Ms. Bijoya Chnada, advocate for IBJ Justicemakers, introducing the workshop to participants

On the 1st of June 2014, IBJ India organised a one day workshop dealing with the contentious issue of ‘Custodial Violence – its Prevention and Remedies‘ in the state of West Bengal. The workshop took place at the Indian Institute of Training and Development (IITD) in Joka, Kolkata and focused primarily on raising awareness and sensitising the various stakeholders of the criminal justice system in West Bengal. The various sessions held throughout the day sought out experts, social workers, direct functionaries and other key stakeholders in the correctional home system. It endeavoured to cull out a comprehensive reflection of the state of affairs prevailing within the confines of the correctional homes that abet torture. The sessions aimed to improve the competence of the prison administration and correctional home settings in West Bengal in the hope to see through the prevention of custodial torture.

The training sessions saw the appearance of stalwarts in the prison administration system such as Mr. Adhir Sharma, IPS (Additonal Director General of Prisons and Inspector General of West Bengal Correctional Services). Moreover, Prof. Sujao Bhadra made presentations to address the issues, prospects and challenges that are being confronted by the correctional services system in West Bengal.

Prof. Sujato Bhadra answering participants’ queries

The prisons of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal are currently governed by a very progressive legislation called the West Bengal Correctional Services Act, 1992. Enacted w.e.f 2000, the act seeks to impart human dignity, rights to a fair trial and the due process of law, entitlements to the access to justice and after care services to the prisoners. The act seeks to turn the aim of incarceration from being retributive to reformative. In doing so, it suggests education, sports and cultural activities as avenues to achieve such reformation.

However, the implementation of this progressive legislation is hindered by a few problems such as overcrowded prisons, which consists a large number of undertrial prisoners. Other issues include: the lack of legal awareness on part of the undertrials, indigence and lack of familial support. More specific to the correctional homes in West Bengal are the concerns around the high number of Bangladeshi nationals serving prison terms who are unable to be repatriated due to lack of documentation.

Another major problem is the lack of an effective after-release system consequently leading to a situation where prisoners who are convicted for life term offences are affected far more heavily by such incarceration in comparison to other prison inmates. This typically is the case as most life term prisoners leave the prison with scant savings, poor mental and physical health and almost no means to reintegrate themselves into the mainstream society due to a prolonged deprivation. They have no form of health or unemployment benefits and have a significantly lower chance of finding a permanent job due to the label of being a convict.

The workshop also delved deeper into other issues such as custodial torture and early access to counsel as an effective preventive strategy to impart dignity and integrity to those still in incarceration.

The workshop was able to bring to the forefront a diverse range of issues and further enlighten the prison authorities by building awareness, doing training and having discussions around the ways to deal with the challenges they face in a more effective and uniform manner.

Mr. Adhir Sharma, IPS -Additonal Director General of Prisons and Inspector General of West Bengal Correctional Services, interacting with the participants

IBJ-Cambodia held a two-day event in Phnom Penh on September 25 and 26 with all staff, including lawyers, investigators and office administrators around the provinces.

On the 25^th, the focus was on IBJ’s internal policies, and on introducing IBJ’s Child Protection Policy. In the first part, Ms. Charlène Buisson, Program Officer, discussed the Human Resource policies and latest performance assessments with the staff . In the second one, Jeanne Salome, Program Officer, started a module on IBJ’s Child Protection Policy, raising the importance of an efficient response from IBJ staff to any kind of harm or abuse children might face while developing our work. Examples, such as securing disclosure of information in juvenile cases, were raised by the staff. Mr. Chhay Ros, representative of AusAid advocated towards the expansion of the Child Protection network with several organizations in Cambodia, which IBJ is glad to be a part of.In the second half of the morning, Mr. Ouk Vandeth, IBJ Fellow and Country Manager in Cambodia, and Mr. Brian Rohan, Special Projects Director, started a debate on IBJ’s mission and advocacy efforts for universal access to legal aid in Cambodia.

In the second half of the day, IBJ invited other local partners to share their experiences in the discussion on concrete cases in the fieldwork. The session had representatives from East-West Management Institute, Vishnu Law Group, Samreth Law Group and AusAid, who all brought examples on their current policies to tackle challenges like corruption and improve cooperation between local organizations.

In the second day, the staff took part in a workshop entitled “Community Legal Education Methodologies: Strengthening Internal Capacities and Sharing Legal Experiences”. As the name suggest, the event was an attempt for lawyers and assistants to share their experiences with community education and to revise techniques on how to engage more participants in the presentation.

In the first module, Vinicius Haesbaert, practitioner in Community Legal Education in Brazil, and Ke Sam Oeurn led the discussion . The session started with an introduction of our results and main challenges. The level of illiteracy in the audience is high; access is difficult in remote areas; and some participants, ethnic minorities, do not speak Khmer.

The workshop started with the Helim Stick group dynamic, an ice-breaking activity to foster communication within a team. Afterward, an initial brainstorming on where do they envision the educational sessions in five years set the mood for what was to come. The staff could envisage sessions that reach more people, in more districts, in the most comprehensive and inclusive fashion they could design. “The concept of street is very important to our work. The street is the place where everybody is free. Our mission is to make them aware of their rights. When they do that, they will carry on fighting against injustices. Our mission is to make all citizens knowledgeable about their own rights”, said Mr. Vandeth in the opening module.

The second part of the morning was an energetic module on Public-Speaking Techniques carried by Alma Abraham and Jolita Moeung from East-West Management Institute. Many topics were covered, such as the importance of knowing the audience, projecting your voice and feeling comfortable in the space.

After the lunch break, Vinicius and Sam covered various methodologies for delivering an educational campaign on legal issues. The group discussed how feasible it was to implement different techniques, such as brainstorming, group discussions and even theaters. Everybody took part in the group dynamics, including a theatrical performance to teach people about the criminal procedure. Based on Theater of the Oppressed, theatrical forms developed by the Brazilian actor, Augusto Boal, the audience could take part in the play and change the characters destiny by suggesting a positive change to their oppressive experiences.

Brian Rohan wrapped up the session, highlighting the importance of trainings for IBJ to continue delivering high quality work .

The two-day workshop has been very productive, the IBJ staff was very active in raising questions, concerns and suggestions to improve their daily work. They appreciated the different speakers and topics of the workshop.  It was also a great opportunity to discuss about IBJ Cambodia sustainability and global strategy for the upcoming years and to share about the different views and conception of the future legal aid system in Cambodia.

Pictures by Olle Eriksson Photography

 This past March, Russian JusticeMakers Fellow Tatyana Kochetkova organized a seminar in her country on legal questions related to people living with AIDS. The purpose of this seminar was to attract greater attention from decision-makers  with regards to the aims of IBJ in Russia: assuring security and fair trials for those living with AIDS, and making sure that no discriminations occur. Two photo exhibitions were held at this event. The journalists who were present showed great interest in the activities that were exposed. Articles were published in two of the most important local newspapers about the action set up by JusticeMakers Fellow Tatyana Kochetkova.

These articles explain the legal problems that are connected with people that are affected by AIDS. The people who attended the seminar, and the readers of those newspaper articles, were able to understand that everyone shares equal rights, and that no discrimination should be tolerated.

The audience at the seminar was granted a cheerful ending: musicians had been called in to perform at this event. The people that had attended the seminar, among which were people living with HIV, members of their families, and experts of these human rights matters, all appreciated the event.

Most people then moved on to asking more precise questions to the IBJ volunteers who were present, and to the members of staff. The goals of the seminar were therefore matched very positively: the audience left knowing more about their rights, and feeling ready to  be able to defend them.

Kicking off the workshop were speeches by IBJ Fellow Ouk Vandeth as well as the Chief of the BAKC H.E. Chiv Song Hak, which led into the first of two main sessions, where lawyers and government officials introduced the procedures of accusations within the court, and evaluated the difficulties lawyers may face in relation to these accusations.

In the second half of the event, Mr. Hing Thirith, a Prosecutor from the Supreme Court, was the head speaker and articulated the procedure of investigation that takes place when in the role of an Investigating Judge. Following this,  a lawyer of the Royal Government of Cambodia spoke of the challenges a lawyer faces in the investigation stage

We saw an immense amount of interest from the crowd, with many questions being asked and problems being solved, with the facilitators, the speakers, and anyone else who may have been knowledgeable providing support through this portion of the workshop.

IBJ’s first collaboration with the BAKC resulted in a great achievement. To wind down the final moments of the workshop, the Secretary of State of MOJ, H.E. Sam Sophal, thanked all of the participants for such a keen and engaging experience, and expressed his enthusiasm with regards to the great success of the event. Through the continued alliance between IBJ and the BAKC we will be able to improve and upgrade the knowledge and awareness required for lawyers in relation to the accusation procedure as well as the investigative procedures in the system.

Participants gather as the first panel of speakers opens the workshop in Phnom Penh.
(Photo: IBJ)

Government officials and representatives of the Bar Association gather for the opening ceremonies
(Photo: IBJ)

Above: JusticeMakers intern Sibusiso Nhlabaisi gives instructions for an exercise to a breakout group of volunteer community police officers during a workshop on prisoners’ rights and minimal force in the village of Matsanjeni in southern Swaziland on Saturday, June 27. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis)

Above: JusticeMaker Buhle Dube, a law professor at the University of Swaziland, speaks to a group of volunteer police officers in the village of Matsanjeni in southern Swaziland during a workshop on prisoners’ rights and using minimal force on Saturday, June 27. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis)

The first workshop was at Matsanjeni where MP Qedusizi Ndlovu arranged a meeting with representatives of the local chiefs and around 30 community police.

Mr. Qedusizi acknowledged the reported incidents as cause for the workshop.

“What happened was that a young guy stole a chicken and when they pounced on him maybe he resisted arrest but being not trained they used excessive force and the person died.”

Refuting the claims, community police blamed a splinter group, which, they claimed, had killed four suspects in mob style punishments.

Clarifying the confusion one community policeman explained the situation.

“We do torture but we do not kill. Four people have been killed by members of the community who claim to be police,” he said.

Above: A group representative presents a list of challenges facing the police in the village of Matsanjeni during a JusticeMakers workshop in the village on Saturday, June 27. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis)

In Ngelane, minutes away from the border with South Africa, the high crime rate has led some residents to desperation.

Community police have been arrested for abuse but policeman Mhlanga Simon insisted extreme measures were necessary.

“We’ve decided that if we find you stealing our cattle we’ll kill you,” he said.

Above: JusticeMakers grant winner and University of Swaziland law professor Buhle Dube speaks to a group of volunteer community police officers on the use of minimal force in detaining and questioning suspects in the village of Ngelane on Sunday, June 28. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis)

Poor co-operation with state police and the perceived inadequacy of the law to protect the community were also cited as reasons for the use of torture. Samson Mdluli the chief of police in Ngelane confirmed some of this.

“The community police arrest these criminals and bring them to the state police but the state police does not call the community police to come and give evidence,” he said through a translator.

The breakdown in communication has forced community police to take the law into their own hands Mr. Mdluli continued.

“That has led to the community police having no confidence in the state police and that has led us to say what is the use of arresting a criminal who is going to be free tomorrow so let us just thrash them. Even though we appreciate that is wrong but that is the only way to ease our vengeance against the crime,” he said.

Dube promptly stepped in to clarify when police could use force.

“If you apply maximum force you are wrong and against the law. No force can be used to punish but it can be used to arrest a dangerous subject. Only the courts can punish,” he said during the discussions.

Above: JusticeMakers intern and University of Swaziland law student Gugu Simelane, right, addresses the challenges faced by the community police officers of Ngelane, Swaziland during a workshop in the village on Sunday, June 28. (Photo by Nicholas Loomis)

The JusticeMakers, accompanied by Bayo Akinade, special counsel to Advocates International, of Pretoria held discussions with both communities and law students from the University of Swaziland gave presentations on the Swazi court system and constitution including the concepts of bail presumption of innocence and how to use the minimum necessary force.

Robert Mkhatjwa, the head of community police at Matsanjeni, claimed the workshop helped educate the community police.
“It has equipped us with the necessary knowledge as far as apprehending a suspect is concerned.

“For now we’ll be very cautious as we are apprehending suspects because we know the grounds and we know the law now thanks to JusticeMakers,” he said through a translator.

Above: JusticeMakers grant winner and University of Swaziland law professor Buhle Dube speaks to a group of community police officers in the village of Ngelane in Southern Swaziland on Sunday, June 28. (Photo by Walker Gunning.)