The event was an important milestone for IBJ Cambodia’s Program “Ensuring the Right to Legal Representation in Cambodia,” an undertaking sponsored by the United Nations Democracy Fund, which began in January 2019 and will continue through December 2020.

“Finding ways to provide access to justice to poor and vulnerable people”

During the one-day session led by CBJ’s Country Director Mr. Ouk Vandeth, the Municipal Court Prosecutor of Kandal Province, officials from the Ministry of Justice and local police officers discussed methods for providing poor and vulnerable people access to justice. The group discussed the importance of proper identification and treatment of minors, the need to improve lawyers’ access to defendants held in jails and prisons, and the requirement of obtaining sufficient evidence prior to arrest. Participants clarified how they can work together in relation to each topic.

The prosecutor spoke highly of the event, describing it as a “valuable opportunity for prosecutors, officers from the Ministry of Justice, and police officers to get together to discuss ways [to] prevent minors from [suffering] illegal treatment and [improper] identification, and allow lawyers to meet […] defendants in prison.”

Officers listen in as Mr. Ouk Vandeth introduces the discussion topics to the stakeholders.

The police officers agreed with the prosecutor’s request for lawyers to have access to clients in the prison (or police stations) beginning 24 hours after intake, so that accusations of illegal interrogation procedures will be known to the lawyer prior to the trial. Police officers also agreed to advise the accused of their rights while in custody (Article 43 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

Moreover, IBJ Cambodia’s Technology Manager Phou Pheakdey introduced the new iConnectJustice app and hotline to the prosecutor and police officers. The app and hotline will allow individuals accused of crimes as well as their families to contact available pro-bono lawyers including IBJ lawyers for representation. All parties commended the app and hotline, and gave suggestions on how to advertise and simplify the iConnectJustice program for use by people in provincial areas.

Mr. Phou Pheakdey introduces the iConnectJustice application and hotline to the justice stakeholders.

IBJ’s work in Cambodia

Cambodians continue to confront challenges as the country rebuilds its judicial system two decades following the end its internal conflict. Numerous obstacles to justice exist, and the accused are regularly deprived of due process rights. Bureaucratic challenges together with a shortage of lawyers — especially in the provinces — has constrained early access to a lawyer by the accused. IBJ aims to amplify people’s legal rights and prevent violations of due process through providing early access to lawyers in over ten provinces. As a part of this mission, IBJ trains defense lawyers via live and online training sessions. IBJ also promotes rights awareness by organizing street law campaigns, radio talk shows, and other public events. Finally, IBJ hosts roundtables such as this one to help create a collaborative platform among justice stakeholders to seek solutions to problems affecting effective and efficient access to justice to vulnerable populations.

IBJ’s newest initiative in Cambodia involves the development of accessibility tools such as the iConnectJustice app, a legal hotline, and an automated Facebook bot system. These tools will not only help individuals to have greater access to lawyers, but will also help lawyers to access legal information and manage their caseloads. Furthermore, IBJ will be able to track legal needs across Cambodia using data obtained through the tools.

Contact details and further information

If you have any questions about IBJ’s country program in Cambodia, please contact:

Sanjeewa Liyanage                                        or                     Ouk Vandeth

International Program Director, IBJ                                        Country Director, CBJ

Phone: +41(0) 22 731 24 41                                                  Phone: +855 70 857 529

Email: sliyanage@ibj.org                                                        Email: ibj_vandeth@online.com.kh

To follow IBJ’s project in Cambodia, connect with IBJ on Facebook.

IBJ India organized a two-day paralegal training for the convicts at the Central Jail, Ajmer on the 4th and 5th of October 2014. The workshop aimed at building capacity and awareness of speedy trial to the convicts of the jail. It was attended by ten convicts who were selected according to their educational qualification and happened to be life/long term convicts. IBJ was represented by Advocates Mr. Ajay Verma and Pankhuri A. Mehndiratta.

Inmates at the inaugural session at Central Prison, Ajmer, Rajasthan

The workshop concentrated in particular on the difficulties faced by those held in pre-trial detention to stress how long term convicts can assist with this. The long term convicts are in some way in-house legal resources. Their knowledge of processes on arrest, rights in jail, processes in court, can be of great value in ensuring that legal rights are accessed and prisoners do not unnecessary remain incarcerated. As the IBJ mandate is to provide access to justice, we started with the most common question- “What is law and what is an ideal jail?” Many hands were raised to answer. Next obvious question was, “Do you know about your rights in prison are?” Very few were able to answer this question. Ajay Verma explained the various rights of the prisoners, which includes right to a fair and speedy trial. He emphasized that fair trial is the essence of India’s criminal justice system. Arbitrarily depriving an individual of their liberty is violation of the human rights and right to freedom given by our Constitution to every person. Hence, nobody has the right to put anyone in the prison, to keep there, without any good reason. It is the right of the detainee to raise his/her voice against any wrongful treatment and torture. Those who have been the victim of unlawful arrest have an enforceable right to compensation.

Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate introducing the purpose of the workshop and explaining their rights and duties

The IBJ Team explained the procedures of first appearance and remand to the prisoners. It is the right of a person who is arrested or detained in custody to be produced before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest. No one shall be detained in custody beyond that period without the permission of the Magistrate. The prisoner should be able to get help with keeping their home or job and keeping in touch with their family. They should be able to get help carrying on their business from prison. Remand prisoners are supposed to be treated as if they are innocent until proven guilty. This session discussed the procedures which must be utilized to deliver a fair trial and justice. Right to speedy trial is an essential part of fundamental right. According to article 21, no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure laid by law. Any delay in trial should be seen as miscarriage of law. The cases pending for years create mental and economic pressure on litigants. Right to speedy trial is the right of the accused and it encompasses all the stages, namely investigation, inquiries etc. A right to fair trial is an essential right respecting the rule of law. It is the right of the defendant to be tried before an impartial jury who on considering the evidences against defendant, decide whether to find him or her guilty of the crime charged. The magistrate should hear the case within the reasonable time. If there is no counsel for the defendant, the magistrate should appoint a counsel. The convicts were also trained on the procedures of parole, bail, legal aid etc. Legal aid is no longer a matter of charity but is one of the constitutional rights. Each person is entitled to free legal aid from the point of arrest. If a prisoner is sentenced to imprisonment is unable to exercise his constitutional right for want of legal assistance, the court has the power to assign, under article 142 read with article 21 and 39-A of the constitution, counsel for such imprisoned individual.

Liberty of every citizen must be zealously safeguarded by courts. Basic rule should be “bail and not jail.” Yet where there are circumstances suggestive of the accused fleeing the course of justice, or possibility of his repeating offences, then he can be denied bail. Once the accused is prepared to furnish bail, the police officer or the court before which he offers to give bail is bound to release him on such terms. Also the terms of the bail are to be reasonable. If a person during the period of investigation or trial undergoes detention for a period extending up to one half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for that by law, he shall be released by the court on his personal bond with or without sureties. This provision does not extend to offences for which the punishment is life imprisonment or death.

The last part of the session worked to ensure that the inmates were treated more humanely and are provided with at least the minimum standard of living. The prisoners have certain rights when they are sent to judicial custody including: right against solitary confinement, handcuffing and bar fetters, and protection from torture etc.  The convicted prisoners have the right to employment within the jail and wages should be paid accordingly. Every prisoner has the right to an adequate standard of living. They have the right to food, clothing, and proper accommodation at an adequate level. The children in the prison have the right to education and proper upbringing. It is the human right of a person to live their life with respect and dignity. It is the right of the prisoner to be informed of the rules and regulations of the prison. No prisoner shall be stopped from practicing their own religion and every prisoner shall be allowed to satisfy the needs of his religious life. Visits to prisoners by family and friends are a solace in insulation and only a dehumanized system can derive vicarious delight in depriving prison inmates of this humane amenity. Every basic necessity of life shall be provided to the prisoners so that they could have minimum standard of living.

The long standing goal of this two day workshop was to train the convicts to be resources for the prison administration and expedite the judicial process for the inmates in need. This was in tandem with IBJ’s efforts to empower and strengthen the core of the criminal justice system in order to secure respect for legal rights.

We are grateful for the enthusiastic cooperation of the prison authorities. We are looking forward to conducting future events.

June 2014

I have only been interning in IBJ Cambodia’s Battambang office for a few weeks, but I have already seen just how important the work they do is to those accused of crimes here in Battambang Province. Sopheak’s* acquittal provides a clear example of the impact of IBJ’s success.

Kalyan (lawyer assistant), Sopheak’s mother, Sopheak, Me (legal intern); Taken at Sopheak’s home.

A few months ago, Sopheak, his girlfriend, and another couple (who were classmates of his) were enjoying the typical night out as teenagers. They had gone out to eat, and were hanging out around town. At the end of the night, Sopheak and his friends returned home to spend the night at his house, but they realized there were too many people and it was too loud to sleep, so they booked two rooms at a local guesthouse. Sopheak and his girlfriend slept in one room, while the other couple slept in a separate room. However, one of the teens staying in the other room was a 14-year-old girl, and her parents became very upset upon learning that their daughter had spent the night out. Although the girl was in a separate room from Sopheak and had slept over Sopheak’s house prior to this incident, her parents subsequently filed a complaint with the police and Sopheak found himself in a completely unanticipated position.

Sopheak, a 17 year-old boy who had spent the night in a guesthouse room with his girlfriend, had been accused of rape by the 14 year-old girl’s parents, despite the fact that he and his girlfriend had stayed in a different room and he had had no physical contact with the young girl.

Luckily, Sopheak was quickly referred to International Bridges to Justice by two separate sources: a woman who worked at the Battambang court, and a neighborhood friend who had attended one of IBJ’s Community Legal Awareness sessions in their commune. Clearly, as this case demonstrates, IBJ’s outreach to the Battambang court and community is making an impact and helping those accused of crimes gain legal counsel. Because these sources put Sopheak in contact with IBJ early in the process, IBJ’s lawyers were able to help Sopheak through every step, starting with procedure and investigation and continuing through trial. However, while awaiting trial, Sopheak was forced to stay in a four by four meter cell with twenty other minors for the three to four months that he was in detention awaiting his trial. Under these extreme conditions, Sopheak found sleeping very difficult, and says that there was not enough food for him to eat. While his family was able to visit him, they could only make around two trips each month.

Sopheak’s lawyer communicated the true account of what happened that night to the judge, which was corroborated by the young girl herself, and successfully refuted the allegations made by the young girl’s parents. Found innocent, Sopheak was acquitted of the false crime he was charged with and could put the past few months behind him. Without this help, Sopheak may have received an unfair trial and believes he would have had to “stay [in prison for a] long time”. Upon his release on May 20th of this year, after three to four months in detention, Sopheak says he was “feeling great” and “very happy” to return to his commune. Although he had to suspend his schooling while he was imprisoned, he has now restarted school and is in Grade 9. Justice was served for Sopheak!

Sothea (lawyer), Sopheak, Sopheak’s mother, Me (legal intern); Taken at their home.

*Name has been changed.

Five members of this family of farmers were accused of willful destruction of property. IBJ lawyer Janvier Ncamatwi managed to gain acquittal for four, but had to visit the jail to make sure they were actually freed.

During one of his regular prison visits to the prison of Bururi, IBJ lawyer Janvier Ncamatwi identified five family members who were imprisoned and awaiting their trial, accused of willful destruction of property. After having met with the clients, the facts showed that the family was imprisoned for rather strange and not very comprehensive accusations. Family disputes of neighboring families seemed to be at the source of the accusations. Maître Janvier followed up the cases and was able to obtain a positive outcome for almost every single one of them.

The five cases concerned a 71-year-old widow, her two sons, and two uncles. The widow and one of her sons were, at the time of the identification of the case, imprisoned for over a year and a half. The second son was younger than 15 years at the time of the crime, and consequently not criminally responsible. He should have never been detained in the first place, but was only freed after spending one year and three months in manifestly unlawful pretrial detention. The two uncles were arrested and detained after they were heard as witnesses in the same case in May 2010.

When Maître Janvier took up the cases, the investigation was already closed at the level of the Attorney General, but the files were not yet referred to the court in order to fix an audience. Within a month, he got the cases subscribed on the role of the court, and all persons concerned received a trial swiftly after his input.  All members of the family, except for one, were acquitted in the trial.

However, the strange story concerning their actual liberation indicates how a lack of working hierarchic control mechanisms and a similar lack of coordination between the different actors in the justice sector (specifically the prison and court environment) creates often absurd and damaging situations.

Normally, prisoners should be freed right after their acquittal. This rule is clearly stated in the Procedural Penal Code, and was confirmed in a Circular of the Federal Attorney-General. However, two weeks after their acquittal, the prisoners were not yet freed, together with two other clients of Maître Janvier who already sat out their punishment for over 2 months. Therefore, Janvier decided to visit the prison himself to make sure they were freed.

Janvier contacted officials to understand why his clients were not yet liberated, but they did not understand the situation either. The President of the Court did not understand why the acquitted persons, as well as those who sat out their punishment, were not freed. The director of the prison mentioned something about waiting for the appeal of the Attorney-General. However, no appeal was made yet, and even in the case of an official appeal, this would not be a reason to keep the prisoners imprisoned for a longer time, according to Burundian law.

It was only after Janvier made sure that both the president of APRODH (a well-known human rights organization in Burundi) and the director of the Directory-General of the Prison Affairs had contact with the prison director that all of the family was liberated except for one of the two sons, who was found guilty of a failure to the public security. IBJ then made an appeal, because the judgment that sentenced him to three years did not even indicate the principal crime.

Even after that, the disastrous events did not end for the family. The son who was freed in June 2010 because he was not old enough to be criminally responsible at the time for the crime of destruction of property, returned to his village, where two days after his liberation a girl was found dead. He was immediately accused of the murder, although no leads could be found that pointed toward him. The social stigma of being imprisoned probably had a lot to do with the accusations. However, since he already had the age of criminal responsibility, he was again detained.

This detention gravely affected this family of farmers because they lost cultural seasons and were not able to feed themselves after their release. The children in the family were also obliged to live with other relative families since their parents were jailed. However, after IBJ lawyer Maître Janvier helped them tackle the Burundi justice system, the accused were happy to go back to the farm, feed their family, and see their children.

Mabel Jenny Antezana Arispe is one of the winners of the 2011 JusticeMakers competition organized by International Bridges to Justice. She graduated in Law and Politics and post-graduated in Criminology, has been a member of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights for over ten years, taught Roman Law at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon and has been a practicing lawyer in Bolivia since 1997.

According to a study by the Government of Bolivia about the situation in the Bolivian prisons, most inmates are incarcerated for robbery, assault, rape, injury to others, and for consuming illegal substances. The study also states that these inmates are better off in jail, where they are safe from persecutions and attacks outside. However, those individuals who are incarcerated for an extended period of time have the risk of losing their families and their connections to the outside world.  Lengthy detainments result in a double punishment, because the inmates not only lose their freedom, but they are also subject to terrible prison conditions. State policies do not do much for the prisoners and those who are imprisoned are rendered helpless.

Mabel and Verónica Marisol –who is a 2011 JusticeMaker too, have had the chance to visit the Bolivian prisons together. Prisons are extremely overcrowded and pretrial detainees frequently spend months in prison without access to counsel. Generally, they are taken to jail with their family, which means that children live in prisons in terrible conditions, with their parents while the parents are serving their sentences [see the picture on the left].

In Bolivia, 22% of the inmates are in Cochabamba, which has six prisons. More than 1,200 youth live in the Bolivian prisons. The San Sebastian prison (Cochabamba), is where Mabel has been organizing training workshops. The situation in San Sebastian prison is so dire that the ceiling is falling down, they have one toilet for 650 inmates, and each prisoner has to buy his own cell (between 500 and 1,500 dollars) because the State does not provide them due to a lack of funds.

With her JusticeMakers project, Mabel “has learned to share”. She says that “it looks like a simple word but it involves so many things: looking through proceedings, sharing experiences, helping them in their cases and heading towards others, meeting their families, etc.”. Mabel’s goal is to train the professionals that represent the accused in order to ensure that detainees have access to justice effectively and to provide training to the accused. The goal is that detainees will know why they were arrested, the rights that protect them and their obligations once they are free.

She says that “the project has been a success for the inmates in the penitentiary centre of San Sebastian”. At San Sebastian, Mabel has distributed a pamphlet with pictures of the penal procedures to educate inmates on the proccess. She also gave workshops on the penal process at the prison and the attendees were very willing to learn. She conducted judgment drills as well, to  to train inmates on how to behave at a court proceeding. According to Mabel, “The most important part of the Project is that the detainees are the ones that collaborate with the rest, since the information transmitted passes around the others, which made the project effective about knowledge of their rights.”.

After her experience working in the centre of San Sebastian, Mabel says that it is difficult to move forward in the course with the professionals because the prison officers would be replaced every 3 months so all the work that she carried out with them needs to be repeated over again on the new ones. She believes, though, that her project would have a bigger impact if she could organize conferences with the press and other institutions committed to the penitentiary system.

On 12 February 2011, Mr V was called to the police station for questioning over a stolen ring. After giving his statement explaining that he was receiving medical treatment for his injured leg the police held him overnight in a tiny cell. The next day, the police continued to question him. Mr V maintained his innocence. Irritated, the police threw Mr V to the ground and began to kick him in the ribs, head and back. Enduring these barbaric acts, Mr V was forced to confess to a crime he did not commit.

During an interview with IBJ, Mr V described how he wanted to commit suicide, banging his head on the table, because he simply did not commit the crime.

Mr V was then formally arrested for a felony offense and taken to Kampot Provincial Prison[1] where he was forced to share a room, 15x15m2, with 60 other prisoners – a mix of pre-trial detainees and the convicted. Nine months later he is still awaiting trial. A month after Mr V’s arrest, the case was referred to IBJ at which point he was for the first time informed of his legal rights.

Mr V’s story highlights the problems imbedded with Cambodia’s criminal justice system in two ways:

Intern, Kaitlin Bella interviewing the client at Kampot Provincial Prison

Under Cambodian law, all felony and juvenile cases are to be represented by lawyers. Although the Bar Association of Cambodia has established a legal aid referral system for these types of cases, funding is so limited that lawyers cannot always be provided. What happens in these circumstances is that a judge cannot proceed with the trial and the accused would remain in prison until a lawyer could be appointed, or more simply, indefinitely.

Moreover, without access to a lawyer, Mr V would never be able to prove that his confession was forced. A judge simply would not believe him and he would have remained in prison, unable to collect evidence to prove that he was tortured. By the time he came to trial his bruises would have faded and scars would have healed – all but the scar in his memory.

Because of IBJ’s intervention in this case, Mr V’s confession will be challenged. Moreover, on 3 November 2011, a judge ruled that IBJ could provide two witnesses to testify to Mr V’s innocence. This will happen on 17 November 2011. While Mr V remains in prison, now he has some hope. None of this would have occurred without the thorough investigation of IBJ’s Investigator Mr Vanny nor the representation provided by IBJ’s lawyer, Mr Vibol.

IBJ’s Investigator Mr Chan Vanny, interviewing the Commune Chief as a witness for the client.

By  Kate Flower, Project Officer and Kaitlin Bella, Intern

* Kate Flower is a volunteer with the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD) Program. The AYAD Program is part of Australian Volunteers for International Development, an Australian Government, AusAID initiative.

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[1] On IBJ’s visit dated 3 November 2011, there were 424 prisoners.  The prison is estimated to have maximum capacity of 160.  Kampot’s provincial prison is therefore grossly overcrowded at 265% capacity.

A total of 50 warders and head warders from District Jail Alwar, Rajasthan participated. A retired IG, from Rajasthan Prison Shri R.K. Saxena stressed that all those who are in jail are also human and deserve the humane treatment. Though the warders are at the lowest rank in jail administration but they have maximum contact with the accuseds and prisoners hence they have maximum responsibility for reformation and conflict management between them and the inmates. He stressed  that prisoners are human beings, not case files. The court has punished them once; and they are not supposed to be punished daily. It’s in the hands of Prison Staff to inspire the inmates and spark a change in their lives.

An Exercise about “Your perspective of Prison” was done by circulating a  comprehensive list of various elements associated with the concept of a jail like walls, bars, grills, handcuffs, beating, torture, monotonous food, restrictions on access to family and friends, ban of use of mobiles and various restrictions imposed on Inmates was conducted with a view to know what they visualize about the same.

Mr. T.S. Madaan, a motivational Speaker focused on complete personality development of warders and stress management. He generated enthusiasm in the participants and made an attempt to de stress their minds. He emphasized that one should control their emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety, happiness, stress before they control oneself. According to  him “We all have the controls with us.  He said that lion is a dangerous animal, he eats other animals. But still we don’t hate him as it is his nature.  Mr. Madaan touched upon the use of effective communication skills and emphasized that listening is more important than speaking. It is important to come down to others’ level to understand them and only then we can bring them to our level. We have to put ourselves in other’s shoes to overcome the communication barriers. The idea of this session was to make the staff understand the improtance of effective communication with inmates.

Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Fellow of International Bridges to Justice along with Mr. Anshumaan Saxena, An advocate from Jaipur in the last session of the day discussed the basic legal provisions of bail and parole with the warders. Mr. Ajay said that about 65% of prison population in India is under trials and most of them do not know their rights and duties. It is the duty of the warders and Head warders as guardian to inform accused about their right to bail and parole. Mr. Anshuman told the participants about Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act in brief. The participants were requested to study basic and common provisions of Criminal procedure and Penal Code  so that they have knowledge about bailable and non-bailable offences. Which will help them to inform the accused about their right to Apply for bail. Often it is seen that the accuseds do not know their right to get Bail in case the Investigating Agency fails to file Charge-Sheet (Final Investigation Report).

The Second day  began with felicitation of Mr. Omendra Bhardwaj, Director General, Rajasthan Prisons, who was the guest of honor. Mr. Omendra Bhardwaj, in his opening address said that the complex jail organization is not run by DG or Superintendents or jailors, but it is run by warders and head warders. He emphasized that the responsibility of reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners ultimately lies on the shoulders of warders who can bring them dignity and happiness. The purpose of jails is to reform a person so that he is a better human being when he goes back to society. It is duty of courts to punish the offenders, but jail staff is not supposed to punish them daily. He suggested them to empathies with the inmates and never to crush their self-respect. The
attitude, communication skills and body language of jail staff matters a lot while dealing with the most ignored and vulnerable section of society. Prisoners have a right to reform.

 The next session conducted by Mr. Ajay Verma, Advocate and Fellow of International Bridges to Justice and Ms. Sugandha, Advocate and Consultant of CHRI who enlightened the participants about various issues in a jail in a very innovative way. With the help of a video clip, they told the jail staff best ways to help people lodged in jails who are without lawyers, what to do if the family doesn’t know that they are in prison, how to deal with the most vulnerable like mentally ill prisoners, juveniles etc. It was  an activity based session where all the warders were divided in the groups of five. then they were instructed to discuss the changes they want to see in their prison and best possible practices they want to follow. After that each group presented their findings in a creative manner in form of writings or drawings. The various suggestions that came were to keep the prisoners occupied, to listen to the inmates who are depressed, informing their families. The warders thought that they should take initiative to increase the reliability between convicts and jail staff and work as their legal parents. Some also suggested the ways to keep the premises green and environmental friendly.

The workshop was ended with the panel discussion chaired by Mr. Bhardwaj, Director General Rajasthan Prisons, Mr. Rakesh Mohan, Jail Superintendent, Alwar Prison and Mr. R. K. Saxena, Former I.G. Rajasthan Prisons. This exercise was an attempt to remove communication barrier between the Prison Staff and The Senior Officer of Prison Authority.

In Bubanza prison, on 29 March 2010, IBJ Intern Celesta Duivenvoorde explaining women their rights with the help of an APRODH officer for translation. Photo: Caroline Arnaud

Thus far, six campaigns have been conducted in the prisons of Bubanza, Ngozi (both the female and the male prison) and Bururi. The campaigns are primarily targeting the most vulnerable detainees, namely minors and women, with the objective of informing detainees on their legal rights, such as their right to be defended by a lawyer and for the time-limits of their pre-trial detention to be respected. The pre-trial detention rate of more than 60% of detainees in Burundian prisons is still very worrisome. The main interests of the detainees are to be provided with a lawyer and to know how the trial proceeds. To respond to the latter concern, IBJ staff has created an image explaining the process of the trial and the role of each actor in the courtroom.

Regarding their concern for legal support, both IBJ legal fellows, Herman Ndayishimiye and Janvier Ncamatwi, have committed themselves to supporting the detainees that are educated during these campaigns. Legal assistance is one of the main activities of the IBJ defender program. Consequently, Herman has already assisted for all the Bubanza minors, whose trials are currently in deliberation, and as far as Janvier is concerned, he is determined to assist all the minors that are detained in Bururi prison by the end of June 2010.

Detainees are shown a panel with this image, explaining the role of each actor during the trial.

During each campaign, the detainees gave the IBJ staff members a very warm welcome and showed a real interest in the subjects and asked many relevant questions. IBJ is deeply thankful for their contribution, because in the end, they are the ones who can bring about a real change by demanding their rights to be respected. Their eagerness to learn more about their rights is a great promise for the future improvement of the Burundian legal system.

In Bururi prison, on 5 May 2010. IBJ interns Celesta Duivenvoorde and Caroline Arnaud are educating minors about their rights, while IBJ legal Fellow Janvier Ncamatwi is gaining more information on the cases of his future clients. Photo: Astère Muyango

Above: The entrance to Gitega Prison, whose occupancy rate is 377% as of May 2009. (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer).

There is no doubt that the continuous lobby of IBJ Fellow and Country Manager, Astère Muyango, the series of meetings conducted with top officials in June 2009 and the momentum created by the widely-publicized training and roundtable events contributed to this unanimously acclaimed decision. The government representatives who took part in the series of training and roundtable workshops got invited via the Office for the Coordination of the Stakeholders of the Justice Sector (“Bureau de coordination des intervenants dans le secteur de la justice”), the initiator of the circular within the Ministry of Justice, with which Astère has been in constant touch, lobbying in favor of the rights of the accused persons.

Efforts to comply with the provisions of the newly enacted penal code, which brings up the age of criminal responsibility from 13 to 15 years-old, are greatly needed. However, when operating in a system which strives to rebuild from ashes, the key to reform is sometimes in the provision of the most basic tools. The Prison Director of Bubanza, Salvator Ngendahayo, recently admitted that he was very enthusiastic about implementing this circular and improving the living conditions in his prison, but that handcuffs crucially lack for wardens to escort detainees to the courtroom. The sad reality is therefore that people, whose guilt has not yet been objectively established, end up languishing in prison because unable to assist to their hearing. The Bubanza Prison occupancy rate – 430% – is amongst the highest in the country. The country’s penitentiary administration is significantly under-resourced: there is only one truck to transport prisoners from and to courts; and, quite frankly, after seeing the state of the vehicle at Mpimba Prison in late June 2009, we cannot seriously imagine that it can meet the demands of the country’s 6837 pre-trial detainees (May 2009 data from the Burundian Penitentiary Administration). Lack of transportation therefore means that, guilty or not, some detainees can stay up to 9 years waiting to appear before the judges. This is a “pretty” long period of time considering that life expectancy for men is equal to 51 years (according to 2009 data from the CIA World Fact book). This situation is unacceptable in the light of the principle of presumption of innocence which is enshrined in Burundi’s Constitution (art. 40).

Above: Bubanza Prison wardens lack handcuffs to escort detainees to the courtroom; here with defendants that IBJ volunteer lawyers eventually helped get released, July 2009. (Photo by Astère Muyango).

The urgency of the situation urged Déogratias Suzuguye, the Director of the Penitentiary Administration, whom IBJ delegation has already met twice, to invite IBJ to take part in a newly set up Task Force (“Plan d’action sur la maîtrise de la population carcérale 2009-2010”) whose main objective is to reduce prison overcrowding in 2009-2010. Specifically, the Task Force seeks to reduce pre-trial detention through improved coordination among the major stakeholders, institutional capacity-building and enhanced respect for the criminal procedures, in particular when it comes to delays. The hope is to expedite trials, have magistrates resort to pre-trial detention in the least cases possible, and make sure the accused are aware of their rights and legally assisted throughout the proceeding. This is a formidable window of opportunity for IBJ which, three years after its initial trip to Burundi, clearly has had an impact on building a climate for reform in Burundi.

Above: From left to right: Karen Tse, IBJ Founder and CEO, Déogratias Suzuguye, the Director of the Penitentiary Administration and Astère Muyango, IBJ Burundi Fellow and Country Manager meeting on June 26th, 2009. (Photo by Fanny Cachat)

Above: Informing people in Bubanza of the upcoming roundtable event (Photo by Claire Habimana)

The group was finally made up of around 20 participants who discussed the central theme of pre-trial detention, and by extension the one of prison overpopulation. After a quick introduction by the Province Governor’s first secretary, it was first highlighted that prison overcrowding reaches an unprecedented level in Bubanza with 472 detainees for only 100 places available as for June 2009. Various explanations for this phenomenon were put to the light such as the lack of human and material resources, the absence of adequate training and, more worrying, cases of corruption. Participants were then split up in 4 groups corresponding to the 4 represented category of actors so as to find out possible remedies to that predicament. General suggestions were proposed like the increase of the State commitment in favour of the judicial system, bringing additional resources at their disposal. However, those broad solutions were deemed insufficient for the two organizers; that’s why participants were encouraged to devise quick and easily applicable measures that, as part of Burundi judicial system, they can commit to implement.

Above: Roundtable participants breaking out into small working groups to brainstorm concrete solutions to Bubanza prison overcrowding (Photo by Claire Habimana)

Results are very promising. Lawyers were the promptest to react: they suggested to take benefit of the judiciary vacation, in August, to visit Bubanza prison and point out irregular imprisonments or cases that could benefit from bail. Those cases would be then presented to a special council that could deliberate on their fate. The penitentiary administration was very keen to play the game and said they were eager to facilitate interviews with detainees. Magistrates were more dependent of their hierarchy’s approval to confirm their participation, but were not opposed to such a session held under their presidency. APRODH and IBJ were delighted by such news and promised to take part to this effort by respectively financing travel and accommodation fees for lawyers. The day also ended in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere with the widespread feeling that things significantly moved forward during the day.

Above: Lawyers from Bujumbura, Magistrates, Prosecutors, Police Officers and Prison Officials from Bubanza joining together to propose and implement concrete solutions to pre-trial detention. (Photo by Claire Habimana)

Lawyers actually went back in August 12th and 13th in Bubanza. The first day was dedicated to consulting cases and meeting pre-trial detainees. Numerous irregularities were observed during that session. Those were presented to judges the day after. 7 imprisoned people were immediately released on bail. A total of 45 prisoners were freed in August from Bubanza prison, 9 of them serving the end of their sentence, but 10 being acquitted and 26 being granted bail. It is clear that this roundtable had a major impact on the outcome. All that to conclude that even with restricted means, good willingness and individual commitment can lead to tremendous improvements and plant the seeds for a systematic reform of the criminal justice system.

Above: From left to right: Lawyers Patrick Nukuri, Léonce Nimenya and Sonia Ndikumasabo, the young faces of hope of the Burundian criminal justice system (Photo by Claire Habimana)