International Bridges to Justice’s India Country Program (IBJ India) strives to create a just society empowered to protect human rights. To this end, legal rights awareness campaigns are a central part of our work. Only those who understand their rights can protect their humanity. In India, much of the population remains unaware of their legal rights and how to access counsel. To educate those in need, IBJ India conducts monthly prison legal awareness events to promote a basic understanding of the rights of inmates, prison standards, and legal aid.

From June 2^nd to June 11^th, 2018, IBJ India visited eight prisons in the Tihar and Rohini Jail Complexes to work with inmates and facilitate a Legal Rights Awareness and Legal Aid Camp. The camp worked with over 1,500 jail inmates. These sessions aimed to educate inmates about their rights and duties within the prison. In particular, IBJ India volunteer lawyers and staff taught inmates how to access free legal counsel, how to file for bail, and the role of legal aid in a just society. Prisoners, administrators, and the IBJ India team worked together to develop an interactive and practical program. A diverse set of activities, trainings, and other educational services created a worthwhile experience for the inmates. Presented in a substantive, yet concise, manner, these lessons were crafted such that people of any educational background could understand them.

IBJ India returned to conduct awareness campaigns in 2019. Using the previous year’s efforts as a foundation, IBJ India tested creative new ways of providing legal awareness to those without literacy. Seeking to bridge the gap between informative workshops and engaging storytelling, IBJ staff put on a skit depicting potential pitfalls in the criminal justice system. This engaging, relatable content resonated with inmates and may allow them to better apply the knowledge they gain from awareness campaigns.

Ongoing Challenges

Awareness campaigns are crucial to reduce the stigma surrounding legal aid in India. While Indian lawyers are not supposed to accept compensation in legal aid cases, some nonetheless demand payment. This unfair practice engenders distrust toward providers of legal aid among those most in need of counsel. Inmates ought to have confidence in those representing them. Awareness campaigns and training sessions seek to dispel myths surrounding sarkari lawyers, who are assigned by the government to work on legal aid cases. Empowering inmates to report corrupt lawyers builds trust in legal aid and prevents instances of malpractice. IBJ India’s direct interaction with prisoners rebuilds lost trust and instills confidence that justice can be achieved. By fighting corruption in the legal profession, IBJ India is doing its part to advance both its own work and the work of advocates across the country.

IBJ India continues to innovate new ways to deliver on its mission to protect human rights, including through its Legal Rights Awareness and Legal Aid Camp. This sustainable model for awareness campaigns can be used at other jails across the country. Teaching prisoners to leverage their rights will allow them to improve their circumstances and receive humane treatment. IBJ India’s commitment to human rights through legal education and service truly makes a difference in the lives of those most in need.

On June 24, 2017, the Burundi Bridges to Justice (BBJ) team conducted a rights awareness event in Mubimbi District of Bujumbura Province which was attended by 114 people, culminating in the presentation of a play depicting an arrest. The attendees represented 76 grassroots communities, each of which counts at least 10 members. The event aimed to improve the population’s understanding of the legal safeguards that protect arrested persons in Burundi, with a particular focus on the right to not be subject to torture. The educational action also encompassed other rights such as the right to initiate legal action against the torturer, the right to be assisted by a lawyer, the right to be brought before the judge within a fair and reasonable timeframe, and the right to be informed of the reasons for arrest.

Community members from Mbimbi gather to learn about Burundian and international torture prevention laws

The BBJ Team gives a presentation on fundamental rights

Over the years, the BBJ team has developed a wide array of methodologies to facilitate ordinary citizen’s understanding of the legal rights and safeguards of arrested persons. The tools and strategies used are designed to be inclusive of illiterate communities, as in 2015 nearly 15% of adults in Burundi were estimated to be illiterate. Therefore, each event relies as much as possible on interactive and participatory audio/visual activities. The Mubimbi event included a film projection, a PowerPoint presentation, a Q&A session, role plays and a final evaluation.

Participants prepare a short play on the rights of the accused

After presenting the Burundian and international laws that safeguard due process rights, the BBJ team led discussions with the attendees that gave them an opportunity to share their experience of undergoing or witnessing human rights violations, bringing to light many strong testimonies. The exercise revealed that, prior to the event, many thought torture was allowed in some situations, or did not know that to be assisted by a lawyer is a sacred right of every arrested person regardless the offence they may be accused of. It also clearly appeared that the population was eager to acquire more knowledge around human rights topics.

Finally, a highlight of the event was the participation of the attendees in a play where a person was arrested and subject to human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and torture. Each of the participants played the part of a stakeholder (police, prosecutor, lawyer, arrestee) implicated either in the respect or violation of the legal procedure. Thus, they demonstrated their knowledge of the awareness campaign material.

At the end of the event, a questionnaire was distributed to evaluate the level of understanding acquired by participants regarding human rights and due process rights.  The results were very positive and participants committed to sharing this newly acquired knowledge with their community members. Participants also recommended that the BBJ team conducts more of such participatory human rights educational events.

BBJ Country Manager Jean Claude Barakamfitiye speaks about the sanctity of presumption of innocence

On March 22, the Burundi Bridges to Justice Team organized a justice roundtable bringing together 34 justice sector actors to identify problems and solutions to pressing justice issues in Burundi. This high-level meeting was held on the theme “Status of implementation of the legal safeguards of the accused.” The roundtable was a crucial step towards improving cooperation between government officials, judges, prosecutors, lawyers and police on implementing due process rights.

Organizing the event jointly with the Ministry of Justice’s Center for Professional Training of Justice (CFPJ – Centre de Formation Professionnelle de la Justice), IBJ developed the theme within the framework of the 2016-2020 Sectorial Policy of the Ministry of Justice. The goal of this policy is, among other things, to guarantee an effective and accessible criminal justice system.

The roundtable was a rare event bringing together lawyers, justice officials, police and civil society to jointly share problems, solutions and approaches on upholding due process rights

Of the 34 lawyers, government officials, judges and police officers who contributed to the roundtable, attendees included the Director and the Deputy-Director of the Professional Center for Justice, the officers of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Commissary General of the Judicial Police as well as Police Officers, lawyers, the judges, a representative of The National Independent Human Rights Commission (CNIDH) and the Representative of the Prison Administration.

The roundtable resulted in a renewed commitment from government officials in 4 areas:

• Setting up a framework for consultation and dialogue between justice actors to improve self-examination, accountability and transparency. The representatives from the Ministry of Justice committed to set up these frameworks without delay.
• Ensuring respect and proper implementation of the principle “Freedom is the rule, detention is the exception” which is codified in Article 52 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
• Guaranteeing that the timeline for legal procedures, particularly time limits of detention and appearance in court are respected without undue delay.
• Ordering investigation of allegations of torture anytime a judge encounters a defendant who has been tortured and nullifying confessions obtained under duress.

Lawyer Aline Njimbere shares her insights on overcoming barriers to rights violations and ensuring all accused persons have early access to legal counsel.

Ultimately, the roundtable was a valuable occasion to put forward important commitments on access to justice as a fundamental right for everyone. Discussions such as these, held regularly in a collegial environment are a way to institutionalize good collaboration and build a movement towards practical action between government officials, judges and lawyers.

With each individual group in the justice chain identifying challenges that prevent effective implementation of due process rights of the accused, the resulting commitments will ensure positive change occurs to better protect the rights of ordinary people. IBJ will continue to work with civil society and government institutions to transform those commitments into practical action.

A Glimpse into Access to Justice Projects in 4 Countries

IBJ JusticeMakers Fellows are paving the way to ensuring that their communities have functioning legal infrastructure that respect the rights of all individuals. From assisting prisoners living with HIV/AIDS, to ensuring youth have protection from abuse within the criminal justice system, to improving public awareness about legal rights, JusticeMakers are leading the way as social entrepreneurs in the field of justice.

With a unique insight into the local challenges that affect their community and a support network from IBJ giving access to resources and partners, JusticeMakers are uniquely equipped to take on pressing justice issues from the bottom-up.

Here, we give a brief glimpse of four courageous JusticeMakers in the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Harshi Perera from Sri Lanka

Harshi advocates for the rights of children and women, perceiving these groups as some of the most vulnerable in Sri Lanka.

She and her team have successfully:

• Released five women held in pre-trial detention from Welikada Prison’s Female Prison Ward in Colombo. One of the women had been held in pre-trial detention for over eight years. Another had been imprisoned with her eight-month-old daughter.
• Built a comprehensive support network to improve the experiences of Sri Lankan women in their dealings with the justice system and documented them in over 25 stories.

Tin Ko Ko from Myanmar

Tin Ko Ko for his JusticeMakers project set out to raise awareness about the specific issues Myanmar’s transgender community faces with relation to police abuse and legal rights violation.

During his Fellowship, Mr. Ko Ko:

• Held public events to educate citizens about the LGBT community, many of whom who were unaware about the nature of the community and the struggles that they face.
• After months of continuous legal assistance, Mr. Ko Ko got an innocent transgender woman acquitted – a victory for transgender rights in Myanmar

Arianne O. Reyes from the Philippines

Ms. Reyes and her team of young lawyers have made considerable improvements in bridging the gap between existing legislation involving children in conflict with the law and the way it is implemented in practice. In the Philippines, law enforcement officials are often unaware or have limited understanding of their role in the prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration of children in conflict with the law.

To address this, she and her team have:

• Sustained communications with psychologists and juvenile justice welfare advocates. In addition, they have established a pool of volunteers who feel strongly about juvenile justice and who are willing to lend their time and effort to raise awareness.
• Begun developing a juvenile justice website, Project J, with resources and materials. The purpose of this site is to be a one stop shop for all relevant resources on the Philippines’ juvenile justice welfare act and a starting point for advocates and researchers.

Laofang Bunditerdsakul from Thailand

In remote parts of Thailand, rights of indigenous and ethnic communities are often dismissed and overlooked by local authorities. These communities are often isolated and have limited understanding of their rights and legal procedures. Mr. Laofang aims to improve the situation by conducting real trials in which other villagers and community leaders would be invited to witness and learn from the process.

He has:

• Represented Mr. Su Wang-poh, a native Hmong villager, to assert his tribal land rights in a case against local authorities and has negotiated with the local national park officer. They have now agreed to make a new boundary amendment for community land.