Robert Kibaya used his JusticeMakers grant to establish a justice awareness project in his rural community of Kikwanda, Uganda. There are three objectives of Robert’s project – the first is educating people about their rights, the second is enabling them to have somewhere to report their injustices; and the third is monitoring the criminal justice system, ensuring that the proper procedures are being followed.

Members of the Community Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee taking notes during a training. Photos are by John Semakula, edited by Jennifer Westmorland.

A group of 10 individuals were selected and trained to become a criminal justice committee. The committee has been monitoring and scrutinising criminal justice practices in Kikwanda in order to bridge the gap between those working in the justice system and members of the community. To some extent, there has been damage and loss of faith in the criminal justice system of Uganda. Before Robert’s JusticeMakers project, those suffering from human rights violations did not have anywhere they could report their injustices to.

Volunteer lawyer Vincent Katuba (left) with members of the criminal justice monitoring committee. The committees consisted of a diverse membership - both men and women, and a range of age groups.

Now, however, the people of Kikwanda can request the help of the committees who report to Robert’s organisation the problems people need help with. In turn, Robert’s organisation provides advice and recommendations as to how the problems may be resolved. The work carried out by Robert has helped women such as Kizza, who is 70 years old and lives with her son in Kikwanda village. She depends solely on growing food in the small plot of land she owns in the village. Last year, Kizza sold off a piece of land to her neighbour for a small amount of money; the neighbour paid Kizza half of the money in cash and promised to pay the remaining balance a month later. However, 9 months later, the outstanding balance had not been paid. Kizza was informed by a member of Robert’s criminal justice committee that she would be helped if she went to the head offices. At the head offices Kizza met with Robert, who introduced her to one of the organisation’s volunteer lawyers. He was able to give Kizza a free legal consultation and resolve the dispute; Kizza was paid the outstanding balance owed within two weeks of Robert’s help.

Kizza aged 70 (right), who was helped thanks to Robert’s project.

Following the completion of the project Robert distributed evaluation forms to the people of Kikwanda. This was to determine the impact and effectiveness of his project for the community. Robert was met with an incredibly positive response – when asked if the project was beneficial and if they would like the project to continue 100% answered yes to both questions.

Scanned copies of the evaluation forms Robert handed out to the people of Kikwanda. The comments were translated by the committee members, and some were even filled-out on behalf of those can not write. The first one reads “We want lawyers to be available everyday to help us with law.” And the second says “I want the lawyers to keep around because they have helped in many ways.”

The evaluation forms demonstrated the high demand for projects such as Robert’s. A large number of people wrote requests for more lawyers to be available, more often, in the comments box of the evaluation form.

Patrick Semakula (left) and Vincent Katuba (right) are volunteers lawyers who assisted Robert with his JusticeMakers project.

Patrick Semakula, a volunteer lawyer who helped Robert, indicated the benefits of the project when he explained that the majority of people living in rural areas, such as Kikwanda, have never had direct contact with a lawyer before.

“According to the residents of the village, no lawyer or magistrate has ever visited the place (Kikwanda) on legal matters;” said Patrick Semakula, “so they (members of the community) were shocked when we introduced ourselves as lawyers.”

The people of Kikwanda have now been educated on their rights and know who to turn to when there is an injustice; thanks to the committees, the correct procedures of the justice system are being followed.

On November 27th and 28th, IBJ Burundi Fellow - Astère Muyango - and IBJ Rwanda Fellow - John Bosco Bugingo - attended the 14th East Africa Law Society (EALS) Annual General Meeting in Kigali. The event was co-sponsored by our local partner in Rwanda, the Kigali Bar Association, and opened by the President of the Republic of Rwanda himself, Honor. Paul Kagamé.

The conference brought hundreds of lawyers from the Law Society of Kenya, the Tanganyika Law Society, the Uganda Law Society, the Zanzibar Law Society, the Kigali Bar Association and the Burundi Bar Association together on a path of reforming the legal aid system across the region. The progressive integration of all five East African countries demands the harmonization of practices and procedures across the region.

While the first day of the conference was dedicated to business law and economic integration, the second day focused on the role lawyers can play in promoting the advancement of human rights and access to legal aid across the region. Each country introduced its legal aid system, highlighting the specific challenges to universal access to legal counsel.

Herbert Rubasha, a member of IBJ’s Rwanda Country Advisory Council, presented his paper on access to legal aid in Rwanda. He was echoed by representatives of the Uganda Law Society, the Burundi Bar Association, the Zanzibar Law Society and the Tanganyika Law Society. They all stressed the urgent need for a State-sponsored system which ensures timely access to counsel for all citizens, regardless of the crime they are suspected of having committed.

Burundi’s situation is particularly alarming: as opposed to the other East African countries whose law societies bear the burden of legal aid, the sporadic legal assistance provided in Burundi is exclusively manned by non-governmental organizations and a handful of young passionate lawyers, who take on their own time and resources to protect their fellows’ legal rights.

Astère and Bosco kept abreast of the latest regional innovations. They also built connections with senior members of other countries’ bar associations. Dr Fauz Twaib, the President of the Tanganyika Law Society, and member of the EALS Executive Council, Bruce Kyerere, President of the Uganda Law Society and member of the EALS Executive Council, and other key members of the EALS Executive Council  all expressed a desire to work with IBJ to promote systematic access to legal counsel across the region. Don Deya, the CEO of the EALS, displayed a particular interest in IBJ’s idea of a regional training hub in Kenya. Relationships have also been initiated with other African countries’ bar associations, in particular the Law Society of Zambia and Ghana Bar Association.

Above: Bosco (left), IBJ Rwanda Fellow and Astère (right), IBJ Burundi Fellow pausing together during a break.

Above: Astère (left) and Bruce Kyerere, the Uganda Law Society President (Photo by John Bosco Bugingo)

Above: Astère (right) with Dr. Fauz Twaib, the Tanzania Law Society President (Photo by John Bosco Bugingo)

Above: Astère and the President of the Ghana Bar Association (Photo by John Bosco Bugingo)

Above: The recipients of Awards at the 14th East Africa Law Society Annual General Meeting (Photo by Astère Muyango)

The 10th of December is a day of remembrance, remembrance of the victims of human rights abuses. It is also a day to pay tribute to those who have stand up for their rights. Finally the 10th of December is a day of celebration; celebration of all the progress that has been made and celebration of what needs to be accomplished to achieve Rule of Law in every corner of the globe.

On this special occasion, IBJ intends to remind international, national and local communities of its particular approach to human rights - protecting the legal rights of the people who become victims of unchecked justice systems - and renew its commitment to fair justice systems through a series of consciousness-raising activities across its country programs.

IBJ West Bengal Fellow Abhijit Datta is embarking its organization, MASUM (Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha), in a large human rights fair that will be held this coming Thursday at the vicinity of Academy of Fine Arts of Kolkata. Abhijit rallied support from other grassroots civil rights and human rights organizations. Together, they will coordinate exciting awareness-raising activities: an art exhibition will depict pictures of human rights violations; booklets, publications and other materials informing citizens of their legal rights will be widely distributed; public orations - including testimonies of victims of abuses - will be organized throughout the day. Big awareness-raising banners will be displayed at strategic places at the Indo-Bangladesh border, where minority tribes are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations.

Above: Burundian kids hold a poster reading “Burundi moves forward against torture” during the 26th of June rights awareness campaign in Bujumbura (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer)

Abhijit’s efforts will be echoed by Astère’s, IBJ Burundi Fellow. IBJ Burundi team left yesterday for the North-West province of Cibitoke where a street law campaign will be conducted. The team will be dispatched at strategic places of the city and will engage the local population in constructive discussions about their rights and responsibilities within the justice system. Men, women and children will be put in the situation of being arrested for a petty crime and asked what they think their legal rights are. Eventually, an engaging poster and memo card about their rights at time of arrest will be handed out to them. A round table discussion on alternative sanctions to imprisonment will be conducted the day after. The platform will unite legal practitioners with magistrates, prosecutors, police officers and prison officials and put them on a path towards reforming the justice system.

A similar on-street canvassing advisement of rights campaign will be organized in Cambodia, where IBJ Fellow Ouk Vandeth and the rest of the team will capitalize on the 25 campaigns held throughout 2009 to make sure local population are best approached, engaged and educated about their legal rights in case of arrest.

IBJ n’est installé que depuis récemment au Burundi. Le pays ne disposant que d’une très faible couverture internet, ils ne sont au début qu’une poignée de courageux défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme à prendre connaissance des activités de notre ONG, notamment par l’intermédiaire de la communauté des JusticeMakers. La première réelle apparition d’IBJ dans les médias burundais se fera donc à l’occasion de la tenue de la première session de formation à la pratique pénale qui se déroula en mai 2008 à Bujumbura. Depuis, Astère Muyango, ancien participant à la compétition des JusticeMakers, est devenu le premier fellow d’IBJ au Burundi et, appuyé par une petite équipe dynamique, s’efforce de mener à bien les activités visant à améliorer le quotidien des personnes détenues, l’accès à une justice équitable, et restreindre l’usage de la torture. En dépit des difficultés administratives rencontrées dans le processus d’accréditation, il n’en demeure pas moins qu’IBJ reste à l’affût de la moindre opportunité pour populariser sa cause. La deuxième session de formation à la pratique pénale, organisée cette année entre le 29 juin et le 03 juillet, fut ainsi l’occasion de faire une nouvelle fois parler les médias burundais. La télévision nationale (RTNB) put ainsi filmer toute la délégation venue spécialement de Genève ainsi que les différents participants dans le feu de l’action. Mehdi et Karen, bien secondée par Fanny pour la traduction, eurent droit aux honneurs de l’interview pour la version française du journal, alors que Pierre-Claver Mbonimpa, président de notre partenaire local APRODH, se chargea de la version Kirundi. Ces passages aux heures de grande écoute furent complétés par plusieurs articles dans la presse écrite et radiophonique relatant la richesse des débats mais aussi le chemin qu’il reste à parcourir afin de parvenir à un fonctionnement équitable de la justice au Burundi.

Ci-dessus: Des participants à la marche contre la torture organisée par USAID à Bujumbura le samedi 27 Juin 2009 (Photo de Nathalie Mohadjer)

Un mois plus tard, IBJ prenait la direction de Bubanza pour y tenir une table ronde consacrée au phénomène de la détention préventive et des conséquences qu’il peut engendrer en terme de surpopulation carcérale. Elle fut précédée de plusieurs sessions de distributions de posters servant là aussi à informer de leurs droits les populations rurales n’ayant souvent pas accès aux informations diffusées à l’échelle nationale. Cette table ronde fut un franc succès au regard des résultats obtenus qui ne manquèrent pas d’être soulignés dans les médias régionaux dépêchés pour l’évènement. Les échéances à venir, nouvelles tables rondes ou début des activités d’aide juridictionnelle, représentent autant de possibilités de médiatisation, mais de part ces témoignages, IBJ commence déjà à s’inscrire dans le paysage burundais dans son domaine de prédilection.

Ci-dessus: Sensibilisation médiatique sur les murs du Tribunal de Grande Instance de Gitega (Photo de Nathalie Mohadjer)

Mais au-delà de l’action d’IBJ, c’est bien la question du fonctionnement même de la justice qui tend à prendre une place centrale au Burundi, les différents acteurs semblant prendre conscience que la paix et la démocratie ne pourront être garantis sans un fonctionnement efficace et équitable du système. Le Bureau intégré des Nations Unies au Burundi (BINUB) et certaines ONG ont ainsi eu un rôle crucial dans la médiatisation de l’aspect respect des Droits de l’Homme et des personnes détenues dans le processus de réconciliation nationale. Ces organisations ne manquent pas de convoquer la presse à chacune de leurs interventions et leurs manifestations sont régulièrement retransmises par les médias locaux et nationaux. Cette place prise dans les médias tend dès lors à correspondre avec un changement de mentalité des décideurs. Sans que l’on puisse exclusivement en attribuer le mérite à la médiatisation du travail des ONG, il est en effet indéniable que les instances judiciaires semblent plus ouvertes au dialogue et enclines à accepter les appuis non gouvernementaux à la réforme du système judiciaire. De cette manière, l’administration pénitentiaire, le corps des magistrats, la police judiciaire et le barreau ont pleinement joué le jeu des tables rondes d’IBJ en facilitant la participation de leurs membres. Plus important, les recommandations ont été suivies d’effets concrets avec la tenue d’un conseil spécial aboutissant aux libérations rapides de prisonniers en détentions irrégulières dans la province de Bubanza. Cette tendance est également perceptible au niveau ministériel avec la parution récente d’une circulaire visant à s’attaquer à la surpopulation carcérale en ciblant deux catégories de détenus pouvant bénéficier d’une mesure de libération. Cela concerne les mineurs de moins de 15 ans, dans le but de se mettre en conformité avec le nouveau Code Pénal, et les prévenus ayant passés 12 mois en détention préventive alors qu’ils encourent une peine ne dépassant pas 5 ans de servitude pénale (art.75 du Code de Procédure Pénale). Enfin, un projet d’envergure ayant pour but de limiter le recours à l’emprisonnement est actuellement en cours d’analyse, et devrait impliquer les membres de la société civile autant que les instances officielles. Ces prémices de changements institutionnels se révèlent au final très encourageants, et IBJ compte bien faire entendre sa vision originale et novatrice de la promotion des Droits de l’Homme et apporter sa pierre à l’édification d’un système mettant la dignité humaine au cœur de ses préoccupations.

Seven months into their program to combat police torture and fight for human rights in the traditional courts Buhle Dube  and his team of JusticeMakers have started to look to the future.
After receiving an offer from the Mkhwanazi Attorneys to take on Hlengiwe Msibi’s case and observing a drop in reports of abuse and torture  the team is moving onto phase two.
Moving forward, Dube notes, does not mean that previously visited areas will be left behind.
“There is a booklet that carries all the presentations that have been made to them,” Dube explained. “What we’ll do will be to go back distribute these booklets to the very same communities and our interactions with them at that level will let us know if there has been an impact.”
Currently participating in a legal fellowship in the Hague, Dube has left the day-to-day operations to his second-in-command, Alfred Magagula, AMICAALL  Aids program coordinator for the Matsapha Town Board.

Alfred Magagula clarifies a point during a workshop with community police in Ngwenya. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis.)

According to Alfred the JusticeMakers will soon expand the scope of their activities.

“We are working on so many things for the second phase of this project,” Alfred said.

“For now the project is on the community police but it’s not the only focus it’s just that this has been the start.”

Alfred foresees the JusticeMakers expanding to tackle the issue of human rights at a national level.

Alfred Magagula leads a discussion during a workshop with community police in Ngwenya. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis.)

“Maybe the first activity will be to do a campaign on human rights nationally then it will make it much easier to even visit the prisons and the other holding centers,” Alfred said.

“If the whole community has a clear understanding of this concept it will be easier even for the prison authorities to allow us to teach the prisoners.”

Gugu Simelane gives a presentation on private arrest during a workshop with community police in Ngwenya. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis.)

To help the JusticeMakers achieve these ends Dube, and Alfred co-founded the Centre for Human Rights and Development, the rare Swaziland based human rights NGO.

Gugu Simelane, JusticeMakers communication intern, thinks Dube and the CHR are changing the culture and creating a new future for the country.

“You could actually say that it is training a new generation of lawyers in Swaziland,” Gugu said.

Gugu Simelane interacts with community members during a workshop in Matsanjeni. (Photo by Walker Gunning.)  

“I never thought I would end up in human rights before but I am looking forward to working for CHR. Then from there I want to go do my masters in the human rights realm.”

June 22nd to 28th was World AntiTorture Day and in Burundi as elsewhere a number of activities were planned to protest against its use. Only recently active in the country, IBJ dedicated itself to working with our local partner, APRODH, on a rights awareness campaign. As part of a USAID initiative, APRODH was given the chance to hold round-table discussions and advisement of rights campaigns in 4 different provinces. We decided to join them in the town of Ngozi, Burundi’s third largest city, to distribute “Know Your Rights” posters and to hand out questionnaires so we would have a better understanding of the real knowledge that the population has of its rights.Heading to Ngozi was a last minute decision, as the team was already very busy preparing for the forthcoming training-session. We decided that I would go to Ngozi with Laura and Nathalie, our new photojournalist interns, while Astère would stay in Bujumbura to deal with any emerging problems related to the training session. On D-Day, we went to APRODH to pick up our driver. He had already been sent on the field, but in the time it took to print out our questionnaires a second arrived to replace him. Ngozi is located roughly 120km north-west of Bujumbura. The two-hour drive it took to get there was the first time that the girls had left the capital city, and they discovered a totally different Burundi: luxurious vegetation, tea fields and colorful clothes, not to mention crazy drivers. Once we arrived in Ngozi I contacted the APRODH local observer who has been assigned to help us with our task. To our surprise not only the observer, but the entire APRODH delegation, led by Jean-Baptiste Sahokwasama, was waiting for us! Our initial welcome was followed by arrangements for a place to spend the night, and a little snack to recover our strength. Right after that, we got started.

Above: The “Know Your Rights” poster designed in Kirundi language in conjunction with the Burundi Bar Association and APRODH in 2007.

Our team, made up of 3 Burundians and 3 Bazungu (white people), traveled in the APRODH 4X4, better equipped than our little car to cope with the countryside’s winding, bumpy roads. Our first stop was the little village of Gasikanwa, where we immediately made for the office of the communal administrator. Prior approval from this official was needed in order for us to display our posters. The man was friendly but I could immediately feel the gap between Bujumbura and the remote localities. Our arrival was a major event. Word quickly spread that the Bazungu were in town, and a growing group of curious observers came to stare. This was not only an opportunity for us to fill out questionnaires, but allowed a delighted Nathalie to shoot pictures of the 50 children surrounding her. The group of villagers also demonstrated some of the challenges that IBJ will face as it tries to improve the human rights situation here, and in the rest of the country. It was almost impossible to find French-speakers, and there were even fewer English-speakers; no activities would have been possible without the help of APRODH’s translators. Moreover, it was clear that a significant part of the rural population is still illiterate, and it took 5 minutes each for the people we were surveying to reply yes or no to just 7 short questions; I had initially assumed that this task would only take a minute or so. It became obvious that we wouldn’t achieve our initial goal of collecting around 50 responses.

Above: IBJ Burundi Project Assistant Jean-Baptiste Bouzard explaining inhabitants of Ngozi what to do in case of arrest. (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer).

Our second stop was at a vaccination center, built in the middle of farmland. There was incredible poverty here too but I also felt, for the first time, a degree of hostility towards foreigners. Women didn’t want to answer our questions in front of their husbands and, as it was clear that we wouldn’t receive many responses we didn’t remain for long. Before we left, however, I exchanged a few words with a beautiful young woman, and was astonished to hear that at only 22 she had already given birth to 4 children. It shocked me to think that, born here, I could already have been a father of 5…

We then stopped by a little house on the side of the road. A man was preparing Ibitumbura, or local donuts. We offered him some of posters but he refused, and I was worried that this same atmosphere of suspicion would stand in the way of us doing our awareness work. However as one person then another decided to go ahead and take our posters the whole community decided, all of a sudden, that they did want what we offering. We were soon unable to meet the demand as numerous hands reached out, hoping to take one. A small crush followed, and we decided to head to our last stop for the day. We couldn’t stay for long, however. We were all tired after a long day and had only a few minutes left before beginning the drive back to Ngozi, as it is not entirely safe to drive by night in Burundi. We agreed to stop at a café and that our last interviewees would be the waitresses who brought us fresh sodas. After all, they were part of the population too!

After having driven the 40 km to Ngozi, we finished our day with a delicious dinner of goat brochettes in the cool high hills of Burundi. Laura and Nathalie were the first to leave, soon followed by the rest of the group. It didn’t long to get to sleep for any of us. We left Ngozi early the next day to be back in Bujumbura around 10am, just in time to clean the car and get ready to welcome the IBJ delegation arriving from Rwanda.

“Typewriter, teep, teep, teep, teep, kartha hai. Zhindagi-ki haar gahani liktha hai.”

“Typewriter, goes teep, teep, teep, teep. It writes all of lifes stories.”

- From Merchant Ivory’s 1970 Film “Bombay Talkie” as sung by Asha Bhosle and Kisore Kumar

The Typewriter at Kibos Prison. Photo by Ian MacLellan

Kibos Prison’s documentation office is as black, white, and faded as any old photograph. The light falls heavily through the barred window and the posters on the walls have begun to fade. Sketched by a prisoner, one poster quotes Nelson Mandela; “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jail…” A prison officer sits behind a pile of court records, while a prisoner, dressed in black and white stripes, works away on a worn out typewriter.

It’s the typewriter which captures my attention first. Somehow it belongs to the room; tired and heavy. While the Government of Kenya has moved to furnish prison offices with computers, Kibos has yet to acquire such technology. In fact, a computer in this room would feel rather out of place. The typewriter – donated to the prison by a local NGO, is the only machine available to the documentation office which assists over a thousand prisoners with their court proceedings.

Four hundred and fifty prisoners at Kibos are capital offenders sentenced to death row. Their only hope is to mount a successful appeal and CLEAR has been instructing prisoners on how to prepare the necessary documentation, notices of appeal, chamber summons, grounds of appeal, and affidavits. While the prisoners have become quite proficient at drafting legal documents, the task of typing it all up has proven to be the greater stumbling block.

The Documentation Office at Kibos Prison. Photo by Ian MacLellan

Each applicant is required to submit 7 copies of their application, along with copies of all previous court proceedings to the Court of Appeal within 14 days of receiving judgment. The result is a lengthy, technical, and tedious application - to be prepared within strict time constraints. Those who cannot afford an advocate draft their appeal themselves, submitting their papers to an officer to be typed on the typewriter.

While the prison staff are highly supportive, the workload is too great, and resources too few. It takes time to edit errors, to cross check records, and to type several copies. After prodding, one officer shyly confesses that it takes him 30 minutes to type each page. He has enlisted a friend to help him, but some days it is nearly impossible to submit the appeals on time.

The Prison Officer who does all the typing at at Kibos Prison. Photo by Ian MacLellan

The wheels of justice in Kenya turn very slowly, and the prisoners are no strangers to delay. But delays resulting from a prison official’s inability to prepare documents in time are particularly frustrating. Once the 14 day period has elapsed, the applicant must seek special permission from the court to hear his appeal out of time, slowing all future proceedings as a result. For those who have been sentenced to death, filing an appeal is a second chance, an opportunity to plead for leniency – and therefore, no small matter.

The weathered typewriter in Kibos Prison’s documentation office is a telling example of the systemic failures which afflict Kenya’s justice system - where even the mere task of typing can obstruct due process of law.

CLEAR Kisumu is a project of the Justice Makers Award, IBJ

A Prison Officer inside Kibos Prison. Photo by Ian MacLellan

“Seven months in prison or 240 Emalangeni fine.”

Ndumiso Dlamini, the court president who threw out Hlengiwe Msibi’s case, proclaimed the sentence in Mliba’s traditional court.

Involving a fight between romantic rivals, assault with a weapon, and severe bodily harm, the details of the case were nearly identical to Ms. Msibi’s. This time however the evidence and a witness were presented and the verdict was guilty.

Following up on Ms. Msibi’s case, members of Buhle Dube’s JusticeMakers team were on hand to view the traditional court proceedings.

Above: Swazi Court president Ndumiso Dlamini speaks to a witness during an assault case heard in Mliba, Swaziland. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis.)  

Presided over by a court president the traditional courts rely on orally transmitted Swazi customs and the Swazi Courts Act of 1950 when producing their decisions. A parallel magistrate court system employing legal representation and western-style law codes also exists. The traditional courts generally hear less serious civil and criminal cases from petty theft to common assault. Corporal punishment such as caning, while no longer used in practice, still remains on the books as a constitutionally viable sentence.

Above: The complainant, left, and the defendant, right, stant before the Swazi Court officials during a vandalism case heard in Mliba, Swaziland.  (Photo by Nicholas Loomis.)

Explaining the structure of the courts Dube pointed out the challenges the courts pose to human rights.

”Only customary rules, rules of customary law, apply,” Dube said. “Which means your rule of evidence does not apply which would mean you cannot ask for evidence obtained through torture to be disregarded.”

Mr. Dlamini however was adamant in insisting that the courts and their officers take human rights into account.

”That is not true, we are being trained every year,” Mr. Dlamini insisted.

”We are well versed in human rights.”

Above: A police officers swears in under the portrait of King Mswati III before testifying during a session of Swazi Traditional Court in Mliba, Swaziland. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis.)

While traditional court officials are sensitive about questions of human rights JusticeMakers intern Phakama Shili maintained they do not always carry this attitude into the courtroom.

”In fact the human rights of the individuals in practice they are not observed but theoretically they may admit that ‘we do know about human rights, we’ve been trained,’” Shili said.

Indeed instances in the trial seemed to highlight both the ignorance of the accused and possible violations of their rights.

”There are so many things that happen in the courts that greatly affect human rights,” Shili claimed. “In one of the cases that we’ve been to the accused didn’t produce any witness yet the complainant produced some witnesses so there is that imbalance there.”

Above: A police officers swears in under the portrait of King Mswati III before testifying during a session of Swazi Traditional Court in Mliba, Swaziland.  (Photo by Nicholas Loomis.)

Peter Otieno Asienyo speaks at his family home in Kanyapir, Kenya - Photos by Ian MacLellan

On Tuesday, CLEAR staff visited Kanyapir, a rural settlement outside of Oyugis town. Staff interviewed Peter Otieno Asienyo, one of many Kenyans displaced by the post election violence of December last year. Asienyo described the politics of the election, the violence which followed, and the situation of IDP’s - internally displaced persons.

An estimated 350,000 people are said to have been displaced and 1,200 were killed in the violence which broke out in response to the announcement of election results which named Mwai Kibaki president. Provisions set aside by the government to support and compensate those who lost their homes and livelihoods in the post-election period have not been adequately distributed. Over a year later, many Kenyans continue to languish as the effects of the violence remain unresolved.

Remains of a building destroyed during the post-election period located outside Kisumu, Kenya 

Interview with IDP- Peter Otieno Asienyo, Kanyapir - July 07, 2009. Edited by Humera Jabir.

Where were you located at the time of the election?

I was in Naivasha during the post election violence. I went to Navaisha in February 1988. I was blessed to find a job and was able to start my own business. I used to provide scrap metals and construction building materials. I was also the chief campaigner officer for the party supporting ODM (Orange Democratic Party led by Raila Odinga) in Naivasha. Before the election, I was at our party base in Salama. I was then moved to government barracks. I was safe there, but blood is thicker then water and I needed to look for my children.

How did the violence unfold in Naivasha?

On the 27th of December, I was in Navaisha town. It was the day people started to cut off people’s necks. They were looking for Raila’s strong supporters. At around 10 PM, thirty people came to my house with pangas (machetes) and told us to lie down. I ran to save my life. I went to the house of a counselor and contacted a Major to take us to the prison camp. I traced my children and they were safe at school. One of my friends, a white man, went to the school and brought my son. My daughter remained safe at school.

I went to a prison camp at Navaisha where we were safe for a few days. We suffered a lot there. We didn’t have water. For 3 days we did not eat, drink, we could not do anything. There were a lot of people, 8-10 thousands staying at that prison camp. I have many friends that were killed. They were walking in the town and a group came and stabbed them using pangas.

Did you try to return to your home?

We went back to our homes later with prison wardens and found that everything was stolen and burnt.  I had a bicycle, a gas cooker, two sofas, a Sony radio, and a TV. My house, plot, everything was lost.  From my earnings, I bought two plots of land at 340,000 KSH in 1998. They burned everything, I have nothing now. I lost all my belongings.

Where did you go for help?

Sony Sugar, who are very good company and very good Samaritans, sent a lorry to Navaisha going back to Kisumu stadium. It was a difficult journey. There were 70 to 80 of us in the lorry. It rained heavily for most of the journey and our lorry did not have a canvass. But we were safe; we had a police officer in the lorry who escorted us.

We got home by the blessing of good Samaritans who gave us food and tea, and helped us to collect some money. We didn’t have a single cent. Those people collected us and helped us to reach home.

What assistance did you receive from the government?

I was told that I would be given 10,000 KSH in compensation but I never did. We didn’t even receive any food from the government, all the food that was brought was given to family and friends of the chief and counselors. The only food we received was from the Kenyan Red Cross, we got food from them once. I know that there was money set aside for IDP’s but the chiefs and counselors were writing the names of their relatives and friends, and the true IDP’s did not get this money.

I am an IDP, I owned land in Navaisha. We gave our report, and were promised that we would be assisted by the government with some cash and property. We never saw those things, never. I am feeling very bad because before I was not begging, but now I am begging. Before I didn’t sleep without food, and now I am sleeping without food. My children never went to a public school but now we can not afford school fees. I am feeling very bad about the government.

What action do you want the government to take now?

I want so many things. First, my property, my plots. Second, benefits for all that we have suffered. Third, I want a job - any job. I can never go back to work in Navaisha. When I think of going there it seems like I am looking into the darkness, my friends, most of them were killed.

I want the people who perpetuated the violence to be taken to The Hague. They are responsible for the death of innocent people. Kibaki himself should be taken to The Hague. I can’t take them to court because I don’t have the money. Court is money. Those who have money in court can do anything. But we did not get what we were promised, and we are still going to try.

During a free hour in a hectic weekend of workshops Buhle Dube, JusticeMakers grant-winner and law professor at the University of Swaziland, leaned forward and described how he decided to become a lawyer.”Well I think I was always going to be a pilot. Until when I finished high school and I said, ‘I’m going to be a lawyer.’ And the family said ‘No way.’

”That was my cue to say look this is the thing to do. When everybody says, ‘Don’t,’ just go,” he said.

Above: 2008 JusticeMaker Fellow Buhle Dube. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis)

This philosophy has served him well while struggling to promote human rights in an African context.

Speaking from a guesthouse in Nhlagano, ahead of meeting with community police in Ngelane, Dube mused on the difficulties of this task.

”Its an African thing really to dismiss human rights as a western concept.

”The term human rights has been labeled un-African in most African societies. We have managed to train all these people without even using the word human rights,” he said.

Using practical terms instead of theoretical concepts Dube has managed to get his message across.

”When you talk about bail you can talk about bail without touching on human rights. Presumption of innocence you don’t have to touch human rights. Prohibition of torture you don’t have to touch human rights,” he said.

Dube believes however that the concept behind human rights is uniquely African.

”My take on that is always, look human rights are very African except we never call them human rights,” he said.

The concept of ubuntu, or humanity, is at the core of these beliefs.

(Photo by Nicholas Loomis) 

”Africa has always held onto values of humanity such as the spirit of ubuntu which says I am because you are and because you are therefore I am.

”If I violate you I violate myself. That’s an African concept ubuntu… It is not termed in human rights but it is the greatest human right ever,” he said.

Not content to philosophize Dube has sought to apply his ideas practically.

”I believe that any legal solution that does not go beyond the walls of the library or that does not go beyond the cover of the journal you are writing in is useless. Take all these theories to the people apply them practically,” he said.

The JusticeMakers team has done just that, by holding workshops with community police, and Dube believes it is making a difference.

”The community police are appreciative of what we have done… In most cases the stuff that we deliver to them they’ve never heard of it before so it really does impact them,” he said.

Perhaps for the first time since choosing to be an attorney Dube is beginning to hear ‘Do’ as well as ‘Don’t’.