When Mehdi first arrived I was not aware of the extent of his qualifications, I was just relieved that he spoke French. His first meeting with IBJ confirmed his commitment to see the project through to the end. He would eventually help design the training, prepare the training materials, and be the primary trainer, all pro bono. We got down to work and began to brainstorm on how to design a cross-cultural four day training that would speak to the needs of the various participants with whom we would be working. We held a series of work sessions over the next three months.

Practically speaking, we didn’t know what to expect. Neither Mehdi nor I had been to Burundi. Even though Mehdi was familiar with the framework for their antiquated French Civil Procedure Codes, we didn’t know what the actual practice of law would be like.

Karen’s experiences working in China, Cambodia and Vietnam suggested that the starting point for rebuilding and healing was to get people to engage in identifying the values that motivated them to enter their professions in the first place. Taking it beyond a basis of fundamental skill building, our training would start with each group identifying the highest values they associated with their profession. As we planned, we decided that it was critical that the various groups articulate their hopes and dreams for their system. We also prioritized creating exercises that would sensitize the participants to the particular difficulties and each other’s perspectives. Finally, to get people to come for all four days we had to include a measure of humility well integrated with lots of humor and fun. If, at the very least, we could help create feelings of respect and trust among the group, we would have achieved a lot.

Then, the week before our trip, we experienced a minor catastrophe. Mehdi wasn’t going to be able to get a visa for the Rwanda portion of the trip because the French had severed their diplomatic relations with Rwanda. I had already left for Burundi to handle the pre-training logistics when I heard the news. To my relief, I learned that Mehdi was tenacious. He parked himself in the visa office and managed to get the visa issued two hours before closing time on Friday. On Sunday he boarded his flight to Bujumbura.

IBJ had already formed a strong partnership in Burundi with a local NGO, APRODH, the Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons. The organization was founded by Mr. Pierre Mbonimpa, known throughout Burundi for his unwavering dedication to the protection of the rights of prisoners in his country. A former prisoner and victim of torture himself, Mr Mbonimpa had fearlessly campaigned against state-sanctioned torture in his strife torn country for over a decade. Despite laws prohibiting torture and other human rights violations, such abuses were still rampant in the country’s overcrowded prisons.

In 2006, IBJ began working together with Pierre Mbonimpa to strengthen Burundi’s criminal justice system. We initiated a rights awareness campaign with the distribution of a poster in Kirundi, the tribal language of the country, illustrating fundamental rights of the accused to be free from torture and to have access to an attorney. The poster campaign was almost too successful. 10,000 posters were printed, but after distributing 7,000 of the posters, APRODH stopped the distribution because they were inundated with many more requests for help than they could handle. It was time to take the next step and build a viable legal system, capable of providing basic legal representation to the thousands of ordinary prisoners waiting for representation and access to a courtroom.

Preparing an in-country training requires understanding of the culture, history and the legal system of a country. I knew the history of the Rwanda genocide, but Burundi’s history had not been as well-documented. A crash course in Burundi history made me realize that this training was going to be much more than just a legal training. IBJ was taking on the much bigger challenge of attempting to work within a legal system virtually collapsed from years of war.

In modern adversarial courtrooms the rules of engagement are clearly defined and chivalrous. But in a post-conflict country the adversarial lines in the courtroom could reflect the history of mistrust and violence. Our main challenge was in designing a training program that would harmoniously bring adversaries in the Burundi criminal justice system together and give them advice on how to reform their system and heal their countries’ open wounds.

To further complicate things, my entire body of experience was within an English speaking, common law system, while the Burundi legal system was a Francophone civil law system. Our final hurdle was working with our small grant from the UN Against Torture that just about covered the travel costs to Geneva, but no more. So the first obvious priority was to find a French-speaking attorney interested in volunteering to work with IBJ.

I knew no French attorneys, had no budget to hire a French trainer, and spoke no French, but saying no to this challenge was not an option. So I forged ahead.

Rwanda and Burundi are inextricably bound by ethnicity and a shared history of colonialism. Violence in those countries escalated into genocidal civil wars that ravaged the societies, their governments and their legal systems. Hutus are the majority population in both countries. Historically, the Tutsi have held the minority and ruling power. Originally a monarchy, by the turn of the 20th century the European colonial powers were gobbling up these two countries as a part of their African land grabs. At the close of the 19th century Germany annexed both independent Kingdoms along with Tanzania. This area, known as the Great Lakes region of Africa, was renamed German East Africa. During the First World War, Belgium conquered the area from its vantage point in the Belgian Congo. With the German defeat at the end of World War I, the area then became known as the Belgian Occupied East African Territories. The League of Nations officially granted Belgium control over the occupied lands in 1924 and the area was named Ruanda-Urundi. With the demise of the League of Nations in 1945, the countries became a United Nations trust territory with the goal that they would transition towards independent rule. That independence did not actually happen until July 1, 1962.

During Belgian’s rule, their strategy of governance was to control the two predominant groups through a policy of ethnic divisiveness. The Belgians introduced identity cards that required the ethnic identification of either Hutu or Tutsi. To further control the population, the much more populace Hutu were subordinated to the dominion of the Tutsi minority through Tutsi preferences for advanced education, jobs and employment. The Tutsi were also in control of the military. When independence was finally proclaimed the two countries of Rwanda and Burundi were recognized, neither country was prepared for governance.

Burundi began a thirty-year reign of Tutsi military dictators. The seeds for ethnic tension, sown by the Belgians, grew into years of ethnic violence. In 1972, 1988, and 1993 the Tutsi controlled government engaged in campaigns of ethnic cleansing against Hutu civilians. The first campaign resulted in the death of 500,000 Hutu. Democratic elections in 1993 resulted in the victory of a Hutu dominated party, the Front for Democracy in Burundi. The democratically elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye was assassinated with months of the election and a new round of genocidal killings of Hutu ensued.

Rwanda’s history ran a parallel course, but on a reverse route. At the time of independence it was the majority Hutu population that gained control of the government. A series of ethnic cleansings by the Hutu against the Tutsi erupted at similar intervals to the Burundi unrest. In 1963 an anti-Tutsi backlash by the Hutu government resulted in the killing of 14,000. With each wave of violence in Burundi, Hutu refugees fled into neighboring Rwanda. Meanwhile Rwanda refugees were forming guerilla movements from the safety of Uganda. These Tutsi guerillas founded a military band, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, dedicated to returning to Rwanda and claiming the country back from the Hutu. By 1993 a cease fire was signed between the Hutu government and the Tutsi RPF rebels. The cease fire - known as the Arusha accords- called for a power sharing between the Hutu and Tutsis. With the eruption into Civil War of Burundi, the tentative Arusha cease fire crumbled. On April 6, 1994 the two Hutu presidents of Burundi and Rwanda were assassinated together when their plane was shot down. This incident sparked the internecine genocidal killing that resulted in the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates in four months. The genocidal killing caught the attention of a world that watched in disbelief but failed to stop the killing. The Tutsi guerillas finally took control back and set in motion a Diaspora of Hutu who fled to neighboring countries to avoid punishment for their genocide.

Since that time, despite substantial international assistance and political reforms, Rwanda continued to struggle to foster growth and reconciliation. Part of this is due to the fact that Rwandan stability is undoubtedly dependent upon stability in Burundi, and instability had reigned in Burundi until 2003 when a cease fire was negotiated and a period of relative peace occurred.

I say relative peace because our training program was almost cancelled when a rebel group located just outside the Burundi capital of Bujumbura began shelling the city two weeks before our scheduled departure. By the time we arrived in Bujumbura on May 15, 2008 the shelling had stopped and the city was once again enjoying a period of relative calm. I hoped it would last.

In January of this year I had the good fortune to travel to Geneva, Switzerland on behalf of the Mansfield Center at The University of Montana to meet with Karen Tse, the CEO and founder of International Bridges to Justice (IBJ). Karen is a graduate of UCLA Law School and Harvard Divinity School, a former public defender, and the 2008 recipient of the ABA’s International Human Rights Award. We reached an agreement with IBJ to assist in developing criminal defense clinics in law schools in China. Clinical legal education is still new to China, and criminal defense clinics are even newer. Our current project has 8 participating Chinese law schools, and we will expand the project to 16 schools by the middle of next year. The project is being conducted in conjunction with the Chinese Committee on Clinical Legal Education, the umbrella organization for clinical education in China. Over the next few months, I will describe some of the problems and challenges to legal reform in China, and to the best of my ability give you my perspective on what it’s like for a practitioner from Montana to be participating in that reform.

There are many NGOs that have helped to bring attention to human rights violations around the world. Some of the attention has been productive in helping institute change, some of the attention has hardened government positions. IBJ has a different approach to ending human rights abuses. Karen’s idea to change the world is simple; “Let’s stop complaining and get to work.” IBJ’s mission is:

“In recognition of the fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) is dedicated to protecting the basic legal rights of ordinary citizens in developing countries. Specifically, IBJ works to guarantee all citizens the right to competent legal representation, the right to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment, and the right to a fair trial.”

To carry out this mission, IBJ works with the criminal justice systems of many countries to assist them with implementing the country’s own laws. Currently IBJ has projects in China, India, Vietnam, Burundi, Cambodia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. They are careful not to engage in political activities in its host countries, instead, the focus is to offer training and assistance to those attorneys representing the indigent in criminal cases. IBJ’s vision is that effective defense counsel for the poor is a powerful tool to help end torture and to enhance the rule of law. IBJ’s activities are intensely practical, with training and technical assistance offered on basic and universal criminal defense advocacy skills, tailored to the legal system of each country in which it operates. Rather than criticizing governments, IBJ focuses on helping attorneys that are doing the day to day criminal defense work for the poor around the world.

IBJ first came to China in 2001, and since then has worked with a number of Chinese government agencies, universities and lawyers organizations. IBJ’s idea is to foster reform at the grassroots level by training lawyers and law students in advocacy skills, and to foster reform at the national level by working with policy makers.

China faces many obstacles to implementing criminal justice reform. First among those obstacles is the size of the country. China is home to more than 1.3 billion people, but has fewer than 150,000 lawyers. Their present legal system is 30 years old, and is continuing to evolve. China does provide the right to counsel, but only for certain types of cases: death penalty offenses, juvenile crime, and cases in which the accused is blind, deaf, or mute. All other cases only receive counsel if the court decides to make a discretionary appointment, and if there is an attorney available.

Even if an attorney is appointed, it is an uphill battle to obtain justice for the client. There are three distinct phases of a criminal prosecution in China: the investigation stage (in which the police have control of the case), the prosecution stage (in which the prosecutor has control of the case), and the trial stage. Attorneys are most frequently appointed only at the trial stage, often just a few days before the trial begins. There are about 5000 full time legal aid attorneys, not nearly enough to represent all those charged with crimes. If the case is sent to a private attorney, the amount paid to the attorney may not cover the actual costs the attorney will incur. If the attorney becomes too aggressive in investigating the case, there is a distinct possibility the attorney may be prosecuted for interfering with the case. When the case goes to trial, witnesses will rarely appear, there are no rules of evidence that apply and only a very general statutory authority defining what evidence is allowable. Although the number of attorneys in China is increasing, the percentage of indigent defendants that receive legal representation appears to be decreasing. The most recent statistics available (reliable statistics about Chinese criminal justice information are difficult to obtain) indicate that only slightly more than 9% of those accused of a crime receive counsel.

On the other hand, China has come a very long way with its criminal justice system in just a very short period of time. In only 12 years, China has established over 3200 legal aid centers to help the poor with their legal issues. These centers offer free legal assistance in a variety of cases including civil law, administrative law, and criminal cases. China recently amended its Lawyers Law, giving attorneys expanded access to clients in custody. Many academics, lawyers, and jurists, are committed to continuing reform of their criminal justice system. As reform takes place in China, however, it will be at China’s pace and according to Chinese ideas of justice.

IBJ is one of many groups working to advance the rule of law throughout the world, and is interested in building a network of attorneys committed to the rule of law. The organization offers many opportunities for lawyers to participate as volunteers in their reform work, and can be contacted through their website at www.ibj.org.

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.

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.

Click here to listen to the broadcast.

During one of the interactive sessions, Attorney Mu inspired the assembled training participants with her recent zealous defense of a 15 year old boy. Impoverished, the boy’s family was unable send him to school. To pass the time, the boy began aimlessly playing games at internet cafés. One day, the boy had no money to play and impulsively took a cell phone belonging to another teenager in the café. Subsequently, he was caught running out of the café and detained for many months until trial. During his entire incarceration, his parents never once visited him, leaving the boy feeling depressed and hopeless.

Deeply committed, Attorney Mu visited the boy at the detention center many times. Through this, she learned much about the boy’s life, including how remorseful he was for his conduct. Thereafter, Attorney Mu met with the boy’s parents and persuaded them to talk with their son and provide better support. Because of Attorney Mu’s efforts, the parents began visiting the boy. Ultima-tely, Attorney Mu convinced the court that a non-jail sentence was a just outcome, since the boy now had proper parental support. Attorney Mu’s perse-verance is a prime example of why zealous defense work is so critical. Without her help, the boy likely would have received a long jail sentence.

Over the past month, I have learned a great deal about the needs of China’s juvenile justice system. Although by law juveniles are entitled to legal aid, many go through the criminal process without ever seeing a lawyer. Those who do receive appointment of counsel frequently receive substandard legal representation. Often, defense lawyers are appointed to juvenile cases just a few days before trial, preventing them from visiting their clients, asserting their legal rights or presenting any meaningful defense at trial. As a result, the vast majority of juvenile suspects are detained for many months before trial; almost all are convicted and frequently receive jail sentences, even for petty crimes.

Many of the Chinese lawyers I have met are dedicated passionately to the reform of the juvenile justice system, yet lack the skills necessary to bring about meaningful change. I have learned of the need for China’s lawyers to gain practical trial skills and how great a need there is for the international community to help provide that training. China’s juvenile defenders are interested in working on skills such as how to interview juvenile clients, learning about adolescent development and achieving alternatives to incarceration for their juvenile clients. Over the next three months, I am working with IBJ and their Chinese partners to develop a comprehensive juvenile defense manual, a practical guide that will instruct lawyers on best practices for defending accused juveniles.

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.