Congratulations are in order for our 2008 JusticeMakers fellows who have been featured in a recent article in the Swazi Observer. The newspaper highlights the efforts of a local JusticeMakers fellow, Buhle Angelo Dube, but also gives a brief profile on each of our other seven fellows.

Click here to see the full Swazi Observer coverage of the JusticeMakers 2008 competition.

Buhle is fighting to prevent corruption, torture and police brutality that occurs in the Swazi National Courts by challenging relevant cases and getting them transferred to the Constitutional Courts. He aims to amend the Constitution of Swaziland to prevent ordered canings as part of a sentence. He also hopes to get help from the media in raising awareness about these blatant violations of human rights. To view Buhle’s project proposal in its entirety, click here.

And that’s not all, last week we were delighted to hear that the Karachi Bar Association awarded one of our 2008 JusticeMakers fellows, Malik Tahir Iqbal, with a “Shield of Performance” for the achievement of winning JusticeMakers 2008, presented by the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

Tahir’s project targets the hundreds of children who are languishing in Pakistan’s prisons due to the inefficiencies of its Juvenile Justice System. These children are subject to inhumane punishment as well as torture, not to mention they are kept in the same prison facilities as adults which leaves them vulnerable to physical, mental and sexual abuse. Tahir’s long term plans include ensuring that juveniles receive necessary legal aid, keeping an accurate record of the number and condition of juvenile offenders, and supporting the opening of much-needed borstal and reformatory institutions. Click here to see Tahir’s JusticeMakers project proposal.

I think I speak on behalf of the entire IBJ team when I say we’re glad to see that the tremendous efforts of our JusticeMakers’ fellows are getting the recognition that they deserve from the international community!