Pepperdine Global Justice Program

This is Africa

By Ashley Puscas

After two weeks in Africa, Marilyn and I are finally adjusted to life here.  When we first arrived in Rwanda, the water at our house wasn't working.  Luckily by the end of the week three men with pick axes were able to fix the problem.  Not having running water was a struggle, and it definitely made us realize how blessed we are.  This is the first time that I have ever in my life had to pray, literally pray, for running water, and this experience was by choice.  So it definitely made me appreciate what I have, and how fortunate we are as Americans.  Hopefully though that's a lesson that I only need to learn once!

Marilyn and I are working for the Deputy Chief Justice Sam Rugege in Rwanda.  He came into the office the first week, and asked "notice anything?"  with a big smile on his face.  Marilyn was the first one to see that our judge was wearing a Pepperdine tie!  He told us that Ken Starr had given it to him, and he couldn't wait to show it to us. 

 

 We are both excited about our first assignment.  Recently an American lawyer, Peter Erlinder, was arrested here for breaking Rwanda's laws against genocide denial and genocide ideology.  Our judge told us that these are still controversial laws in Rwanda, so he wants us to research international comparative law, and make recommendations to him.  We can't believe that we are going to be advising the chief justice on such a major newsworthy issue!  My research so far has been pretty enlightening.  Our first reaction as Americans is to protect freedom of speech.  But learning more about Rwanda's history, and how words against the Tutsis sparked the genocide, words here can be very dangerous, and Rwanda may not be ready for complete freedom of speech.  Also, I was surprised to find out that many European countries have laws against genocide denial.  It's much more prevalent than I had initially assumed. 

On Thursday we went to Erlinder's appeal after he was initially denied bail, and that was really interesting.  The judge who presided over it was quite a character.  It was supposed to start at 3pm, but he didn't start it until 4:30 because he wanted people to be "sitting in suspense."  Then when the judge did finally arrive, one of Erlinder's laywers (he has 6 or 7) asked the judge if he received the letter from the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda asking to release Erlinder on grounds of immunity because he was representing a client.  The judge asked "did that letter get a stamp from the court when it was delivered?"  And the lawyer replied "well, yes"  and then the judge said "well then I think it's pretty obvious that we got it!"  And everyone laughed.  All of Erlinder's lawyers were standing at that point, and like I said there were 6 or 7 of them, and the courtroom was pretty small.  And the judge looks at them and asked "do you all need to be standing right now?"  So the lawyers sat down pretty fast, and again everyone laughed.

 

At first it didn't look good for Erlinder, because the judge went through each and every argument that Erlinder had made and denied each one.  For example, the letter from the ICTR didn't matter because it was addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and not to the High Court.  And Erlinder argued that there was no jurisdiction, but the judge decided that the court did in fact have jurisdiction.  However, the judge did think that Erlinder's health issues were valid, and therefor Erlinder was released unconditionally on bail in order to take care of his health.  So the authorities say that the trial will still happen, but for right now Erlinder is free to return to the United States.

Everyone here seems so nice and everything is so peaceful.  It's hard to believe that 16 years ago 800,000 people were killed in a genocide.  There are some reminders, for example you can still see the bullet and bomb holes on the side of the parliament building, but for the most part life here seems pretty normal.  Our house is located in Kimihurura, which was one of the first neighborhoods where violence happened, and the place where the Belgian Blue Berets were killed at the onset of the genocide.  Today it's just a peaceful neighborhood.  Everyone here remembers the genocide, but no one ever talks about it.  So I'm hoping that before I leave, I'll eventually be able to learn more about people's experiences during that time.

 
 

Whenever something happens that we're not used to, we've started saying "TIA."  Which stands for this is Africa.  So when the power goes out (it does a few times a day), we'll just be laugh and say "TIA."  Or when cars are driving on the wrong side of the road (apparently driving on the right is just a guideline), or cars have the wheel on the right side (apparently it doesn't have to be on the left, even though you're supposed to be driving on the right), or when riding in city "buses" (which is pretty much just a small van that has a whole bunch of people crammed inside), we'll just say "TIA." 

Life is definitely different here, but I'm starting to love it.

India--The Good, the Bad, and the Caste System

Oh, India! I have a love-hate relationship with this country. I love its people--most of whom are warm and friendly and gentle. But I'm still working on appreciating all aspects of their culture--for instance, I prefer toilet paper, silverware, and seat belts while Indians find all three to be nuisances. I love the women's beautiful saris--the gorgeous fabrics and rich colors, but I get frustrated by the filth of the cities--especially as my Indian friends try to teach me that ground=garbage can.  
Since being here, I've learned that I even love India's Constitution and many of its laws. Untouchability was officially outlawed by India's Constitution in 1950. In fact, the Constitution states that an act of "untouchability" is a punishable offense. In the 1980s, the government of India introduced the "Special Component Plan" by which a portion of the nation's annual budget was to be dedicated to assisting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in rising above the poverty line. The portion of the budget to be allocated was to be proportional to the percentage of the population made up by "Untouchables." For example, the 2001 census revealed that 16.2% of India's population were members of a Scheduled Caste. Thus, under the SCP, they should have received the benefits of 16.2% of the budget.

Great laws! But unfortunately the great laws surrounding the Untouchables are rarely enforced. Untouchability still runs rampant here. Dalits can't drink from the same water source as upper caste members; they can't worship in the same temples; they lack access to the same schools and hospitals. And that 16.2% of the budget the Schedule Castes were supposed to get? They got 4.5%.

I was able to meet with the President of the Centre for Dalit Studies this week who was explaining this disparity between what's written law and what actually happens. He is a Dalit himself and said that the situation today is no better than it was 50 years ago when he was in school. He said he used to have to sit in the corner of the village school he attended, rather than at desks with the upper caste kids...the teacher would write the Dalit children's lesson on a small chalkboard and throw it at them. He said at least then, the Dalit children were educated (even if it was in a humiliating manner). Today, he explained, the upper caste parents send their kids to private schools in the city, so the government no longer monitors the schools in the villages...often the teacher just doesn't show up, and when she does, the children receive a sub-par education. As I complete more research for the Dalit Freedom Network's new anti-human trafficking department, I am learning that almost 100% of the girls and women who are dedicated to Hindu goddesses and later forced into prostitution are Dalits.

The statistics and stories are depressing....but just when the world shakes its head in despair...the saints come marching in. The people at Dalit Freedom Network and Operation Mercy believe India doesn't have to be this way. So they fight against the caste system from every angle--from lobbying the governments of the world to recognizing the value in educating one little Dalit child. It's a slow, tedious, and complex process. But it's a beautiful one to witness. The office I work out of is on Operation Mercy's campus. I'm on the third floor. The first two floors are made up of one of the organization's Dalit Education Centers. Children whose parents work backbreaking days in the rock quarries are picked up by busses and taken here. They get a quality education, equal to that which their upper caste peers are receiving. When I see these children in their little blue uniforms with big smiles on their faces I'm filled with joy. They've just been given one of the best gifts they could receive--an education...a ticket out of their fate as a bonded laborer. Down my hall from the office is the micro-finance department where women who were once living in poverty in one of India's countless slums are busily sewing and making jewelry.  They've been given either a job or a small loan that's enabled them to start their own business and to provide food and shelter for their families. And in my office, the anti-human trafficking team is hard at work researching, interviewing, planning, and preparing for the launch of four anti-human trafficking units throughout India. Transformation is taking place here...I am beyond grateful I get to be a tiny part of it.  

Team Uganda Update

by Meghan Milloy

 

Hello from Kampala!  We are nearly at the midpoint of our Uganda adventure, and much has happened in four short weeks. Within just a few days of arriving in Kampala, we became well acclimated with the immediate surroundings at our apartment and around our courts. For those of us working at the High Court and Commercial court, the trip to work every morning is a nice 10-15 minute walk. It makes for a great wake up, especially when you are nearly flattened by a boda-boda. Walking around the city is like real life Frogger with cars all trying to go to the same place at the same time without lane designations and the bodas crusing down the sidewalk. The apartments are great (questionably nicer than George Page with a certainly nicer price tag) and we've found fantastic places to eat as well. The Indian food here is unbelievable. The local specialties, consisting mostly of matoke, rice, beans, and delicious g-nut sauce, have been surprisingly good, and you can't beat the price at slightly over $1 for a full lunch.

Our second Saturday in Uganda took us outside of Kampala to Jinja, the source of the Nile, for some whitewater rafting. Professor Cochran was coincidentally in town and joined us for this amazing experience. If the views weren't enough to take your breath away, the class five rapids certainly were. We stopped on an island in the middle of the river for lunch Swiss Family Robinson style and continued rafting until about 5 that evening. This was definitely a highlight of the trip.

 
 

Turning to the real reason we are here, our work has been wonderful thus far. During the first few days we were all working together in the boardroom at the Commercial Court. Slowly each of us began to branch off as our judges returned from various trips. After only a few days on the job, we were all able to visit a remand home in Naguru. The warden spoke with us for quite some time and answered several questions we had. Afterward, he showed us around the home and let us talk with some of the children. Many of the kids there had been in remand for over a year, which is startling since the laws of Uganda mandate a maximum six month remand period for juvenile offenders. However, they all seemed to be upbeat and fairly content.

   

Lisa, Kyle, and Stevie are working in the Commercial Court for Justice Kiryabwire. Stevie was originally assigned to the War Crimes Court, but that didn't work out. During the first couple of weeks, Lisa and Kyle slugged through a huge case file regarding a fairly nasty property dispute to determine what happened factually. Once they got the story straight they researched, rather painstakingly, to determine what Ugandan case law said on each issue. Most recently, these three have been digitizing all of the cases that the court has received since 1997. They are trying to create a more user friendly, search driven database for judges, lawyers, and students to use for research purposes.

David and I are working for Justice Lugayizi in the Criminal Division of the High Court. Ironically, while we were in Uganda for our first week of work, Lugayizi was in Malibu learning about plea bargaining with a delegation of other Ugandan criminal judges. While he was away, David and I were instructed to write a memo on the state of juvenile justice in Uganda and comparisons and suggestions from other systems. Since Lugayizi returned, we have been sitting in on several very interesting criminal hearings. It is quite unique to sit in a court where the judge is speaking English, and everyone else is speaking Luganda. Our latest assignment has been to read a controversial Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty and write a suggestive memo detailing similar statutes in other countries and giving our own opinions. Lugayizi plans to use these memos during a conference on the issue involving the entire judicial system which he will be holding in July.

Jen and Peter are working for Justice Bahigeine in the Court of Appeal, which is also called the Constitutional Court. They have been researching and writing judgments and opinions, and, from what I can tell, they have been working tirelessly since day one. Their cases have ranged from issues of U.C.C. intricacies to issues of fair trial and adequate representation.

Sean, Ryan, and Michael are all working for the Supreme Court. Michael was originally supposed to work for the Anti-Corruption Court; but they had no work for him, so he is now working with Justice Tsekooko with Ryan. Sean is working for Chief Justice Odoki. They are currently working on civil appeals cases and will start on the criminal appeals next week. Outside the office, Sean and Ryan were able to attend a judicial retreat at the Paraa Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park. They were able to spend a lot of quality time with their judges and participated in a discussion on foreign precedent and implementation of technology to the judicial system and its ensuing efficiency.

With only a few days of Ugandan life under their belts, Stevie and Sean sat in on a meeting of the International Criminal Court with their judges and the president of the ICC. With Ryan's help, they composed memos for their respective judges regarding the ICC conference held in Kampala in June.

Kyle, Lisa, and Michael participated in a mediation certification clinic at the Commercial Court with 60 other Ugandan law clerks. It was
basically a 101 on ADR with a specific focus on mediation. The three completed the course and will be receiving a Certificate of Completion of the clinic.

A couple of weeks ago we visited the US Embassy to support a young Uganda boy named George who received a full scholarship to Pepperdine through USAID. This was a wonderful experience from chatting with the Ambassador to telling George the best places in California to surf. George is now friends with all of us on Facebook and plans to reunite in Malibu.

 

We are all looking forward to what lies ahead. As far as extracurriculars go, a group of us is going to Murchison Falls this weekend for a game drive safari and boat launch down the Nile. We are also planning trips to the Masai Mara reserve, Bwindi, Zanzibar, and possibly Rwanda to see our fellow Pepperdiners. Of course, watching the World Cup has been a primary source of entertainment over the past week.

Our time here has truly been a blessing, and we cannot overstate how thankful we are to everyone who helped make this a reality.  Stay tuned for more!

Update from India

I've been in India for almost two weeks now and have been thoroughly enjoying every second of my adventure (well, almost every second...those seconds which include bats, toads, wild boars, and giant beetles have not been as enjoyable). This summer I have the great privilege of working with the Dalit Freedom Network and the Operation Mercy India Foundation here in Hyderabad, India. I'll be serving in the anti-human trafficking department, which is a brand new department for the organizations. I'm thrilled that I have this opportunity to assist in the designing and implementation of this very critical operation. The organizations are specifically trying to meet the needs of women and girls who have been trafficked in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh; Belgaum, Karnataka; Bangalore, Karnataka; and New Delhi by opening four anti-human trafficking units.

My assignment is to work with the anti-human trafficking team to design a system of after-care units for women who have been rescued from commercial sex exploitation and trafficking The centers aim to provide holistic treatment to these women and girls who have spent a portion of their lives as forced prostitutes. I can't comprehend the trauma they've been through. I am thanking God that I get to play a tiny role in the process of restoration for their broken and hurting spirits. The anti-human trafficking units we are creating will offer: medical and psychological care; legal assistance; training programs to teach the women a practical skill (like jewelry making, sewing, etc.) so that they can support themselves; provisions for basic needs—shelter, food, clothing; and spiritual guidance and support.

At times while I am working, I am overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the problem of human trafficking in India. I only have one year of law school under my belt...what am I going to do in a single summer to really make a difference? God is graciously teaching me that no, I likely won't end human trafficking during this internship, but if even one woman is rescued from the dark world of trafficking or ministered to by the work we are doing, then we can consider our work a tremendous success. The statistics of victims are overwhelming (experts estimate between 12 and 27 million people have been trafficked worldwide), but I feel so blessed to get to serve and love a few of these precious souls while I'm here. I'm so grateful to the Pepperdine School of Law and its generous donors who have made this internship a reality for me.

--Tracey Brown

A hope and a prayer

by Jeff Cook

 

It's Saturday morning; the traffic is heavy; the sun is beating down; and dust is stinging my arms as I weave in between a mixture of cars, trucks, carts, and people.  I'm driving back to a village near Phnom Penh for the first time in over a month, and I'm full of nervous energy and probably get there a little faster than normal because of it.  

 

One of the last times I was at this village, I was confronted with the fact that an older disabled couple that many people are trying to assist had been lying about the cause of their injuries.  They stated originally that they were injured trying to protect their niece from the widespread human trafficking and sexual exploitation that happens in the village, but in fact they were injured trying to sell her.  The church stepped in and started providing assistance (due to the couple's injuries, they had no way of providing for themselves or their niece), and unfazed by the awful reality of the couple's involvement in selling their own niece, decided that the assistance would continue unabated.  But at some point, when the shame would not break the relationship apart and put the niece at greater risk, someone would share with the couple that the truth of their involvement had been revealed. 

 

Today, heading back to the village, I was nervous because I just learned that the young girl had dropped out of school.  One of the main goals in providing for the family's needs (other than to keep them healthy as they recuperate) is to ensure that the young girl does not have to work so she can go to school.  With the village almost in sight, I wasn't at all sure what I would or could say to encourage her to return.  Like a switch my feelings were alternating between hope and despair. 

 

When I arrived, I was greeted by the warm welcome of the local pastor, and we soon turned to walk toward the family's home.  I say home, but in fact, it is more of a 9x9 foot room sectioned off from a larger one-story hut where numerous families live.  As I melted into the plastic chair and the mosquitoes began salivating over what would become a very large breakfast, I exchanged pleasantries with the aunt and awaited for the uncle and the young girl to arrive.  The uncle walked in under his own power (a great improvement from several months ago) but I did not see the young girl.  After asking about the girl, he motioned to the wooden bed that took up over half of the room, and balled up in the corner under a cover laid the girl, fast asleep.  He explained that she works every night until 7 or 8 in the morning selling fish by the river, so she would not be able to participate in our discussion this morning.  And I thought to myself, no wonder she can't make it to school... 

 

The uncle stated that she makes $2.50 a night, 50 cents of which she keeps, and the rest is used for breakfast noodles and coffee throughout the month (items not included in the monthly food provisions from the church).  He reassured me that he wants her to go to school, and I reassured him that support is available for the family over and above what the church is providing to see that she does go to school.  He said that he would talk to her when she woke up because now she is old enough to make her own decisions and that he would relay her wishes to the pastor tomorrow. 

 

This is a critical 48-hour period that could see this 15-year-old girl return to school or continue down a dangerous road where exploitation is a very real and present threat.  Please pray that she sees these dangers and chooses to return to school, and please pray that if she wants to return, the support for the family can be worked out quickly and agreeably.