Geneva Team

Global Headquarters of International Bridges to Justice

64, rue de Monthoux, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland

Karen Tse – Founder and CEO

Karen founded International Bridges to Justice in 2000 to promote systemic global change in the administration of criminal justice. A former public defender, Karen first developed her interest in the cross section of criminal law and human rights as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow in 1986, after observing Southeast Asian refugees detained in a local prison without trial; thousands of prisoners of all ages being held without trial, often having been tortured into making so called confessions. In 1994, she moved to Cambodia to train the country’s first core group of public defenders and subsequently served as a United Nations Judicial Mentor. Under the auspices of the U.N., she trained judges and prosecutors, and established the first arraignment court in Cambodia. A graduate of UCLA Law School and Harvard Divinity School, Karen was named by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders in 2007. She has been recognized by the Skoll Foundation, Ashoka and Echoing Green as a leading social entrepreneur. Karen was the recipient of the 2008 Harvard Divinity School’s First Decade Award, and the 2008 American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Award. She also received the 2009 Gleitsman International Award at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. More on Karen

Sanjeewa Liyanage – International Program Director

Originally from Sri Lanka, Sanjeewa assumed the role of IBJ’s International Program Director in October 2006 after over 12 years of experience in project management in Asia. He began his career as the Asian Coordinator for International Young Christian Students (IYCS) in 1988, where he conducted social awareness and leadership training programs for students in 14 Asian countries. In 1995, he joined the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), a regional human rights NGO based in Hong Kong, where he assisted human rights-related legal training programs for different groups including civic group leaders, lawyers, and judges from the Asia-Pacific region. He represented ALRC at numerous UN forums including the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Human Rights Committee in Geneva, preparatory meetings leading to the World Conference against Racism in Warsaw and Bangkok, and the Committee against Torture. Sanjeewa was the East Asian focal point for the NGO Coalition for International Criminal Court (CICC). He has undergone human rights training at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague and the Danish Institute (formerly Danish Centre) for Human Rights (DIHR) in Copenhagen. He obtained his Masters of Law (LLM) (Human Rights) at the University of Hong Kong in 2004.

Senovio Shish – Director of Finance and Administration

Senovio joined IBJ in 2021 after more than a decade of experience in the private sector with a focus on financial management. As a financial controller for a Dubai-based government-related entity (GRE), he implemented a group-wide budgeting, controlling, and cash flow planning process through collaboration with executives in multiple business verticals and functional areas.   During five years with Citibank, he worked in the Philippines, Brazil, New York, and Switzerland in corporate banking and financial analysis. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and has passed the Level 2 exam in the Chartered Financial Analyst program.  In addition to finance, he also brings experience in strategy consulting and project management, a passion for Nonviolent Communication, and a commitment to collaboration for peaceful and sustainable systems change. Born and raised in North America, Senovio has indigenous Maya and European ancestry and is active in the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker), a historical peace church.

Andrew Ozanian – Associate Director

Andrew Ozanian was called to the U.K. bar at Middle Temple, having completed both undergraduate and masters law degrees at the University of Manchester. His desire to pursue a career protecting Human Rights has led him to the city of Geneva where he is continuing to specialise in the prevention of investigative torture. Previously, Andrew has worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) where he assisted the prosecution of those accused of war crimes during the Yugoslav conflicts. Andrew has also spent time in Georgia U.S.A where he worked for Georgia Capital Defenders, assisting the preparation of capital trials and defending prisoners’ rights on death row. At IBJ, Andrew is part of the technical development team of the IBJ JusticeHub platform, a digital system that will scale IBJs activities between 2020-2030.

Chris Martin – Legal Program Associate

Chris Martin assists with the management of IBJ’s programs in Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which includes grant reporting and development as well as logistics and administration of campaigns and outreach for funding. She analyzes country-specific criminal justice system needs including legislative reforms and programs to strengthen delivery of pro-bono legal services. She also initiates pilot programs focusing on access to justice issues for undocumented migrants including victims of human trafficking, with a focus on gender issues. Chris served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal and has a Juris Doctor from the City University of New York School of Law. She worked for the US Department of Justice under the Obama Administration as an immigration attorney. Chris also obtained an MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tafadzwa Christmas – UN Liaison & Advocacy Officer

Tafadzwa Christmas is a PhD candidate at the Law Faculty, University of Geneva.  The scope of his research focuses on international human rights law. He assists IBJ as its UN Liaison and Advocacy Officer; as such, he represents IBJ in key UN, civil society, academic meetings and seminars. He renders support in fundraising and project formulation for interventions in the African region, and he also provides specialized legal research services which include relevant contributions to IBJ’s e-learning platform for criminal defence lawyers, its Criminal Defence Wiki, and country-specific legislative research  to support training programs for criminal defence lawyers. He previously served as a Senior Projects Lawyer with the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and has worked for close to a decade in the field of human rights in Africa with specific focus on public interest litigation, research, as well as lobby and advocacy.  Tafadzwa holds a MAS in Transitional Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law from the Geneva Academy (Summa Cum Laude) and an LLB (Honours) from the University of Zimbabwe.