FREEDOM SECURED FOR VICTIM OF WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT IN KENYA

Dalton* worked as a night watchman at a housing complex. When he noticed early one morning that the vehicle belonging to one of the residents was missing, he knocked on the owner’s door to alert him. Because Dalton had recently needed to remind this particular resident of some of the rules of the housing complex, the man still harbored a grudge from their earlier conversation and did not take kindly to his appearance. Upon searching the complex with the owner and determining definitively that the vehicle was not there, Dalton went to the police station to report the theft. The vehicle’s owner, frustrated at the loss and still angry with Dalton, made the unsubstantiated allegation that perhaps Dalton himself had taken the vehicle. After his initial report, Dalton returned to the police station to make a second report. During this second visit to the police station, the policewoman taking his report alleged that he was lying, likely upon the suggestion of the vehicle’s owner. On these grounds, Dalton was thrown in a cell and charged with the offense of stealing the vehicle. He was told by the police that the only way for him to get out of jail was to produce the vehicle himself. On the basis of an empty accusation made in anger, Dalton was trapped in jail.

Upon discovering Dalton’s case, IJM Kenya was determined to see him released. IJM lawyers met with the owner of the vehicle, who informed them that he had been told that Dalton was released from police custody upon providing his report. His anger over his previous confrontation with Dalton had cooled; he was very surprised to hear that Dalton was being held in jail and explained to IJM investigators that he had pressed no charges against Dalton and did not believe that he should be held in prison.

Dalton’s lawyer persisted in advocating for his right to a fair trial, even as the court date was repeatedly canceled and changed for reasons from holiday celebrations to prosecution witnesses who didn’t bother to show up. With each delay, Dalton’s imprisonment stretched on, despite the fact that the prosecution had never presented a single piece of evidence to actually connect him with the theft of the vehicle.

While his lawyer worked to ensure that Dalton was given the opportunity to defend himself against the false charge, the IJM Kenya aftercare team also made sure that his wife and three children received support. Staff members ensured that his children were able to continue with school and that his wife, understandably distraught at her husband’s imprisonment, received counseling.

Finally, at a rescheduled hearing, the magistrate called Dalton and his IJM lawyer into his chambers and told them that his judgment was not yet complete and that he would reschedule his verdict. Dalton’s advocate was not ready to see this innocent man shackled and led back to jail after another fruitless court date. He was able to persuade the magistrate to complete the judgment as scheduled.

That afternoon, Dalton was acquitted. When he pronounced the ruling, the magistrate stated that there was absolutely no evidence linking Dalton with the theft. His papers were processed and he was able to leave court without handcuffs for the first time in over a year. Dalton’s sister, who was in attendance at the hearing, said to the IJM staff present, “We are grateful for all the work that went into this. Thanks to IJM for their involvement.” When Dalton left the courtroom, he was a free man. After 13 months of separation and injustice, he has returned to his wife and his children.

HUNDREDS OF ZAMBIANS IMPACTED BY IJM TRAININGS: KNOWLEDGE OF LEGAL RIGHTS EMPOWERS CITIZENS

"Just four days after [IJM Zambia] conducted a workshop here, people have started reporting sexual offenses to my office.”—Zambian government official

Hundreds of Zambians have equipped themselves to fight injustice in their communities by attending IJM’s legal training sessions this year. Many Zambians victimized by illegal property seizure and sexual assault are unaware of the laws designed to protect them. IJM’s Zambia office is fighting to change this: Since the beginning of this year, more than 1500 individuals have attended IJM Zambia’s trainings on property rights and sexual violence.

Land and property are often stolen from a widow by men in the extended family following the death of her husband. Despite the fact that this property theft is a criminal act according to Zambian law, property seizure is often viewed by the community as a family matter rather than a crime. Not only is property seizure illegal, it is also devastating for its victims, who can lose their spouses, their homes, and their livelihoods in rapid succession. Possessing property or land – and thereby a means of income and shelter - can literally be a matter of life or death in Zambia.

At these trainings, IJM staff present on the law of succession, which states that widows have the right to at least a portion of their deceased husbands’ property. Knowing that they are entitled to their own property empowers widows within their communities and in their interactions with potential perpetrators.

The trainings also educate community members on the Zambian laws relating to sexual violence. These sessions are making a tangible impact on the reporting of sexual crime in the communities where they have been held. This summer, in an article in the Zambian newspaper The Post, a local government official gave evidence to this fact, stating that his community knows the importance of reporting sexual offenses to the appropriate governmental authorities because IJM staff conducted a training there. “Just four days after [IJM Zambia] conducted a workshop here, people have started reporting sexual offenses to my office,” he explained.

Training sessions have also been an important tool in deepening IJM Zambia’s partnership with local police – enabling the two groups to work together to ensure that vulnerable members of their communities have access to the protections of law enforcement. This summer, IJM Zambia held its first official police training, attended by officers of the Zambian Police. The training provided the opportunity for officers and IJM staff to discuss the concerns of Zambian citizens in regards to sexual violence and illegal land and property seizure. The event was notably attended by a senior court justice official, who expressed his commitment to upholding the rights of widows and encouraged the officers gathered there to pursue these cases.

By educating themselves about the laws that affect their lives and livelihoods, attendees work with IJM to create structural changes in their communities that will uphold rights of widows and children. Pamela Mumbi, director of IJM Zambia, reports, “What a joy it is to see the look of relief on many of the women’s faces when they learn that the law protects them and the orphans against property grabbing and against sexual violence. To have someone in the flesh teach them the law and tell them they can access that justice for free is often overwhelming. We are set to have more of these trainings on a regular basis in different compounds in our city, and to different classes or groups of people within the compounds. Lives are being changed.”

Welcome, Class of 2011

All of us at IJM are excited about the coming year, especially about the new opportunities and people it brings to this campus. Hopefully, we had a chance to meet and speak with most of you at the Student Activities Fair last night; if we missed each other, though, please come to the first meeting. It will be held September 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Tucker 202. We'll be discussing what IJM does internationally, here in the United States, and on the campus of William and Mary. We hope you'll all be there. Thanks for your interest, and let us know if you have any questions.

Check out our WM Web site: www.wm.edu/so/intjusticemission

Help IJM win $100,000

International Justice Mission is in the final round of a competition to win $100,000 to support our work, and we need your vote to win!

Everyday, from July 9 through August 10, we need as many people as possible to go online to www.Rezoom.com/ABETTERWORLD and vote for IJM as the number one charity in the United States. You can vote once a day, everyday, for the entire month.

Over 5,000 charities were originally nominated for this competition, and through a combination of public voting and judging International Justice Mission has been elected into the top 21 Regional charity winners. Each of the 21 winning charities received a $5,000 cash award and now has the opportunity to compete for a $100,000 national award. The winner will be chosen based on the highest number of votes throughout the month long competition and we can’t do it without you!

We are asking for your participation, as well as your support, in rallying your family, friends, and Chapter members to log on and vote for IJM daily, July 9 through August 10, at www.Rezoom.com/ABETTERWORLD. So email all of your friends, post it on your facebook page, spread the word and encourage people to cast their vote.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership with us.

Sincerely,

Cheryl C. Noble
Student Ministries

8/29 Commission

Please read this brief history of the New Orleans levee disaster, visit Levees.org and contact your representatives to let them know that you support the 8/29 Commission (in the Water Resources Development Act).

In 1965, Congress gave the US Army Corps of Engineers authority for the design and construction of the flood protection in metro New Orleans. This was called the Pontchartrain Hurricane Protection Project. The local interests' role was maintenance once the projects were complete. When authorized, this mandate was projected to take 13 years to complete.

When Katrina struck in 2005, the project was between 60-90% complete, and the projected date of completion was estimated to be 2015. That is 50 years after it first gained authorization. To put that in perspective, President Roosevelt's construction of the Panama Canal, one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, took 10 years.

After Hurricane Katrina and Rita, a federally led investigation task force was established to examine the technical failures of the Greater New Orleans flood protection system. That investigation by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET) was managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since the Corps of Engineers was the sole agency responsible for the design and construction of metro New Orleans' levee system, such an investigation has an apparent conflict of interests. The Corps investigated itself.

If you look at the IPET report, you can see that every chapter is chaired or co-chaired by a US Army Corps of Engineers employee. And the Corps paid all consultants who contributed to the report.

If you investigate yourself, what do you think you're going to find? Additionally, since the release of the IPET report on June 1, 2006, two independent levee investigation teams (National Science Foundation/U Cal Berkeley and Team Louisiana ) have criticized the IPET report as incomplete in the realm of how decisions were made.

And there is a pattern to the issues in dispute. In virtually all cases, the Corps-sponsored IPET report reaches conclusions that tend to shift responsibility away from Army Corps engineering practices. The is no significant discussion of poor construction. Additionally, the report remains incomplete in areas that would address potentially dysfunctional organizational processes, communications failures and decision making at and by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Levees.Org has reason to doubt the reliability of the flood protection system currently being redesigned and constructed that protects the lives and property of 1.5 million Americans. To date, Congress has appropriated a total of $5.8 billion to the Corps of Engineers to repair and strengthen metro New Orleans' flood protection system. The results from the possibly inaccurate and incomplete report will probably be used to change policies and create the plans to repair and strengthen the flood protection system.

An independent analysis of flood protection failures is needed to assure that all possible opportunities for improvement are considered. Taxpayers need a full return on the investment dollars that Congress authorizes and the citizens of south Louisiana need the best protection possible.

How Would This Commission be Structured?
This Commission would be mainly a fresh look by "unbiased objective eyes" at data already collected. The 9-11 Commission's model of bipartisan co-chairmanship provides a good model in assuring objectivity. Those who serve on this Commission would be required to meet certain standards of objectivity and expertise in the fields of engineering and flood control.

How much time and how much money are needed?
The Commission would require simply reexamining data from studies already completed so there is no need to go back to pulling out sheet pilings from the canal walls or taking soil samples from the levees. This means that the study will not take much time nor be very expensive.

Conclusion:
An independent commission to examine and make recommendations regarding Louisiana's flood protection is vital to reestablishing public trust. This Commission would examine decades of possibly flawed governmental policy at the federal, state and local level. This is not about placing blame, but about moving forward in the best way because taxpayers need a full return on the investment dollars that Congress authorizes and the citizens of south Louisiana need the best protection possible.

Submitted by:
Sandy Rosenthal, Executive Director, Levees.Org
Vince Pasquantonio, Legislative Director, Levees.Org

SEVENTEEN MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN RELEASED FROM SLAVERY IN SOUTH ASIAN RICE MILL

Four years ago, when the owner of a rice mill offered him an advance of about $75, Gunamay* had no idea of the obstacles he would face in repaying it. The owner used the debt incurred by the advance to trap Gunamay’s family in slavery, forbidding them to leave his compound or seek work elsewhere before the debt was repaid. The owner provided Gunamay less than a dollar a day for the labor he, his wife and three of his five children – sons of only six, eight and 10 years of age – performed. Barely able to support his family on this wage, there was no way that Gunamay would be able to repay the loan, ensuring his family’s labor to the mill owner in perpetuity.

Gunamay, like millions around the world, had been tricked into a life of slavery through the illegal practice of debt bondage. The family’s situation was brutal: The mill owner forced Gunamay’s wife to perform exhausting physical labor while pregnant and assaulted his young sons when he felt they were not working hard enough. The children were unable to attend school, instead spending their days preparing rice alongside the adults and performing petty tasks for the mill owner.

Unwilling to watch their family suffer, Gunamay and his wife decided to flee the mill. They left their few possessions behind and escaped with their young children. However, the mill owner immediately tracked them down, capturing them at a nearby bus station and forcing them to return to work.

Though the mill owner may have thought he was safe oppressing Gunamay and his family, IJM became aware of his gross abuse of several families trapped in his mill. IJM agents compiled evidence of slavery at the mill, determined to see the families released. When presented with this proof, the local authorities agreed to intervene and rescue the individuals held captive by the mill’s owner.

With IJM’s assistance, the local government immediately raided the facility, rescuing 17 victims – including eight children – from slavery in the mill. The government issued release certificates, assuring the former slaves of their freedom.

The families released from slavery were conveyed to their home villages in safety, and IJM distributed vital provisions to them. Gunamay’s children plan to return to school soon. His family, along with the others released from slavery that night, no longer belong to the mill owner. Person by person and family by family, IJM will continue to work with local authorities to rescue people like Gunamay from the brutality of slavery.

-IJM News, July 2007

To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.

Jonah 2:6-7