66 persons – including farmers, drivers, carpenters, local civil servants, and students – were intensively interviewed on their legal rights, using the fictitious story of Jean, a 19-year-old farmer apprehended by a police officer, as a basis for discussion. Unsurprisingly, only 1.5% mentioned the right to be free from torture, 3% the right to have a lawyer and 4.5% the right to be assisted by a legal aid organization.

However, at the end of the campaign, after the same citizens were educated about their legal rights and handed copies of educational materials, 95.5% mentioned the right not to be tortured, 100% indicated the right to legal representation and 98% the right to be assisted by an NGO. They listed the most well-known legal aid organizations, including our partners APRODH and Ligue Iteka. IBJ was mentioned fourth. 94% of all interviewees indicated they were now in a better position to exercise their rights when at risk.

Eager to share their newfound knowledge of these legal rights, 94% of interviewed citizens explained that they would communicate these lessons to their family, neighbors, and other community members, thereby tripling the reach of the street law campaign.

Bringing it to the next level, the local representative of APRODH pledged to prepare a list of juvenile detainees from Muramvya prison, to facilitate IBJ’s access to the most vulnerable in the province with the hope to get, sooner rather than later, their day in Court and a ticket to freedom.

Above: IBJ banner reads in Kirundi: “Freedom is the rule, detention the exception”. (Photo by Nadège Kwizera)

Above: The crowd gathers around a volunteer to gain information about their rights. (Photo by Nadège Kwizera)

Above: Farmers read “Know your Rights” posters. (Photo by Nadège Kwizera)

Above: Women discuss their legal rights with a volunteer at a bus station. (Photo by Nadège Kwizera)

Above: Discussions on legal rights arouse the curiosity of Muramvya farmers. (Photo by Nadège Kwizera)

Above: Citizens walk away with IBJ “Know your Rights” posters and RCN booklets. (Photo by Nadège Kwizera)

Unemployed then, the accused had accepted to drive a family of Ugandans to Rwanda for a wedding. Unfortunately, while he was driving, he got involved in a car accident which tragically ended up taking the life of a Rwandan girl and injured two other persons. Horrified by the accident, the family who had hired him ran away.

The man was taken to the police where he was interrogated in a language he does not speak nor understand.  He was then brought to court, unrepresented.  The person who was supposed to act as an interpreter during the hearing got held in contempt and thrown out of the Court room. Defenseless, the accused was convicted of homicide. He was then brought to a remand prison in the north of the country, where he was further subjected to mental anguish, already exacerbated by the tragic accident and surreal investigation and court appearances. Breadwinner of the family, he left a wife and two young children in despair.

When the IBJ lawyer heard about his case, the accused had just been convicted. Not discouraged, the IBJ lawyer contacted an IBJ volunteer lawyer based in the Northern province and arranged for him to meet with the accused. The volunteer lawyer met with the accused and reassured him that people were working on his case.

The accused accepted to sign a letter of appeal which was brought to the President of the Court of Appeal of Rwanda. The decision of the Court of Appeal left a bitter taste in the IBJ lawyer’s mouth. The appeal date was scheduled for March 2012. Galvanized by this new injustice, the IBJ lawyer actively lobbied the Judge and filed additional letters to the Court of Appeal to get an earlier date of trial.  He finally succeeded in obtaining a hearing on November  18th 2010 and the same day obtained his full acquittal. The man was able to go back to Uganda where he was reunited with his wife and two young children. If it wasn’t for the perseverance of IBJ lawyers, he would most certainly still be in remand prison with little hope of recovering his freedom.

In November 2007, Pascal met his friends outside the city of Gitarama to supposedly steal a car. One of his friends never showed up. It is said he instead alerted the police. The vehicle that was supposed to get robbed arrived almost one hour late. Pascal and the two other men had left by then. As they were walking back towards the town, a civilian vehicle approached them and offered a ride. They accepted and were driven straight to the police station. All three were flogged at several occasions to confess to the alleged crime.

Besides the claim of one of their comrades, nothing indicating they had the intention to or had committed the crime was ever found. The coerced investigative methods worked against them though, as under physical pain and psychological harassment they confessed to the crime in their respective statements.

Like many Rwandans, neither Pascal nor his friends could afford the services of a defense attorney. Practicing lawyers outside Kigali are few. Left unrepresented, each of them was convicted except the one who had collaborated with the police to proceed with the arrest. Pascal’s two comrades were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment each while he was convicted to four years, as he allegedly planned the robbery.

Pascal explained that, by the time IBJ lawyers got in touch with him, the bruises he sustained from the repeated scourging had healed without medical care. He never raised the fact he had been tortured in court.

The IBJ team of lawyers appealed the adjudication of the original proceeding and challenged the statement Pascal had tendered due to torture. Their efforts were successful. They obtained Pascal’s immediate release as well as the acquittal of the two other co-accused persons in late November 2010. At the announcement of the appeal judgment Pascal could barely hide his delight. Beyond this individual case, by challenging state torture, IBJ lawyers urge courts to send a strong signal to the investigating authorities throughout the country: torture is not acceptable.

As the world is celebrating the 62nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we can have a thought for Pascal, his countless friends who are still languishing in jail, and the extraordinarly dedicated lawyers who daily strive to make human rights a breathing reality in some of the most challenging environments.

On August 11th 2010, Dative took on the case of a 27 year-old-man accused of rape. The man, whom we will refer to as Mark, is an impoverished cattle keeper. He was accused of raping a neighbor’s daughter. The key witness told police she had seen the girl in Mark’s bedroom holding money worth 50 Frw, the purpose of which was to buy her silence to her parents.

Mark was arrested by the police on July 2nd, 2010. He spent over a month in custody without ever meeting a lawyer and with no hope of being summoned to court. Then, the key witness came to visit Mark to apologize for having lied to the authorities and wrongfully accused him. She confessed that she had been promised 20,000 Frw by the victim’s father.

As Mark was facing a life sentence, Dative came across his case during one of her routine visits to the prison where he was being held to search for prisoners in need of legal aid. She read the medical statements in Mark’s file, which provided evidence that the crime had never been committed: medical tests on the young girl showed no signs of sexual intercourse.

Dative went on to solicit a trial date, and although the court calendar always seems fully booked, she was lucky enough to secure an August 26th date. The trial was subsequently subject to further delay, but this allowed Dative to compile compelling evidence against the prosecution’s case.

On the trial day of September 2nd, the case was heard, and that same day Mark was able to walk home following his acquittal. This victory – winning an innocent man’s life back – is one case among many that have given the volunteer legal defense team the courage to continue to fight.

Dative at the Kigali CDRC

From July 5th to July 9th, Burundian lawyers will be brought together to brainstorm solutions to the crucial issues of rights at arrest and interrogation, pre-trial detention and access to legal counsel. Burundian lawyers’ trial skills will be enhanced through role plays, visual representations and group discussions. For the very first time, Burundian lawyers will get exposed to the adversarial process, in particular to cross-examination, which is particularly relevant in light of the recent integration of Burundi into the predominantly English-speaking East African Community. International trainer and US Public Defender Stephanie Slattery will urge lawyers to reflect upon her experience to gain the necessary boldness to carry the reform of their system. The training will integrate potential future instructors and equip them with the legal teaching skills they need to replicate small legal defense trainings to their peers.

On July 8th, a series of justice community roundtable discussions on the rights of the accused will be conducted to captivate the attention and imagination of lawyers, judges, prosecutors, police officers and prison officials in conceiving and implementing an efficient and equitable judicial future.

Finally, July 9th will see lawyers try their hand as prosecutors, police officers as lawyers, magistrates as accused persons, and prison directors as judges during mock-trial exercises. The hope is to make them become aware of the constraints each actor of the system face and make them realize how critical it is to join forces if they are to improve the administration of justice in their country.

As the country slowly advances towards democratic stability, it is crucial to integrate all the actors of the system to consolidate the progress made the past few years in promoting a fair and effective justice system in Burundi.

Above: Celebrating  the Victims of Torture on June 26 (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer)

Above: Young Burundian males working in the streets of Bujumbura often are a target of legal abuses as they are not aware of their rights at arrest.  (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer)

On July 2nd and 3rd, Rwandan defense attorneys will join the Kigali Bar Association (KBA) and International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) at the Laico Hotel in Kigali for a two-day legal skills development training. The training hopes to equip them with the skills and confidence they need to mount vigorous defenses of indigent accused. In tandem with Anita Mugeni, a trainer from the KBA, Stephanie Slattery, a Public Defender in San Diego, will urge Rwandan lawyers to come up with strategies to tackle the challenge of prolonged pre-trial detention in Rwanda. More than 25% of Rwandan detainees are awaiting trial and, some of them have been waiting for 15 years with no lawyer, no expected date of trial, and limited access to family, food and medical assistance.

The training will also equip Rwandan lawyers with basic trial techniques from the common law system, as, with the gradual integration of Rwanda in the East Africa Community, Rwandan lawyers will get the opportunity to represent clients in adversarial justice systems like in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Rwandan lawyers will try their hand at cross-examination during simulation exercises.

On July 2nd, a judicial community roundtable will bring lawyers, prosecutors, judges and police officers together on a path towards proposing concrete solutions to improve prison overcrowding.

Above: A participant from last year’s Rwanda Training sharing his views on early access to counsel. (Photo by Jesse Blaisdell)

Above: A Rwandan trainee receiving the Rwanda Criminal Defense Manual. (Photo by Jesse Blaisdell)

Above: The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe in Harare (Photo by Florence Chatira)

The training will promote an interactive approach where lawyers will be put in the situation to develop the theory of the case, interview a client and cross-examine witnesses. IBJ International Program Director, Sanjeewa Liyanage, and IBJ Zimbabwe Fellows, Innocent Maja and John Burombo will appeal to lawyers’ inner values and urge them to take action to improve the fair and speedy delivery of justice across the country. At the end of the training, lawyers will be offered the possibility to take pro-bono cases to stem the tide of the country’s legal needs. The last day of the training will be devoted to identifying and training senior lawyers become instructors/trainers themselves. The hope is to empower local lawyers with a set of teaching skills so that they can themselves later replicate legal defense trainings and mentor their peers throughout the country. Next regional training session in the Fall 2010 will integrate these local instructors in order to increase the sustainability of the training approach.

Above: The Mission Statement of the Zimbabwe Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.

To ensure that Zimbabwean lawyers are able to learn “on the job”, follow-up one-on-one mentoring sessions will be conducted at IBJ’s Defender Resource Center in Harare on May 17th and 18th. Anthony Natale will spend time with lawyers to dissect the nuances of their case and help them more fully utilize the portfolio of lessons drawn from the training and the criminal defense handbook. The goal is to provide individualized and innovative solutions to challenges that arise from specific cases and help the accused get the most professional defense possible – especially in cases featuring homicide or other serious crime that could result in the death penalty.

As access to legal aid crucially lacks in provinces, the goal of the series of trainings is also to increase the total number of lawyers trained by reaching out to new areas where IBJ was not present before. Following activities in Harare, the IBJ team will head to Bulawayo to conduct a legal defense training on May 22nd and 23rd. Zimbabwe’s second biggest city, Bulawayo has a rich legal tradition which IBJ hopes to build upon to promote access to justice in Matabeleland North Province. The training will focus on increasing the capability of provincial lawyers to provide competent defenses to accused persons, particularly indigents, of which has been a problematic issue for many Zimbabweans. The training will explore a plethora of legal concepts such as cross-examination and procedures to prevent torture against prisoners, helping the participating lawyers in garnering invaluable skills and building a provincial movement in favor of the protection of the rights of the accused.

Above: Zimbabwean street vendors (Photo by Florence Chatira)

This series of trainings will be an opportunity to intensify awareness-raising and community-building activities by engaging with local partners, meeting lawyers, observing trials and visiting prisons.

Thanks to the support of the National Endowment Democracy (NED), IBJ is launching a pilot legal aid project in Rwanda with the goal to assist the Kigali Bar Association and Ministry of Justice to ensure systematic access to justice for all Rwandans. Led by the dynamic and entrepreneurial John Bosco Bugingo who is now officially IBJ Rwanda Fellow, the project will commence with the establishment of a Defender Resource Centre (DRC) in Kigali. Strategically located in the capital city, the centre will operate as a legal aid centre where families of accused persons can seek legal advice. The DRC is also collegial space where defense lawyers can work, prepare their cases, and meet with clients and witnesses. Printed and electronical legal resources and materials will be stocked there to ensure lawyers have continuous access to learning opportunities.

Above: IBJ’s DRC is about to be established in one of Kigali’s blossoming streets. (Photo by Sanjeewa Liyanage)

The 2009 legal defense training generated a lot of interest from Rwandan lawyers. Many asked how they could be involved with IBJ in the reform of the justice system. Building on this momentum, IBJ is establishing a core group of volunteer lawyers, strategically located in each of the country’s five provinces, who will provide committed and competent counsel to vulnerable Rwandese lost within the justice system. These lawyers, along with a group of younger lawyers, will be trained intensively in the summer 2010 in collaboration with the Kigali Bar Association.

Above: Making sure that defense lawyers have continuous access to legal resources is a priority. (Photo by Sanjeewa Liyanage)

The volunteer lawyers will join forces with other dynamic and committed legal professionals in a Criminal Defense Task Force. This collaborative platform will meet three times a year to discuss the state of legal aid in Rwanda, obstacles to the protection of defendants’ rights, potential solutions to those obstacles, and means of implementation. The Task Force will work generating concrete solutions to practical problems of access to counsel and raising the profile of democratic criminal defense in Rwanda more generally.

Above: John Bosco Bugingo, IBJ Rwanda Fellow (left), presenting the “Know your Rights” poster with a peer at the Kigali Bar Association Annual Meeting in 2008 (Photo by Whitney Price).

Ultimately, the hope is to support the Ministry of Justice‘s comprehensive legal aid strategy to ensure universal access to justice in Rwanda. IBJ is now one step closer. Cheers to NED!

Above: IBJ will continue working with the Kigali Bar Association and the Ministry of Justice to promote universal access to justice in Rwanda. (Photo by Sanjeewa Liyanage)

At that time, the remand prison was going through a serious crisis, including overcrowding, food shortages, and lack of access to medical treatment. Inmates barely had a single decent meal per day and diseases like pellagra and cholera were rampant. The last truck which transported the prisoners to and from courts broke down in May 2008, leaving them enable to attend trial. Prisoners were therefore continually remanded in custody in absentia.

When John commenced legal assistance the main concern was to get Prince out of custody. He applied for bail but it was denied. With the court system seriously dysfunctional, the State was taking a considerable time to bring the matter to trial and Prince continued to be remanded in custody, leaving his wife and baby totally vulnerable. John therefore decided to apply for a refusal of the further remand of Prince pending trial. In March 2009, such application was made to the court. After considering all submissions, the court upheld the application. Prince was discharged and released from custody. He almost spent one year in remand prison. He could barely hide his happiness and gratefulness at recovering freedom after such a long time away from his wife and 1-year old baby.

A dedicated lawyer for over 9 years, Isidore has defended hundreds of accused persons – often taking on his own resources to assist defenceless persons – and sometimes risking his own freedom for the sake of justice. His work as a passionate lawyer is only the most current embodiment of his lifelong commitment to the rule of law. His brief career as a public prosecutor taught him how an unbalanced justice system where prosecution is one-sided disservices the ideal of fair and transparent justice system. He later embraced a diplomatic career as first counsellor at the Embassy of Burundi in Algeria and later Tanzania, whereby he gained international exposure and a sound knowledge of the workings of international relations.

Today, as President of the Bar Association, Isidore concentrates all his efforts at ensuring systematic access to legal counsel for every Burundian accused of a crime. His leadership has led him to work closely with the United Nations Integrated Office in Burundi to draft a bill outlining the legal framework for legal aid (Loi portant cadre légal d’assistance judiciaire et d’aide juridictionnelle), which has been submitted to the Ministry of Justice for review.

Isidore knows that pointing out at torture and expressing opposition to the government can be risky. Accused of “attempting to public order” at three different occasions, Isidore spent consecutively 2 months, 4 years and 6 months in prison, with no access to his family, little access to food and no medical treatment. He felt very ill as the prison conditions were – and are still – adverse and inhumane.

He last got arrested on August 3rd, 2006 when he openly complained, as a lawyer, that four high-ranked officials had been badly tortured by the Burundi Intelligence Agency. He remembers that the victims could barely walk. Determined to bring as much attention as possible to what he considers is totally unacceptable, Isidore wrote an official letter to the chief of the secret services, copied to the President of the Republic, the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Justice, and a flurry of media and NGOs which voiced concern over the allegations that his clients had been tortured. He then started receiving anonymous calls and threats. A couple of days later, a group of policemen surrounded his law firm, arrested him, and threw him back to jail. Each single time he got arrested, Isidore refused to receive the help of any lawyer: he ensured his own representation. He has been released on parole.

This eventful life has shaped his personality, reinforced his natural leadership qualities, unwavering dedication to human rights and audacity and inspired him to start writing a book about his experience.

Isidore joins forces with Pasteur Nzinahora and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa – the other two notable members of the Burundi Country Advisory Council – to help Astère spearhead a movement in favor of the rights of the prisoners and lay the foundations for a functioning legal aid system in Burundi.

Above: Negotiating the MoU between the Burundi Bar Association and IBJ, July 2009 (Photo by Fanny Cachat)

Above: Opening the 2009 summer legal defense training in Bujumbura with IBJ Founder and CEO (Photo by Fanny Cachat)

Above: Sharing a drink at the Bâtonnier’s house after the successful conclusion of the MoU, July 2009 (Photo by Sanjeewa Liyanage)