By Marcena Winterscheidt In December of 2007, Ary* borrowed $5,000 from a local middleman to invest in property. The man worked in the front office of the provincial hall, a position of influence and...
IBJ promotes bridges to justice. But who is justice for? And what does justice mean? Is it for the victim, to see a guilty person punished? Is justice for the accused, to ensure his...
By Charlène Buisson After more than four and a half years spent in prison as an innocent man, Sopheak*—a husband and father—finally attained freedom from Koh Kong prison on 27 March 2013 with...
A recent report in The Times of India highlighted that more than 35 juveniles in Bhopal alone are waiting for trial for serious crimes such as rape or murder. With absolutely no mechanism in...
In India, one of the most basic Common Law principles is “better that ten guilty escape than that one innocent suffer.” While the Indian criminal justice system is based along these lines, trial courts...
When IBJ first met Makara in 2009, IBJ’s provincial lawyer in Pursat successfully defended him against a murder charge. The prosecution appealed and as is usual practice, he remained in detention until an appeal...
For the past two weeks I have had the fortunate experience of working alongside the International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) team in Rattanakiri, a remote province in far north-eastern Cambodia. I have seen a...
This January, as China celebrated the Spring Festival and another new beginning in the Year of the Dragon, Attorney Zhu Changjiang received a phone call early one morning from a familiar voice. Pengpeng, Attorney...
In Burundi, women who’ve been accused of crime can be forced to endure horrific conditions of incarceration, even without any charges proved. Due to persistent cultural norms, women can often be at an even greater...
Cambodia ratified the UN Convention Against Torture over 18 years ago. Torture, however, remains the simplest and cheapest mechanism to extract a confession. Mr V is evidence that this practice is very much prevalent...
