Sanjeewa Liyanage and Professor Wang Xiu Mei

Mr. Liyanage began by giving a comprehensive description of where torture is brought up in international law, and eventually went on to define torture, citing the UN Convention Against Torture. He explained how the Convention prohibits investigative torture, detailing torture clauses in various international treaties and statutes. He described how freedom from torture is non-derogable, meaning there are no exceptional circumstances whatsoever that may be invoked to justify torture, including war, threat of war, internal political instability, public emergency, terrorist acts, violent crime, and any form of armed conflict. From there, bringing the argument back to the students in the room, Mr. Liyanage highlighted that torture is prohibited in several countries in Asia, including China, and in particular under Chinese criminal law and criminal procedure law.

IBJ’s International Program Director Sanjeewa Liyanage and Beijing Normal University

Mr. Liyanage also spoke at lengths about the current global torture situation. He mentioned where, when, and how torture is practiced, and that torture still regularly occurs in countries where it is expressly prohibited by law. He then posed the contradiction that there are several organizations around the world that work on torture issues, but they, for the most part, address the problem after the torture has already occurred. Instead, Mr. Liyanage argues, the most effective way to prevent torture from happening is to provide the accused with early access to competent and committed counsel. That way, with the presence of a lawyer at the time of arrest, a collaborative dialogue with stakeholders in the justice sector, and public awareness of individuals’ rights, we can prevent torture before it begins. He backed this argument by juxtaposing it with concrete examples of how IBJ programs have contributed significantly to reducing torture as an investigative tool in many countries and localities where IBJ lawyers are actively engaged in safeguarding basic legal rights of ordinary people. Finally, Mr. Liyanage concluded with an optimistic pronouncement that the solution is before us, and that torture can, indeed, be ended during the 21st century. He argued that, at one point, slavery and the apartheid were viewed as something that could not be easily brought to an end. But relentless and strategic efforts by social movements have ended these practices. He explained that to end torture we need to have the will to do so and a viable strategy, remarking that the strategy employed by IBJ could be expanded to reach this goal.

Masters and PhD Law Students at Beijing Normal University

The lecture was very warmly received, and the students confidently posed questions. Many of the law students were so impressed, that they wondered how they could get involved with IBJ efforts in China.

Participants at Coimbatore Conference

A diverse group of trainers came to speak to the participants on a variety of topics throughout the day.  Sanjeewa Liyanage, International Bridges to Justice’s Program Director, flew in from Geneva, Switzerland and began the program with an introduction to IBJ, its purpose, goals, past events, and activities.  In a post-training survey, participants said they found this helped them better understand the organization as a whole.

Sanjeewa Liyange, International Program Director IBJ, Geneva speaking at the Mahe Event

After a short tea break, speaker Dr. K. P. Kylasanath Pillai, a Senior Advocate from Supreme Court of India, a recognized face in Kerela amongst Legal Fraternity and Academia, spoke to participants about the importance of cross-examination and how to effectively cross-examine a witness.  During this presentation, a training video from the IBJ Legal Training Resource Center was shown to the participating attorneys. Overall, participants thought this session was the most relevant and useful to their careers and rated it as the best of the sessions. They found Mr. Pillai to be a very motivational speaker.

Dr. K.P. Kylasnath Pillai, Senior Advocate Speaking at Mahe

Following this, Ajay Verma, Fellow IBJ, spoke on the client and lawyer relationship. In particular he gave a step-by-step instruction on how to conduct interviews and spoke on his personal experiences with clients.  Participants felt the information, teaching methods, and materials for this session were very good and effective.

Ajay Verma, Advocate & an IBJ Fellow,spokeon the lawyer-client relationship

After lunch, the conference resumed with a session on defense strategies by Mr. Pillai, who spoke on the various ways to effectively defend your client against the prosecution in trial. Hon’ble Judge K. Uthirapathy, Member Secretary Union Territory of Pondicherry Legal Services Authority, also came to the conference as a Guest Speaker and followed Mr. Pillai with his talk on the “Role of Lawyers in Initiation of Criminal Cases” and ethics and professional responsibility of attorneys. One participant said, “Learning about the professional responsibility and ethics of an attorney is very important these days and I think IBJ did well by presenting this in this conference.” This keynote address by Hon’ble Judge K. Uthirapathy was also inspiring to us; it made us realize how lawyers can be a strong support to the Criminal Justice System. His enthusiasm and passion was reflected by his stories and poise.

Hon’ble Judge K. Uthirapathy speaks at Coimbatore Conference

The final session after another short tea break was a reflection on what was learned and developed during the day’s conference. This Visioning exercise? also focused on what the participants thought should be improved in the Indian justice system and what their future goals are. This encouraged and motivated participants to take what they learned during the training and utilize it effectively in their respective practices.

On the whole, participants left saying they would recommend the training to others because it was interesting and they themselves are very likely to attend another IBJ conference if given the opportunity to do so in the future. Participants came from all regions and age groups– some just started their practice and have only worked on one case, while others had seventeen to twenty years of experience. Most fascinatingly, the participants in Mahe, a small town where there is only one judge who handles all kinds of cases, were particularly unique and diverse, including the president of the Bar Association and paralegals.  This inspired some interesting interaction because the Union Territory of Pondicherry Legal Services Authority (UTPLSA) is the only authority to have started the Paralegal System effectively in their area. The UTPLSA has trained the paralegals, mostly women, to help the fellow women in small matters, andit is said to be working effectively.

In all, the lawyers gathered not only to learn from the trainers, but also to share their own wisdom that they have acquired from a number of years of practice. Their individual input and feedback throughout the conferences added diversity and light to the events. Those less outspoken and more reserved even took initiative by the end of the day and actively participated. The success of such events is vital to the development and education of lawyers in India. With this positivity and drive, IBJ India is conducting our next event; a panel discussion on July 18^th at Kotputli, Rajasthan

Group Pictures of Participants & Trainers at Coimbatore

Group Pictures of Participants & Trainers at Mahe, Union Territory of Puducherry, India

Blog by Anisha Singh, IBJ India Intern

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.

After the prison we headed to the Provincial Court and met with the Chief Prosecutor, the President of the Court, and an investigating judge. We had very useful discussions with the Chief Prosecutor and the President of the Court, who appreciated our work in the province. I also learned that the court in Pursat has started to assign cases directly to our IBJ lawyer when the Defendant needs a lawyer and does not have one. In such circumstances, the presiding Judge instructs the court clerk to contact IBJ’s lawyer to provide representation to the accused. As a result of this system, Sithann had 127 cases as of the first week of February and informed me that this number is steadily increasing. He looked overwhelmed but determined. Sithann is assisted by his investigator but mentioned that it has become a very difficult job for him to investigate and properly prepare for a case when he also has to represent clients in court at the same time.

At the end of the trip to the three provinces, I was very pleased to see that IBJ’s provincial offices in Cambodia are beginning to function as a proper criminal defense legal aid office in a developed system with courts directly assigning cases to IBJ lawyers. The only difference is that there is only one lawyer per office and the number of cases are steadily increasing. The new Cambodian Criminal Procedure Code stipulates that it is mandatory for an accused persons charged with a felony to be represented by an attorney. This poses a greater challenge to the justice system, as well as to legal aid service providing organizations. In Cambodia, IBJ is the only NGO dedicated to provide criminal legal aid to all accused persons. Other legal aid organizations’ services include civil legal aid or target specialized groups such as women and/or children. Increasing demand for legal aid in criminal cases is not met by the present services. Altogether my trip to Cambodia was memorable, inspiring, and gave me hope for IBJ’s efforts to make a real difference throughout the criminal justice system in the future.

When we left Prey Veng one afternoon we began a long journey to go to Pursat through Phnom Penh. It was about a two-hour trip from Prey Veng to Phnom Penh. The road was rough and in the middle of the trip we needed to cross a river through a ferry, as there was no bridge at that point. As we began to cross our vehicle lined up with many other vehicles, including lorries, containers, and buses – all preparing to drive onto the ferry. While we were waiting to drive onto the ferry people were busy trying to convince waiting travelers to purchase their goods displayed on trays and metal basins.

I was not brave enough to devour some delicacies offered, like deep fried grasshoppers. Instead I purchased a peeled, cut, and ready to eat green mango and enjoyed it thoroughly. Eating a sour green mango reminded me of my childhood growing up in a village/town called Hendala on the outskirts of Sri Lanka. My friends and I used to throw wooden sticks at mango trees to get some mangoes to the ground so that we could enjoy them. This occasionally resulted in mangoes, or sticks, landing on rooftops of houses who actually owned these mango trees. When this happened we had to quickly run for cover before someone came out of the house to see what was going on. We first traveled to Phnom Penh from Prey Veng, which took us over two hours. We arrived just in time for a meeting with a potential donor and partner at the office in Phnom Penh. Afterwards we set off for Pursat. Paul Rickard joined us in Phnom Penh for the second leg of the journey.

The trip to Pursat rekindled my childhood memories of Northern Sri Lanka. When one travels from Kampong Chhnang to Pursat, you see flat and dry land, lined with palm trees reminiscent of Palmyras. This was my memory in and around Jaffna when my father took me along a number of trips to the northern region of the country when I was between four and five years old. It took us about four hours to reach Pursat without a break. We arrived at the same hotel Vandeth and I stayed in last year. A spacious room with two large beds, air-conditioning, and hot water for $13 per night. Quite a deal! My whole body was aching after nearly eight hours of travel through three provinces – Prey Veng, Phnom Penh and Kampong Chhnang. I was desperately in need of a good night sleep and I got exactly that. The next morning I was joined by IBJ’s DRC2 lawyer, Chhoun Sithann, during breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Again, you could see Vandeth’s humor as he attempted to talk to the local waitress at the restaurant in English instead of Khmer. He told her that speaking with foreigners was a good chance to practice and improve her English. By the end of the conversation, the young waitress could take all of our orders in English.

After breakfast we then set off to the Provincial Prison in Pursat. We first visited the administrative building of the prison, which is a house primitively built with metal sheets on the roof. The prison Director was a subordinate of Vandeth when he was working in the military. This was my second meeting with the Director. When I finally met him, I immediately realized that he was not well. He looked like he had aged many years during last 12 months. He then told me that he was very sick and is under medication, which caused him to lose a significant amount of weight. He was very cooperative with us. The Director was speaking with Chhoun Sithann about the issues surrounding pre-trial detainees. He even opened a printed copy of the Cambodian Criminal Procedure Code and began discussing its provisions protecting rights of accused persons. After this conversation we then decided to visit the prison medical centre. I remembered this place well. The former young health worker named Davy Chau, whom I met there last year, was no longer present as he was pursuing his studies in Phnom Penh. It was Devy who convinced me that urgent assistance is needed to equip the prison health centre. Last year he told me that even medicine for a common headache or fever was not available in the health clinic, and that there was no stethoscope or medicine to dress wounds. Since I returned to Geneva, Davy had written me emails every other week reminding me of these needs. He showed me that it was a health centre without medicine, any basic equipment for a health worker, and without running water. He pointed to a hole in the wooden wall of the health centre and told me that was the place where there should be a tap and a basin to wash hands. When I visited this time, Davy was not there. I saw a sink on the ground, ready to be mounted on the wall. This time, I went there prepared with basic medical equipment and medicine. The older health worker at the prison health centre was beaming with happiness when she saw the medicines and equipment. It was a pity that Davy was no longer there to see that he had finally achieved what he wanted in taking efforts to make the health centre functional.

Thereafter, we visited the prison and the Director told us that the Red Cross had recently installed clean drinking water in each building where a number of cells are housed. We then stumbled upon an English class that was in progress, which was run by a fellow young prisoner.

He had written some notes on a white board in beautiful handwriting and then proceeded to demonstrate his teaching skills. This young man looked very enthusiastic and confident to teach his fellow inmates English. We were very encouraged. In this English class, Sithann met with three of his clients, who agreed to pose with him to take a few photos.

I have always wondered how these lawyers will adjust to working in remote provinces with a slow pace of life. It was truly touching to hear Vannophea’s answer and to know that he does not plan to go back into the city to practice law. There are other indirect advantages too that one gains by living in a province. One of my young lawyer colleagues in a province told me: “If you are looking for a girlfriend, if you want to find a pretty girl, you go to Phnom Penh…but if you want to find a good girl, you find them in provinces.” We laughed aloud after this discussion. After Vannophea’s statement, I was unsure of the general mindset of other IBJ lawyers working in provinces. When I visited them in other provincial offices, I posed the same question: “how do you find it working in provinces?” They all had the same answer: “tough but we like working here!” This response made me think of how lucky IBJ is to find these committed young lawyers to work for us. Then I also realized, while technically they are working for IBJ, they are actually also working for their own people; people who are the most vulnerable and forgotten in society.

I am confident that the motivation for them to continue their hard work comes from deep within, from the meaning of their work and seeing how their work directly impacts the lives of their clients and their families.
In Prey Veng, when I visited IBJ’s DRC3 in Cambodia, I was again touched by the commitment of my colleagues there. They were telling me that sometimes they have to travel over 100km to interview a single client, and that the roads they often travel are unsafe and in terrible conditions. Their caseloads are increasing every day. In Prey Veng, the IBJ office is in a strategic location, right opposite the Provincial Court.

The office is quite simple, consisting of a wooden house with metal sheets covering the roof. IBJ lawyer there, So Bengtharun, was telling me how difficult for him it is to work in his office in the afternoon when the heat of the sun is reflected from the metal sheets below the window of his first floor office room. There is no air conditioning but a tiny fan, and Cambodia is generally very hot with temperatures often rising above 35 degrees Celsius. The IBJ lawyer there has moved into the province with his young wife and child. He said that despite all of the difficulties, he is enjoying his life there, especially the fresh air and slow pace. When I visited the prison at Prey Veng, the chief prison guard emphasized the importance of early access to counsel which will result in a lower number of detainees at the prison. I was again happy to hear these words from a prison official. There is growing awareness among public officials that the actual laws on the books need to be implemented throughout Cambodia.

Ouk Vandeth accompanied me throughout my entire trip. He obviously planned every detail of the trip in advance, including various important meetings that he set up for me to interact with key officials. IBJ is blessed with persons like Vandeth. He makes a constant effort to ensure that IBJ is working efficiently on the ground. Whenever he visits a provincial DRC, the first thing he does is sit at a computer in the office and directly go through the case files. He then talks with the staff, especially the lawyer and the investigator, about the status of all of these cases and issues related to each proceeding. He meticulously goes through the case management spreadsheet and amends all necessary records. Only after he performs this task does he talk with the staff about other issues. Indeed, Vandeth is a man of many talents, and a man with many contacts and connections throughout Cambodia. His past interactions with the police force and military in Cambodia have created a large group of persons that he is connected to who hold important positions throughout the nation. For example, one of his former colleagues in the military is now the deputy governor of a province where IBJ is working. This person was extremely kind-hearted, as he insisted that Vandeth and I go to his home to have lunch before we left the province. When we went to his place, his family and close friends joined us to enjoy a delicious meal prepared by his wife. We all sat on the floor around a mat where food was placed.

Vandeth also has his own unique way of interacting with people that always seems to leave a lasting impression. Whether it is a high-level government official or an ordinary vendor, he is always capable of engaging in small talk and making fun out of the situation. Paul Rickard, who is assisting IBJ and Vandeth with our Cambodia Country Program, was telling me that he misses out on many jokes Vandeth makes due to the language barrier. Although Paul is learning Khmer, he was telling me that his Khmer is not good enough to follow Vandeth’s jokes. Such small talk and a little bit of fun, coupled with the non-threatening smiling face of Vandeth, work well in building the foundation for many important relationships throughout Cambodia.
He is a person who understands the intricacies of Cambodian society well. This wisdom he possess, coupled with his experience with different disciplinary forces, and the legal knowledge and skills that he has obtained, form a very unique and special individual. His non-threatening approach has worked well to develop strategic and trusting relationships with civil society organizations as well as with the Government. I truly enjoyed every minute that I spent with Vandeth during my journey throughout Cambodia.

Visiting IBJ offices in provinces was something I eagerly awaited. My first visit was to Takeo where IBJ established its first provincial Defender Resource Centre (DRC). I was especially looking forward to meeting our legal fellow at the office, Po Vannophea, who I heard was seriously injured due to an accident. I heard the story that Vannophea went to represent clients in court even with an injured leg following the accident. My first stop upon arriving in Takeo was the prison. I met the Director of the Takeo Prison, a very kind and pleasant man, who has been managing the prison for last 27 years. He remembered me from my last visit and welcomed me warmly. We sat in the wooden chairs outside his office and conversed. I could see the same blackboard where basic prison statistics were being updated daily.

The Director happily accepted donations IBJ made to the prison office as well as the health clinic. We donated some paper for the office and basic medicine such as paracetamol. While talking with the prison director, IBJ lawyer Po Vannophea joined us in conversation. He looked well despite being treated for his leg injuries the previous day. We discussed the situation of pre-trial detainees in the prison with the Director. He was glad that we now have a lawyer present in the province to assist prisoners and detainees. I then asked him about a particular detainee I had seen during a visit the previous year. This particular prisoner is a completely mute person who has been in pretrial detention for five years. I did not remember his name, but I remembered his story and wondered if he was still housed in the same prison facility. He was previously in a prison cell shared by another 80 or so inmates when I met him last year. When he finally raised his head and our eyes met I saw a thousand expressions in his eyes asking for help in some way, shape, or form. He looked dejected, lacking morale and hope, and his eyes were begging for help to get him out of the misery he was living in. When I asked the prison Director about him during this visit, to my disappointment, the Director told me that he is still in the prison and that the court was eventually planning to release him upon the receipt of a pardon from a higher authority.

When I told the Director that I would like to see him, to my surprise, he pointed his finger at a person wearing a hat who was working outside the prison, helping to build a wall between the prison compound and adjacent government offices. Upon seeing him I was not sure if he remembered me, but I certainly remembered him. When he was summoned to the dilapidated office of the Director, he looked very different from last year when I saw him. He actually looked energetic and hopeful. There was no dejected expression on his face and he was smiling at me. I seized the opportunity and took a photo with him, wanting to capture that moment and remember it for all time.

The only way that I could communicate with him was through eye contact, and after exchanging a few meaningful glances he then went back to work. After my meeting with the Director, I saw my old friend in the distance who had resumed helping to build the wall – again, he looked at me and I waved my hand in return. To my pleasant surprise, he smiled and waved his hand in return. I told the IBJ lawyer in the province to closely follow his case and do whatever possible to get him released, as there have been no charges against him during last six years, and he lacks the ability to advocate for himself because he is completely mute. I also later learned about the sad irony this particular prisoner is facing. His wife has become mentally unstable and if he is released he will not be able to return to her. As there is a severe lack of rehabilitation facilities for persons with communication disabilities like him, I am now wondering what challenges he will face once he is released.

After visiting this prison, I visited the Takeo Provincial Court and met with my good friend, the Deputy Prosecutor. When I first visited Takeo in August 2007 and met him, his profound words struck me. He requested that IBJ start an office in Takeo and place a full-time lawyer to defend accused persons. He told me that as a conscientious and law-abiding prosecutor, he could not allow defendants to come before the court without a lawyer representing them. He was very direct and genuine in his expressions, and his appeal to IBJ was straightforward and honest. I remember this moment vividly and later conveyed this episode to the WISE Partnership representatives when IBJ was looking for their assistance in funding the Cambodia Program. When I met him this time, I reminded him of our conversation with him and his appeal to me several years back. He told me that he is very happy that now IBJ has a placed a lawyer in the Takeo province in an effort to assist in the defense of accused persons.

Later during the day I was again talking to Po Vannophea, IBJ’s Legal Fellow at the DRC in Takeo. He has not fully recovered from his accident, but he was beaming with enthusiasm and energy. He looked like a very confident and competent young lawyer ready to face any challenge. I was then telling him that funding for the Takeo DRC as well as other DRC’s in two other provinces will be guaranteed until the end of 2010, and that IBJ will be actively looking for funding opportunities this year for 2011. He then said, “If IBJ’s office closes down, I will not go back to Phnom Penh to look for a job. I will practice law in the Takeo province and continue to assist people here.” This statement is extremely significant as it relates to the overall nature of legal practice in Cambodia, where the trend is for young lawyers to move to Phnom Penh to earn higher salaries and practice corporate law. I guess most law student in the world tend to have similar plans and often that is what has inspired them to study law. In Cambodia, there are very few lawyers in the provinces, leaving those who live in rural communities vulnerable to legal rights abuses. The trend is for lawyers to move to Phnom Penh and build their legal career there. IBJ’s strategy was to reverse this trend by trying to persuade competent lawyers to practice in provinces. At least we now have four young, energetic and committed lawyers working in our provincial offices and effectuating positive changes.

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I always look forward to visiting Cambodia. In early February this year I arrived in Phnom Penh. As I was holding a Sri Lankan passport, I was given “special treatment” by the immigration officials at the Phnom Penh Airport when they asked me to wait until they checked my passport and made sufficient photocopies. When I finally passed through customs, Ouk Vandeth, IBJ’s Cambodia Country Manager was there waiting for me as usual. The weather in Phnom Penh was unusually mild for Cambodian standards. Vandeth did not talk very much at first, and later asked me questions about my family and children. He is truly a legal warrior but also a devout family man. Vandeth is the father of seven children and also has ten grandchildren. Relishing the importance of family, Vandeth cherishes family memories. He even had photos of my two children and Karen’s two children stuck on the wall behind his chair in the office. There was also an old photo of him and I, taken around 1999 in Hong Kong when we first met during a human rights training session organized by the Asian Human Rights Commission. We both looked significantly younger in that picture and it was interesting to see old memories of the both of us. When that picture was taken, I never thought our paths would cross again. Today, however, Vandeth and I are close colleagues and part of a great team of people from around the world working to “eradicate torture in the 21st Century.”

The following day we conducted a daylong training event at the Phnom Penh office attended by 18 staff members. It was an important event where staff from different IBJ provincial offices met each other for the first time. It was a time for people to get to know each other beyond their names and where they came from. They talked about our mutual commitment to the cause for which we are working and the significance of our work in the provinces where there is often not a single resident lawyer. They also tried to imagine the kind of justice system that they would like to see 20 to 25 years from now and formulated their goals and action plans accordingly in an effort to make these dreams a reality.



It was a Sunday and in the late afternoon, all staff got ready to leave for their respective provinces. For some it was a two to four hour trip to return home. For Rattanakiri staff of Legal Aid Cambodia (LAC), it was a ten-hour trip to the Northeastern hills where they were mainly providing legal representation to indigenous people. I felt privileged to be with this group of energetic and young individuals. There was determination and courage in them although they were working in very challenging and harsh conditions in provinces, where lawyer are most needed today in Cambodia. These individuals are making a difference. They are sending a strong message to the legal community in Cambodia that it is your moral and ethical responsibility to help your own people in Cambodia, especially in these remote provinces where your assistance could mean the difference between life and death, prison or freedom.

Fast forward one year.  A grant from the European Union.  A highly-qualified, ambitious team in Bujumbura.  A council of advisors keen to create opportunities and open doors.  The posters have made their way to the walls of police station, prisons and courts around the country.

Above: The head of the Central Market Police Station and IBJ Program Director Sanjeewa Liyanage in a holding cell, with the advisement of rights posters on display.  (Photo by Astere Muyango.)

Above: The IBJ team with Andre Mbayabaya, the director of the Gitega Prison (third from the left).  He requested enough copies of the advisement of rights poster so he could display them throughout the prison.  (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer.)

Above: Recent recepients of IBJ Advisements of Rights Poster in the Ngozi province.  (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer.)  

Above: 2008 JusticeMakers Finalists Carine Murekerisoni and Olivier Niyonizigiye assisted Fanny Cachat and IBJ in preparations for our July 2009 Training Event in Bujumbura.  Among their contributions – a version of Burundi’s latest Penal Code (on right), which IBJ was subsequently able to distribute widely to participants in the training event.  (Photo by Laura Dix.)

The latter of the two contributions might seem trivial. It was anything but. Though many people in Burundi were aware of the code – few had a copy they could reference. Among those in need –  Bernard Sekaganda – the head of the judicary police of Burundi.

Recognizing these challenges, IBJ Burundi Fellow Astere Muyango ordered 100 copies printed and bound for distribution at the training.

The document created a sensation.  Though the 100 copies nearly doubled the number of participants in attendance, the IBJ team quickly ran out as defenders, magistrates, police and prison officials sought the code on behalf of their colleagues in the provinces.

After the training had finished, IBJ’s staff in Bujumbura had yet to satisfy the demand. Several times a day, people who had heard about the training stopped by the office to request copies of the code.  They would knock on the door, chat with Astere and the IBJ team, and leave with a promise that more copies of the code would be available shortly.

Above: IBJ Program Director Sanjeewa Liyanage with Bernard Sekaganda – the head of the judicary police in Burundi, a participant in the training, and the recipient of a hard copy version of the new Burundi Penal Code. (Photo by Nathalie Mohadjer.)

IBJ has since printed 50 additional copies and – through the subsequent distribution – is becoming a long-overdue resource that the Burundi legal aid community desperately needs.

Sometimes the key to human rights reform is simply putting the law in the hands of the people empowered to uphold it.