Campagne de sensibilisation aux droits légaux d‘IBJ

Les prisonniers étudient un manuel

Les avocats d’IBJ ont répondu aux questions et facilité la discussion

Les femmes et les hommes prisonniers de tous âges y ont participé

Les photos ont été généreusement fournies par Kan Seng Houth.

IBJ Legal Rights Awareness Campaign

Prisoners review information packets

IBJ Legal Fellows answered questions and facilitated discussion

Male and female prisoners of all ages participated

Photos generously provided by Kan Seng Houth.

The circumstances of this campaign were challenging: due to the Burundian electoral campaign, people could be under the impression that IBJ belongs to one of the political parties. We therefore doubled our efforts to present International Bridges to Justice as a non-political and non-partisan NGO, whose aim is to help any person that might get caught up in the criminal justice system.

Above: “freedom is the rule, arrest and detention the exception” placard is here to recall that IBJ is only here to help people. Photo: Celesta Duivenvoorde

 Once again, this legal rights street campaign proved to be a success: almost one thousand people were educated on their basic rights and, among them, 865 volunteered to be interviewed. For the first time, people actually applauded the campaign and explained that they need these type of activities to be informed on their rights. For example, a man approached Astère, the IBJ Fellow, and thanked him for explaining to him that in case he is arrested, he must be explained the reason of his arrest. He admitted that he believed that since the police has the authority of the Public Force, she does not have to justify when acting on behalf of the common interest.

Above: a young man is answering the questionnaire under the gaze of interested bystanders. Photo: Astère Muyango

When we left, the administrator came over and ensured us that everything had gone perfectly. He warmly expressed his gratefulness for the campaign and asked us to do these kind of activities more often in Kinama. We thanked him for his cooperation, which proved again that good cooperation with the Burundian authorities is a necessity to improve the criminal justice system.

Above: volunteers conducting the campaign. Photo: Caroline Arnaud

Kabezi administrator’s cooperation was also valuable as this activity could not have been conducted this campaign without his keen authorization. He further proved to be enthusiastic regarding IBJ’s mission and activities, asking for a copy of the new Penal Code, which he still hadn’t acquired since April 2009 when the new Penal Code got enacted.

Above: IBJ fellow Astère Muyango handing out the Penal Code to the Administrator of Kabezi. Photo: Caroline Arnaud

Here again, the aim was to explain basic legal rights to rural populations, including the right to access a lawyer should they be arrested. Too many people still think that if they cannot afford an attorney, they are condemned to self-representation. However, the population of Kabezi displayed a real interest in being educated, asking questions and assiduously listening to the answers. At the end, more than 150 people were individually interviewed, and nearly 1400 were sensitized. Even armed forces turned out to show a great interest in the rights of the accused: soldiers spontaneously joined the crowd, and some of them even asked to be trained on their legal rights.

Above: Astère Muyango interviewing a soldier. Photo: Caroline Arnaud

The change in this campaign was the environment where it took place. Kabezi has the characteristic to be really widespread, because the commune includes several hills. In this extent, the campaign was conducted on a 16-kilometre long territory, with groups of interviewers disseminated in little hamlets in the hills, and moving from places to places. This mobility enabled to access and educate more people, and to increase IBJ’s visibility on a larger land than if we had stayed on the same place.

The campaign ended with an enjoyable feeling of success. Rural people are indisputably concerned about their rights and its implementation. More significantly, they asked for cards – in Kirundi language – where the legal procedures about pre-trial detention are outlined. Thus, 190 cards and 60 posters where disseminated all over the territory of Kabezi. The campaign is still going on today, as posters and cards are circulating from neighbourhoods to neighbourhoods across the area.

Above: rural population getting educated concerning their legal rights. Photo: Caroline Arnaud

Women reading the “Know your Rights” posters		IBJ representative John Bosco Bugingo, left, with a fellow Bar member

John Bosco Bugingo, an entrepreneurial and dedicated lawyer, courageously took up the challenge of distributing the posters throughout the Rwanda’s five provinces. He traveled throughout the whole country to approach ordinary citizens and law enforcement agents, engaging them with constructive discussions about their role and responsibilities within the justice system and eventually handing them posters. With the support of the Ministry of Justice, the Kigali Bar Association, the Legal Aid Forum of Rwanda and many other generous individuals, he restlessly scoured prisons, police stations, courts, churches, public markets and schools to let ordinary citizens know about their legal rights at the time of arrest.

Young Rwandans reading the posters John distributed		A rural family pauses from work to scrutinize the poster

IBJ’s Legal Rights Awareness Campaign has also succeeded in cementing working relationships between IBJ staff members and justice sector leaders. By undertaking a concrete, widely-publicized project in Rwanda, IBJ has formed a solid foundation for future programming. IBJ is sustaining its legal education efforts through broadcasting its message on community radio, which is the lifeblood of many rural populations who are most at risk of having their fundamental rights violated.

A warden reads a poster at the Nyanza Higher Instance Court		The entrance to a prison displays the poster