JusticeMakers’ People’s Choice Awards, IBJ is empowering the community by making it collectively responsible for the financial fate of their projects. (According to James Surowiecki’s Wisdom of the Crowds, this diverse, global group of criminal justice stakeholders possesses the collective wisdom to determine project of the highest quality.) A final benefit of the People’s Choice Awards is that the applicants are now helping us grow the community at a rate of 60 new users per day – in an effort to get friends and colleagues to endorse their initiative.  (And thanks to partners like i-genius we’re reaching more and more social entrepreneurs people every day.)

So… a year after Karen challenged IBJ to broaden its reach, we’re now in direct contact with thousands of people worldwide. Twelve months after she prioritized defender engagement, these defenders are evaluating criminal justice innovations from around the world. And 52 weeks after she proposed expanding our impact, IBJ is set to seed eight concrete initiatives to curb torture and legal abuse on four continents.

What’s next? Let’s just say that Karen hasn’t stopped challenging the IBJ team. But based upon the commitment, creativity, and capability of my colleagues and the larger JusticeMakers community… the sky’s the limit.

One of the main challenges of the JusticeMakers competition was to find an innovative way to ameliorate some of the social justice problems that exist in one’s community. For Nepalese applicant Ram Kumar Bhandari, just making sure his primary application submitted was a major feat. Faced with an unexpected faulty internet connection, he drove 200 kilometers from Lamjung to Kathmandu to submit his application. That sense of determination needs a serious shout out on our blog! Ram Kumar Bhandari is from the western hills of Nepal whose father disappeared in 2001 during the decade-long conflict between Maoists and government security forces. His father’s whereabouts have been unknown ever since. Ram is committed to his community and is involved in local radio, promoting social volunteerism, and advocating for justice on the local level.

After graduating, Ram has been dedicating his time as a coordinator at the Committee for Social Justice (CSJ), an organization that works with families from Lamjung whose loved ones who have also gone missing during the conflict and have little means of obtaining information about them.

Ram’s proposal is an extension of his efforts with CSJ. He hopes to promote community awareness among stakeholders in the justice system — detainees, police force, local leaders, with trainings and awareness campaigns that address the lack of understanding for the justice system. You can read his proposal in detail here.

We recognize that some of the everyday challenges a JusticeMaker can face is just having access — to a computer, the telephone or even the post — something that is easy for many of us reading this (on the Internet) to take for granted. It’s a testament to Ram’s commitment to working for social change and demonstrates the tenacity required in spearheading a movement.

As we approach the term of the inaugural JusticeMakers Competition, I would like to reflect upon my experience with the JusticeMakers community members, the variety of challenges we both encountered and ways to streamline the competition process in the future.First of all, I would like to highlight how friendly, dedicated and passionate the hundreds of JusticeMakers I have been exchanging with virtually have been so far. The encouragement, support and energy we received from Vikram Srivastava and Rakesh Mathur from India, Tahir from LRF Pakistan, Olivier from Burundi, ASPDDH from Benin, Emmie Chanika from CILIC Malawi, Franck from DRC, Bandita from Nepal (see below right), Joseyav from DRC (see below left) among so many other generous individuals or organizations gave us the continuous strength to move forward in the face of a variety of challenges.

The feeling of being part of this global community of committed lawyers, NGO officers, judges, government officials and so many others from all over the world is thrilling. Thank you all.

From my point of view, one of the greatest promises of JusticeMakers lays properly in its capacity to gather committed, entrepreneurial and innovative human rights defenders and its ability to make them all feel like member of a global movement in favor of criminal justice in countries as different as Pakistan, Kenya and Brazil. To my mind, this feeling of belonging to a community that JusticeMakers has been able to spark off will further get transformed into an energy of action and innovation to concretely improve the lives of the thousands of accused persons whose dignity and rights are challenged on an everyday basis.

I have noticed that IBJ Founder and CEO Karen Tse always comes back from her trips with the strong conviction that criminal defense lawyers and other key actors of the criminal justice system lack confidence. They lack confidence in how much change they can bring in their criminal justice system. They feel extremely lonely in the face of this monumental mission - to eradicate torture and other cruel and inhumane treatments around the world. The Burundian and Indian trainees in particular told us how much it meant for them to be and feel part of a global community of defenders this summer. JusticeMakers is an answer to this search for the meaningfulness of collective belonging and action.

Of course, the challenges to build a functional and lively online community are numerous and require a lot of patience, energy and determination. One of the first barriers is purely technical: we acknowledge that the internet access is not available worldwide and that in some part of the worlds, it may be costly and/or irregular. However, technology now provides us with the unique opportunity to maintain a lively group dialogue. We should nonetheless think through a tangible strategy about how to reach some of the most remote part of the world where vulnerable people (often children and women) are the most likely to have their legal rights violated.

Maybe the JusticeMakers team could select one JusticeMakers Ambassador per country responsible for organizing JusticeMakers Roundtable Meetings/Parties (thank you Tupperware for this brilliant idea!) on a monthly-basis in remote villages of their country to keep their community members informed about what’s happening on JusticeMakers.net and then report back to the JusticeMakers community about their suggestions, comments and project ideas?

Maybe the JusticeMakers Team should create one or two “Most Active JusticeMakers Award” to urge the user to engage with other community members, whether on the forum or using the guestbook and to build a constructive and fruitful dialogue on contemporary criminal justice issues.

Maybe, and this is more ambitious, some funds should be secured and allocated on an annual basis to equip the most remote provinces of a country with computers and internet access for the relevant criminal justice system actors of these areas to be part of the online community?

These are just ideas and I would be happy if you, whether you are a JusticeMakers community member or a simple reader could provide me with your insights at: fanny@justicemakers.net

Thanks for keeping the promise of JusticeMakers alive.

I spent several days reviewing the JusticeMakers applications and was struck by the dedication and courage of the applicants. As a public defender for 22 years, I understand how frustrating it is to stand up for justice at the side of an accused person. Although each of us has our unique experiences working in individual systems, there are universal themes that resonate beyond country borders and criminal justice systems.These themes revolve around protecting the fundamental rights of people everywhere. The right to representation by a qualified attorney or advocate is fundamental. The realization that the presumption of innocence is more than words in a law book requires constant vigilance. Each of us must work to preserve the integrity and dignity of the accused. To achieve real change takes concrete bold steps.

The proposals were examples of the individual commitment to taking those bold steps. For instance, Rommel Alim Abitria’s “Paralegal Coordinator Project” in the Philippines is one of many projects speaking to the need to move cases through the system to avoid indeterminate pretrial delay. Focusing on the Mandaluyong City Jail, Rommels hopes to organize a group of paralegal volunteers to provide inmates with legal defense resources and access to the court system instead of languishing in prison.

Other projects, like the proposal submitted by Chimwemwe Tasauka Ndalahoma in Malawi, recognizes the vulnerability of the incarcerated to physical and psychological mistreatment at the time of interrogation and proposed interventions. Chimewemwe hopes to uphold the rights of the accused and to prevent abuse and ill-treatment by raising awareness among law enforcement officials and health professionals.

Many of the applicants see the prevention of violence in overcrowded jail settings and the failure to segregate men from women in detention centers as a priority along the road to justice. Franck Kamunga Cibangu’s project in the Democratic Republic of Congo addresses the abuse of women in prison and proposes to establish a legal clinic for women in the city of Kinshasa.

This is only a brief glimpse among 64 inspiring plans for justice within some of the most fragile legal systems around the world. The rest can be viewed here.

Understanding that people committed to justice are facing similar struggles affirmed my belief that together we will be more equipped and more able to create meaningful change. Sharing ideas and relying upon each others’ expertise empowers all of us to move our systems forward.

JusticeMakers is a step towards developing a network of criminal justice defenders. Through this team effort we begin to raise each others’ awareness of the compelling needs we face each day as defenders, judges, police, prosecutors, civil society and government. The work that you have already done, in your application, is part of a larger movement that includes the work of International Bridges to Justice. IBJ is committed to advancing the development of fair, just, humane criminal justice systems. Your passion for the same cause is the starting point for an on-going collaboration with IBJ. Together we will make a difference in the lives of ordinary citizens who find themselves accused of a crime.

As we are about half way to the end of the JusticeMakers application window (August 14, 2008), International Bridges to Justice wanted to pay tribute to a variety of generous non-profit and legal communities whose goodwill and commitment has been and is still key to realize the promise of JusticeMakers.

The following organizations have stand up among others to say “no” to torture and illegal and arbitrary detainment in developing and transitional countries. An act of generosity, an act of solidarity and an act of strength.

1-Focus International
While partnering with JusticeMakers, 1-Focus International emphasizes its deep faith that collaborative innovation is key for synergistic solutions to bring to life a vision. I would like to truly thank Ms. Sandy Weiner, a coach at 1-Focus International, for her continuous excitement for JusticeMakers, her availability and for sharing great project ideas.

Here is what 1-Focus published on their site:

African Democracy Forum
Through its support to JusticeMakers, the African Democracy Forum re-emphasizes its leading position as a committed and dedicated advocate for the promotion of human rights and advancement the rule of law in Africa. Many thanks to the African Democracy Forum for sharing our passion and working actively and with dedication to promote JusticeMakers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Asian Philanthropy Forum
While partnering with JusticeMakers, the Asian Philanthropy Forum reinforces its conviction that sharing intellectual capital, experiences and best practices is key to for systemic changes to take place in Asia but not only. Thank you Mr. Yuen for your kind words, encouragement and support.

CILIC
Through its support to JusticeMakers, the Civil Liberties Committee, a Malawian Human Rights NGO which started as a result of the collaboration of some bold Malawian lawyers, re-emphasizes the need for protecting, monitoring and promoting legal rights through advocacy, legal counsel and research. Thank you Ms. Emmie Chanika for your time, dedication and great support to JusticeMakers.

CIVICUS
While helping promote JusticeMakers, CIVICUS renews its noble conviction that citizens have a critical role to play in the building of a more equitable and fair society where human rights are upheld. JusticeMakers help profile CIVICUS as a non-profit organization deeply dedicated to the progress of civil liberties in some of the most challenging legal contexts. A special thanks to Mr. Eric Muragana for his continuous availability, commitment and solidarity.

Columbia Law School
While partnering with JusticeMakers, the Centre for Public Interest Law of Columbia reinforces its international position and recognition as a leading center of legal scholarship with a deep commitment to teaching and professional training. Many many thanks to Ms. Akua Akeya, the acting director of the Centre for Public Interest Law of Columbia, for her support, dedication and availability.

CUNY School of Law
Through its support to JusticeMakers, CUNY School of Law reemphasizes its belief that systemic social change can be achieved through the promotion of criminal law in developing and transitional countries. I would like to thank Ms. Michelle J. Anderson for her commitment, dedication and belief in JusticeMakers cause.

Echoing Green
While partnering with JusticeMakers, Echoing Green reinforces its profile as a major global actor of systemic social change. Together with JusticeMakers, Echoing Green brings criminal justice visions to reality. I would like to thank Ms. Lara Galinsky for her kind words, her faith in our cause and her true support.

GlobalGiving
While helping promote JusticeMakers, GlobalGiving´s work to connect dedicated, entrepreneurial and bold innovators with their pairs is stressed. GlobalGiving help synergistic solutions to bring to life project ideas with long-term sustainable impact. Thank you so much Ms. Joan Ochi for your enthusiastic support and commitment to JusticeMakers cause.

i-genius
While partnering with JusticeMakers, i-genius strengthens its leading position as an organization working to stimulate fresh thinking and brilliant ideas, to inspire new social entrepreneurs and to connect them with peers for social change to take place. I would like to thank i-genius CEO Mr. Tommy Hutchinson for his commitment and meaningful support.

Public Interest Law Institute (PILI)
Through its support to JusticeMakers, the Public Interest Law Institute (PILI) renews its commitment to advance human rights around the world by stimulating public interest advocacy. With JusticeMakers, PILI´s belief that the use of law is key to promote a peaceful and fair society is highlighted. Many thanks to Mr. David Caughlin and Ms. Christine Schmidt for their time, consideration and support.

Social Edge
Through its support to JusticeMakers, Social Edge strengthens its profile as a global leader in connecting and networking inspired and bold social entrepreneurs for social change to take place. A special thanks to Mr. Victor D’Allant for is excitement, goodwill and critical help.

WOUGNET
While helping to promote JusticeMakers, the Women of Uganda Network renews its dedication to make information and communication technologies a strong tool of social, legal, political and economic change. Many thanks to Dorothy Okello for her time, support and goodwill.

Please check out our JusticeMakers partners page to learn more about the commitment of our generous partner to systemic social change.

Finally, a special thanks to:

• Scott, a New York criminal defence lawyer and editor of the great Simple Justice blog (http://blog.simplejustice.us/)
• Lieutenant Raymond Foster for his kind support to JusticeMakers through the website Hi-Tech Criminal Justice Online (http://www.hitechcj.com/) which I invite you to consult.
• All the individuals who support us to speak out against the unspeakable.

From the bottom of our heart, thank you.

After months of anticipation, folks at International Bridges to Justice are starting to see some remarkable ideas, experiences, and commentary from the JusticeMakers community. Here are a couple examples to whet your palette for criminal justice innovation…

1. Legal Aid clinic on Women Abuse and Arbitrary Detention Monitoring has been proposed by Colgolese JusticeMaker Franck and his organization The African Democracy Forum. In short, he proposes:

There is in the D R Congo a common practice of abuse on women and arbitrary detention by the national police aggravated by ignorance and impunity.This project intends to reinforce our legal clinic on women abuse and arbitrary detention by the National police in Kinshasa.

Franck later expanded on challenges within the African Penal system in his posting within the french language criminal justice forum.

2. Justice for All has been proposed by Vikram, a JusticeMaker who has been working with marginalized communities throughout Delhi NCR (National Capital Region), Uttar Pradesh and around India for the past eight years.

The project would advocate towards rectification within the Criminal Justice System / policy / law and also work towards ensuring right to human dignity for above community. The approach will be holistic and by enagaging with various stakeholders… culminating in demand for revamping the System which is Criminal for both its practitioners and clients and cannot deliver Justice.

Vikram also shared his thoughts on Indian criminal justice reform in the JusticeMakers Forum.

Other folks are sharing their own experiences in remarkable detail. Here are a few snippets that we found particularly fascinating.

• In his own guestbook, a Greek JusticeMakers named Alexis.. (with the two periods at the end) shared six ideas against the torture of prisoners.
• Raymund_Narag_JusticeMake shared his own experience as a wrongfully convicted prisoner in the Philippines.
• Junior01, a JusticeMaker from Liberia, talks about his experiences building peace in the wake of the Liberian civil war.

As members of the JusticeMakers community continue to share their insights and ideas, the IBJ team will try and feature them regularly on this blog… and on our homepage. If you’re an applicant and you’d like your project featured… please send us an request at info@justicemakers.net.

In an effort to enhance the credibility and quality of the JusticeMakers competition, the JM team posed several questions at our last weekly meeting, with issues of applicant motivation, analytical statistics and sustainability highlighting just a few. One question seemed to stand out in particular and it went around the room rather cautiously - “Would you apply?”

While some non- legal enthusiasts remained silent, I found myself abruptly replying, “Yes! definitely.”

My rationale was clear. For most JD candidates in the United States, the reality is that summers are usually filled with lists of Corporate opportunities, and some occasional academic ones. For others like me, a graduate student concentrating in international law, human rights and transitional justice at Columbia University School of International Affairs, the usual outlet for internships are advocacy-oriented NGOs or the United Nations. But IBJ has presented new opportunities.

In fact, upon hearing of International Bridges to Justice, I did not hesitate to apply in early Spring. Instead, I withdrew my applications at other places, and turned down opportunities at the UN and the Clinton Foundation to work on issues that I really care about. I was excited by the opportunity to work for a non profit that was legal oriented and rooted in criminal justice reform.

As for JusticeMakers, if presented with an opportunity like this at Columbia, I would whole-heartedly apply, as it would ideally prepare me with a foundation to pursue the fieldwork I have been looking for. After a fair number of conversations with my colleagues in graduate school, it is clear that they would as well. Why?

1. There just aren’t many opportunities to pursue a project in public interest law, where one can dictate the terms of his/her work and really focus on their passions, be it women, children, human rights, advocacy or basic rule of law procedure.

2. JusticeMakers is an opportunity to engage with stakeholders within their respective societies and create sustainability within developing states. Much of the transitional justice dialogue has focused on the lack of these efforts and the need to fill in essential gaps between de facto and de jure realities.

Does one need to be an absolute expert in the law to attain a JusticeMakers award?

No. He or she just has to have interest and sufficient knowledge in the system, the cultural realities and the basic problems within a given country. With the help of legal mentors, justice experts and academic scholars, the winners will gain the necessary skill set to produce long-lasting, effective change, alleviate human rights abuses and partake in achieving due process.

I hope graduate students will run with this opportunity and apply. Successful development, after all, rests on the establishment of rule of law. Without efforts of organizations like IBJ, opportunities like JusticeMakers, and committed individuals that spur change, governments will continue to ignore the basic tenets of the responsibility to protect, an integral theme of current international dialogue on sovereignty.