“I am a public defender

I am a guardian of the presumption of innocence, due process and fair trial.

To me is entrusted the preservation of those sacred principles…”

-James Doherty, 1967

This oath was taken by 80 defense lawyers, prosecutors and police officers who attended a three-day legal skills training workshop from 7-9 November 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda. This session was a part of the “Protecting Human Rights within Rwanda’s Criminal Justice System” project funded by the European Union and implemented jointly by IBJ, Rwanda Bridges to Justice (RBJ), the Rwandan Bar Association and Dignity in Detention Foundation (DiDé). The training was specifically tailored to address the needs of two different, yet interrelated Rwanda justice key groups: Rwandan criminal defense lawyers and the prosecutors and police officers attached to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB).

Practical Trial Advocacy Skills Training

Under the guidance of IBJ and other international and local trainers, Rwandan criminal defense lawyers covered practical trial advocacy skills including case development strategy, pre-trial procedures, interview techniques, torture and dealing with coerced confessions coached by our trainers: John Bosco Bugingo (RBJ Country Director), Sanjeewa Liyanage (IBJ’s International Program Director), Bob Burke (Defense Trainer and Consultant), Jacques du Preez (IBJ Legal Training Director) and Musore Gakunzi Valery. This workshop trained 40 practicing lawyers from Kigali and the Eastern Province.

Training that Advances Gender Parity and Local Ownership

Furthermore, IBJ commits itself in advancing gender parity and local ownership in all of its work, specifically in la Francophonie, the training session thus embraced two special modules focusing on the challenges encountered by women lawyers in Rwanda and on representation and assistance of female detainees. These modules were presented by experienced female trainers from RBJ and DiDe – Joëlle Kabagambe (senior lawyer at RBJ Defender Resource Center) Sophie Musabeyezu (Psychologist, DiDe).

Finally, with a view of strengthening Rwandan pro bono culture, every lawyer was encouraged to take on pro bono cases as part of their solemn legal duty to ensure that even the poor and vulnerable have access to a competent defense.

Technical Investigation Skills Training

The second training guided police officers and prosecutors attached to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) through technical investigation techniques including how to conduct an effective investigative interview with the accused and/or victims as well as gathering of numerous aspects of forensic evidence (including crime scenes, DNA gathering and safeguarding). A further aim of this workshop was to underline how physical and psychological abuse during interrogation jeopardize investigation and case file credibility. 40 investigators, prosecutors and lawyers from Kigali and the Eastern Province joined for this workshop and IBJ is particularly proud to have retained, for this training workshop, the services and skills of senior (now retired) FBI agent Emmanuel Johnson Jr. from the United States.

On a final note, this session was extremely successful as evident from the feedback received:

“Thank you very much for the notes. I really enjoyed the training, I am exploring the skills I gained and I am ready for any further training and workshops.” – Me MUHIRE Jean Marie Eugène, Advocate at Rwanda Bar Association

Next steps

IBJ will continue to expand its work in Rwanda exponentially. As always, it will continue to build on its positive relationship with the Institution of Justice in Rwanda. As for now, IBJ and RBJ are already planning on organizing training for Judges in 2019.

Twenty-six year old Lian is an indigent farmer from a rural village in Sichuan Province. His wife recently delivered a son, whom Lian must support, not an easy task with his junior high school education. Given his young family and the seriousness of the charges, his arrest was nothing short of calamitous.

In addition, although the law permits legal aid, more than 80% of China’s criminally accused have no help from a lawyer. This is in part because attorneys are concentrated in major cities; lawyers in rural areas are scarce. It is also because many indigent defendants cannot afford to pay a lawyer; free legal aid is even scarcer.

Lian did his best to cooperate. He underwent mandatory detoxification to get sober. He confessed to possessing the methamphetamine. But without a legal advocate by his side, his chances of getting a fair trial were bleak.

Lian was fortunate. Earlier that year, IBJ orchestrated an agreement through which the prosecutor would refer indigent criminal defendants to a local law firm. Law firm attorneys trained by IBJ agreed to take these cases without charging the client. Under this program, Attorney Xi, whose name has been altered to protect her privacy, agreed to handle Lian’s case at no charge to Lian.

IBJ also hosts Lawyer’s Salons and roundtable discussion groups to enable defense lawyers like Xi to share best practices, brainstorm case strategies, and learn from one another. By Oct. 31st, 2013, over 2,696 justice sector professionals had participated in IBJ-China salon and roundtable events.

Using case investigation and advocacy skills taught at IBJ training events, Xi scoured the case file to make sure she understood all facts thoroughly. She realized the evidence was lacking. The crime of trafficking required intent to sell. No facts in the case showed such intent. She argued to the prosecutor that based on the evidence, Lian could not be charged with trafficking, but merely with possession, a much less serious charge. Lian had been an addict who needed help, yes, but nothing supported the accusation that he was a smuggler or dealer. The prosecutor took a second look, a closer look, at the case and realized she was right. He sent the case back to the police for further investigation. Later, the police re-submitted the case to the prosecutor with the lesser charge of narcotics possession.

Already, Xi’s advocacy had had a major impact on Lian’s life, but she wasn’t done yet. At the sentencing hearing for the possession charge, Xi argued there were several mitigating factors concerning the case, and about Lian as a person. Under Chinese law, the crime of drug possession for one’s own consumption is categorizes as a low societal impact crime, as compared to other offenses such as trafficking or crimes of serious violence. Moreover, Lian is a hard worker. He takes his social and financial responsibilities to his family seriously. Furthermore, he is a first time offender. These factors, she argued, required a reduced sentence under Chinese law. Again Xi’s no-nonsense, fact -based advocacy earned results. The judge adopted her opinion and sentenced Lian to a mitigated sentence of three years in jail.

Three years is a long time, but compared to the high stakes, and the might-have-beens without Attorney Xi by his side, Lian says he is very grateful to his lawyer for her help. Because of her, he received a fair trial. He faced only those charges which the facts genuinely supported, and no more. His situation was fully described to the court. His lawyer successfully conveyed he is a person, who has made mistakes, but who has a future. A lesser sentence resulted. Now Lian knows when his young son is three or four years old, he will be there for him. Because of Attorney Xi, and the support of IBJ, he has a second chance to go home and be a father.

Most of the time, people blame overstretched resources as the main reason for the non implementation of the law. We cannot deny that working as a lawyer in Rwanda is more difficult than in the West. But lawyers are part of a system and are better equipped to understand how the system works best. Holding the keys of change, they have the most power to make positive change. Unsurprisingly, they are often the first ones to be eliminated when political instability, defiance, and conflict undermine the rule of law.

Above: IBJ Fellow John Bosco Bugingo was one of the more than 70 defenders on hand for IBJ’s training event. Some participants traveled more than 200 kilometers to attend.

As IBJ Founder and CEO Karen Tse emphasized throughout the training, overcoming the many challenges faced by the criminal justice system in Rwanda is not about pointing out the shortcomings of the current system. It is not about blaming the magistrates for long delays and prison overcrowding. It is not about pointing out the incapacity of the police to make human rights a breathing reality for every accused person. It is not about blaming the prison officials for inhumane detention conditions. It is about showing lawyers their crucial role as agents of change within a system to which they contribute and, therefore, have a moral responsibility to transform. It is about empowering them with the confidence and tools they need to affect change within their community. It is about building their leadership as human rights defenders so that they can influence and instill structural change within the system, best achieved by working closely with magistrates, prosecutors, police officers and prison officials. It is about appealing to their deep values and getting them the instruments to transform these values into concrete commitments.

This is precisely what has been accomplished in Rwanda. Pausing from work, lawyers took the time to think through the decision to become advocates and to defend the most vulnerable in their community. They mentioned defense, protection, and equality as the underlying values that pushed them to stand up for the rights of the accused. Building on these inner values, they were familiarized and able to practice defense tips and strategies which will enable them to effectively defend the disempowered.

Values are crucial. To bring about concrete change, leveraging the existing tools of a system is required, whether it is the law, negotiation, human relations, networks, structures, or another resource that is utulized. These tools must be used as weapons to influence the process in the desired direction. The vision driven from values only comes to life through a pragmatic approach of making the best use of the existing instruments to affect change, and, in particular, ensure that every man, woman, and child has systematic access to legal counsel. The participants were thus comprehensively trained in how to conduct a client interview, use nullity when legal procedure deficiency or of a violation of a fundamental right occurs, plead efficiently in court, and deal with the other actors of the system, particularly prosecutors, judges, and police officers.

The training provided an open space for lawyers to express not only their problems, constraints, and frustrations, but also potential solutions to improve criminal justice in their country. Relying on his rich experience as a criminal defense lawyer, trainer, and former ICRC official in the Middle East, Mehdi contributed to the debate and gave practical advice about his experience in overcoming such challenges, namely successful strategies he has employed and tips on how best to relate to the police, judges, and prosecutors. For example, Medhi explained that each time a policeman denies access to a client, he demands to meet with the police station chief. If this person also impedes him from accessing his client, he then talks to the prosecutor to tell him that the rights of his client are not respected. If, again, he is denied access, he then goes to the judge and demands that this fundamental right of defense is fully respected. Lawyers have been encouraged to make themselves known and respected by judges and act with leadership in solving problems.

Anita, the Rwandan trainer, echoed Mehdi with concrete examples of what usually happens in the Rwandan criminal justice system, noting the most pressing challenges requiring immediate action. Both gave keys to open doors of creativity and innovation in finding solutions to problems. Most importantly, several participants came to me at the end of the day telling me that, through the training, they had been aided in realizing that that the answers were in their own hands.

The participants were extraordinarily participatory. On the first day, 54 attorneys joined us. The second day saw a significant rise in the number of participants, ending the day with more than 74 lawyers in the audience. During the legal cartoon and ‘sharing your values’ exercises, the microphones did get much to rest, as everyone wanted to contribute to the foundation of a fairer criminal justice system in Rwanda. The dedication of these Rwandan lawyers is remarkable: on the first day, a women attorney whispered to me apologies for getting in and out of the conference room constantly. She explained that she been leaving to breastfeed her newborn baby in the car in the Mille Collines Hotel parking lot. Another participant explained me that he had to travel over 200 kilometers back and forth to get to the training. Further, these lawyers are overwhelmed with cases, some of them dealing with more than 100 cases at any given moment.

A real synergy emerged between the trainers, the rest of the IBJ team, the participants, and the representatives of the Kigali Bar Association, a close partner of IBJ in Rwanda. Before lunch on the last day of the training, all 74 lawyers spontaneously stood up, singing African songs with much energy and joy. At the closing ceremony, the IBJ team was loudly clamored, encouraged by the Bâttonier. Jeanne, a women defender and active participant in the mock-trial exercise, spontaneously stood up, took the microphone and explained how happy she and her colleagues were about the training and how useful it will be for their day-to-day practice.

Many advocates came to us asking for ways to be involved with IBJ activities, both in Rwanda and worldwide, namely how to support our mission and volunteer their time and expertise. As a response to this demand, a Criminal Defense Task Force has been suggested to keep the momentum up, provide a structure to catalyze all this good will and energy, and find concrete ways to set up a viable legal aid system in the country, especially in the provinces where the overwhelming majority of the population is defenseless.

I will personally never forget the faces of hope, courage, and determination that I came across during these three intensely human days of my life. Murakoze cane.