Pepperdine Global Justice Program

Taylor Friedlander
Kigali, Rwanda

As my clerkship for Justice Rugege of the Supreme Court of Rwanda draws to a close, I don’t quite know how to describe my feelings. On the one hand, I am looking forward to returning to Pepperdine, but on the other, there are many things that I will miss about Kigali.

To say that I have enjoyed my time here would be an understatement: I’ve loved it. The place that I call home is the Discover Rwanda Hostel, where I and about ten other summer interns call home. My roommates are from all over the world. One young Canadian woman is an archivist at the genocide memorial. A young Australian journalist is working on a freelance piece about Rwanda's environmental initiatives. Over the past weeks, we have bonded over breakfast and our exploration of the city and nearby towns.

The genocide that descended over the country didn’t happen long ago, and indeed is still fresh in the minds of many. When I visited the churches at Nyamata and Ntarama, where many travesties were carried out, it was shocking to see rows of hundreds of bare skulls adjacent to the clothes that victims once wore. I recognized many of the brands and styles as the same kind that I wore about ten years ago. It was irking to see simple things like a Gap pull over or ball point pen that I might find in my own bedroom.

Over 800,000 people were killed during this time. In 1994, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was put in place to prosecute those involved in the genocide. The Tribunal was located in Arusha, Tanzania, as the UN had misgivings as to whether Rwanda was secure enough to serve as a host. This decision polarized sentiments around the formation of the court, as many Rwandans felt that the crimes committed were carried out against Rwandans, and therefore should be heard in Rwanda. However, others felt that the crimes violated international humanitarian law, and therefore should be heard in an international court.

As Rwanda’s judiciary rebuilt itself following the genocide, the ICTR considered transferring cases to Rwanda. However, each request for transfer, known as an 11bis motion, had been denied. One of my first assignments was to research why these motions had been denied, and it appeared that most of the concerns centered on Rwanda’s ability to provide for adequate witness protection. Yet, the country had made great strides in providing an adequate program, and for many, it seemed that Rwanda was ready to handle the type of high profile case typically reserved for the ICTR.
On June 28, 2011, the ICTR granted the first 11bis motion for Rwanda. It was a wonderful feeling to read the case granting the motion and to see that Rwanda’s judicial system had been given the validation it deserves. During my time in Rwanda, I have learned an incredible amount, not only from reading cases, but also from talking to members of the legal community and visiting the memorial centers. It is amazing to see how Rwanda has begun to heal, and what an important role the legal system plays in that process. The Rwandan judiciary has fought hard and long to try high-profile cases in-country in order to allow its people to experience a sense of justice for the wrongs carried out against them. It has been incredible to be in Rwanda as it gets closer to accomplishing that goal.

Landmarks at the ICTR

Peter Depew - Kigali, Rwanda

The last few weeks have been ground-breaking and fast moving for Rwandan jurisprudence. In late June, the first woman in history was convicted of genocide. The former minister for family and women affairs, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, was convicted of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity which included rape.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43521490/ns/world_news-africa/

Shortly after that landmark, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda approved the first ever transfer of an indicted person from the UN court in Arusha, Tanzania to the national judiciary in Rwanda, in the case of Pentecostal Church Pastor and suspected genocidaire Jean Uwinkindi. The ICTR had previously denied transfers based on the perceived inability of the accused to receive a fair trial in Rwanda and the inadequacies of witness protection in Rwanda. The transfer is generally viewed as an affirmation of the progress of the Rwandan judiciary. This may also lead to the extradition of indicted fugitives in Europe who have avoided extradition on human rights grounds, much to the consternation of the Rwandan government.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201107150224.html

Farewell to Ghana

Elliott Dionisio; Accra, Ghana

Now just one week before departing Ghana and concluding my summer serving global justice, my perspectives have shifted somewhat.  Initial pangs of sympathy and despondency for some poor Ghanaians’ dispositions have hardened to a more realistic ‘that’s life’ outlook.  Having learned more about the state of Ghana’s infrastructure and political climate, I can appreciate that a greater inflow of tax dollars would indeed benefit their society, but most Ghanaians would rather cling to the money to use for themselves and their families.  And what at first seemed like a slow, inefficient court system has revealed itself to me as just the way Ghana’s judicial system works; and if it’s working, why fix it?

This isn’t to say that efforts made to improve the way of life in Ghana, from the myriad angles improvements can come, are hopeless or unwelcome.  Rather they find resistance in established norms, and I believe to a larger degree, lack of education.  I’m no political theorist, but once a populace is convinced it can achieve and is motivated to seek change for itself, leaders are more likely to latch onto that impetus.  The education problem lies in the absence of a belief of the feasibility of such changes and the reality that many Ghanaians are living pointedly to subsist, and so simply do not have the time to learn the dynamics of social change. I assume Ghana’s more sophisticated leaders know this as well, but still suffer from the aforementioned resistance.

These large-scale observations are more or less out of the scope of Pepperdine and the Global Justice Program’s goals; their focus is on ushering their students toward meaningful work helping the less fortunate in a legal capacity.  Posting students in court chambers has great potential to accomplish this; even after the first year of law school, I surely have enough skills to conduct research, write comprehensive advisory opinions, and offer my own thoughts on how to reform outdated processes.  It’s funny—just being a young professional in America, I feel I’ve matured with an acute sense of how to systemize work.  Armed additionally with a familiarity of how a common law legal system works is enough to effect real, long-lasting change in Ghana and other developing countries. 

My largest regret about my time here follows from this thought; I wish I had heeded more the warnings that work may not be given unless asked.  The supercharged-ambition of America exists in a much more leisurely degree here.  I detected this early and eventually settled into a commute/work/relaxation routine, and I didn’t avail myself to several opportunities to be involved in the court that surely exist but went unmentioned by my judge.  However, I was gratified by knowing my justice consistently made sure I was at least occupied during the workday. 

Conversely, my largest success had been my observations of Ghanaian culture against America’s.  These observations have changed my worldview and my perspective, forever.  I’m unsure how, but surely anticipate, the ways I will view America differently when I return.  Will I treat people differently?  Will I change the course of my professional goals?  Or will these experiences remain knitted to my memory without showing any clear manifestation (I hope not).  Whatever is the result, Ghana can proudly know that it has changed my life for the better.

At the end of my time serving my justice, Honorable Justice Ms. Rose C. Owusu, I will have completed case briefs, one advisory opinion on a constitutional case, and had daily discussions with her about my research of Ghanaian law.  Undoubtedly I could have done more, and my and Brian’s insights of how to direct Pepperdine’s Ghana program will certainly set the stage for more fulfilling student experiences in the future.  Now, however, I rest assured knowing Pepperdine has established a presence in Ghana and Brian and I have made a positive impression on the Judicial Service (the ‘employer’ of the legal staff).  Ghana will fit nicely, and hopefully consistently, into the lineup of Global Justice Program locations.

 

 

 

 

Wading through transcripts

Mitchell Emmert - Uganda

After working on remand cases, bus crashes, gorilla trekking, Rafting the Nile, and a mild case of a parasite it’s almost over. I can’t believe that I’m less than a week out from finishing my time in Uganda, and it’s been such a valuable and diverse experience. 

After completing a project on Alternative Dispute Resolution for Justice K, who’s really pushing for some innovative solutions in Uganda, I requested an opportunity to get some experience writing. He laughed and said that he didn’t want to give me something boring or easy, so he’d find something “interesting.” I got what I wished for when he returned with a 600 page file originating from an international shipping dispute from a trial about a year old. After a cursory reading of the original filing, transcript, plaintiff’s submission, defendant’s response, and plaintiff’s response to the response I had so many random and seemingly unorganized facts and allegations bouncing around in my head I had no idea where to start. 

Each counsel contradicted itself in their arguments, bounced around various issues when making their arguments, and recanted their admissions or denials at multiple points. I get the impression that Justice K holds attorneys to a higher standard than many of the judges and it’s been interesting and humorous to hear him in court instructing them and asking why they came to court unprepared to trial. The court transcript was the most helpful it included multiple full pages of Justice K’s correcting the attorneys and demanding they get to the point or asking questions that opposing counsel would fail to bring up. He’s very willing to enter the discussion in order to find the best solution, and that’s something that I doubt occurs much in America, but is very helpful to the system here.

After sorting things out the case wasn’t really all that difficult to understand, and it was very rewarding to put something together that sorts the arguments out logically for the judge to see (at least I hope). After reading all the cases from first year classes I became somewhat cynical at judges who didn’t write clear opinions, but I now have a deeper appreciation for everything they have to wade through in order to get to the end result. 

Uganda Recap

Mark Reinhardt - Kampala, Uganda

My wife and I have only one week left in Uganda, and work in the judiciary is winding down, so I figured I would give a quick recap of what a wonderful opportunity this had been:

    For my 2011 summer I came to Uganda to clerk for the nation’s Deputy Chief Justice. While working here, I’ve learned about how Ugandan law compares to U.S. law, and so much more. I have also been asked to draft legal memos, briefs, and opinions with an eye towards encouraging efficient economic development, while enforcing personal responsibility, equity, and justice. Some of the opinions I have written might even become part of the Ugandan common law, and could therefore steer the policy direction of an entire country, not to mention resulting in my work being published in a national law reporter! This experience has given me an opportunity to put my first-year legal education into practice in ways that would not have been available as a first-year summer extern in the States.

    Coming to Uganda has also given me the chance to personally serve the least of these. All of the Pepperdine law students here in Uganda are taking part in Pepperdine’s remand home work, where we draft case briefs for juvenile prisoners, who are trapped in remand homes long past the statutory limit, in an effort to expedite the pre-hearing phase of their cases. Many of the kids are innocent, but are stuck in remand homes until someone does the legwork to get their case before a judge. The work is challenging, and involves interviewing the kids through translators and sifting through large and convoluted police files, but it is so rewarding to know that we are making it possible for these kids to have their day in court.

    As a side project, I also was able to develop a search engine, called Uliisearch.org, for all of the Ugandan law currently published online. The Ugandan Judiciary and many other members of the Ugandan Legal Community are now using this site, and every time they do they see that a student from Pepperdine made it at the bottom, further strengthening Pepperdine’s international image.

    Finally, I have been working on a prototype legal research website for Uganda, similar to Westlaw or LexisNexis, to pitch to Google and other programmers, in an effort to make all of Uganda’s law freely and easily accessible to the public. Who knows where the site will go, but the Judiciary is excited about it, and it is a wonderful thing to be on the front end of what could make history for an entire country.

    I chose to come to Uganda because I have always been passionate about international development and global justice. I came here to serve the least of these, the down-and-outs, the orphans, and the widows; however, it was not until I came here that I realized how much I would gain in return.

Welcome to India - Legal Edition!

Becky Getman - Hyderabad India

After a bit of a slow start, the pace of things has definitely picked up! For one week, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the slums each morning. There are about 5 that the organization visits on a regular basis. The Indian women with us help the women in the village learn to sew or lead a Bible study, while the interns play with the kids. Given my love of kids, this was so much fun for me! It is amazing the joy and enthusiasm the kids have in spite of having so little. They are content to just color and be picked up and thrown around. One highlight for me was getting to pray with a girl who was about 16 years old and has been married 4 years and recently had a baby. Her husband is 18 and has a decent job, making around 4,000 rupees a month (only about $85, but high for India). However, he only gives her about 1,000 of that for her and the baby, spending the rest of the money on drinking. I am in awe at the faith some of these women have. I think it is easier to trust in God when you feel like He is providing for you, but I am so impressed at how they cling to Him in the midst of their struggles.
The next week we were given the opportunity to observe at a Human Rights Law Firm, right across from the High Court for Andhra Pradesh (the state we are staying in). While I don’t have extensive experience observing American law firms to compare it with, I feel confident in saying it was quite different. There were several Indian law students interning there also. It is funny because they can start law school right after high school, so they are only 18 or 19 years old, but we all just finished our first year of law school. Basically they arrive around 11 or 11:30 each day and sit around until the lawyer arrives and gives them some sort of assignment to do. We got to sit in on a few discussions of cases they are dealing with. One involved a man killed in a stampede at a movie premier, leaving a widow and four children. They were trying to sue the theater for negligence. It was interesting to see the various approaches they thought of to seek justice, ranging from passing new laws for movie theaters to calling it an atrocity because the man was Dalit.
After a hard 1.5-2 hours of work, the students would head out around 1 for lunch. We got to sample some of the local specialties, including biryani, pani puri, pan, and dosa (google those for pictures!). However, some of the food came from street stands, which they tend to tell us to avoid. Somehow my stomach made it through the week and it was great to pretend I was a local. Although you do get a bit nervous when the law students are talking about how the food is a bit iffy and one of them got sick! The students were great about treating us and helping us out. Around 2 or 2:30 we would return to the office and then the students would start to talk about leaving for the day. The lawyer was in and out all day, going to court and meeting clients, so they didn’t seem to have much accountability. So different from the crazy hours you hear about at firms in America!
Overall, it was interesting to hear about the Indian legal system and the issues with it. For the most part, the laws are in place, but mostly just to appease the international audience. They aren’t really enforced and there is a lot of corruption and bribes. The caste system is so engrained in society that it is hard for the lower castes to get justice. It is difficult to find a imagine solution, other then societal change, which is always slow to come. To some extent, it reminds me of slavery in America and the Civil Rights movement. One can only hope that with time, justice will be had for all the poor and oppressed in India. No legal system is perfect and America’s certainly has its flaws, but it seems justice is usually served. Hopefully my experiences in India will equip me for the Public Interest work I hope to do in my future legal career.

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Reflections with Two Weeks Left

By Megan Springer – Kampala, Uganda

Somehow the time has flown by so quickly that I have less than two weeks left in Uganda.  I distinctly remember thinking “wow, I leave for Uganda in two weeks.”  The fear that accompanied that realization is starkly different from the fear that lingers with me now.  I keep wondering if I made good enough use of my time here.  Did I experience the culture enough?  Did make my internship with the Chief Justice all that it could be?  Did I take full advantage of all the opportunities I have had?  As easy as it is to wonder what more I could have done, I’m trying to make the most of these final two weeks and also to reflect on the amazing things I have been able to do these past six weeks. 

For one, I have been able to gain practical knowledge through writing four judgments (opinions) and two research memorandums for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which has been absolutely amazing.  Through doing this I have been able to not only gain work experience and keep up those Legal Research and Writing skills, but I have come to appreciate the efficiency and logic behind the U.S. legal system and the skill that lawyers and judges in the U.S. have.  One of the things that I had prepared myself for as much as a I could was the difference in the functionality of the U.S. and Ugandan legal systems.  I had never thought of the United States as one of those highly efficient places, like Germany, but I have a new found appreciation for the way that the judiciary works in the U.S.  In Uganda, inefficiency is the word.  This is evidenced by the children who sit in remand homes for two years before having their case scheduled for trial or even meeting with an attorney. 

It is also present in viewing the office of the Chief Justice.  He has tables and desks stacked with case files and papers.  It is not that he is disorganized, but he is over loaded and inundated with work.  There are pending cases from two years ago sitting on the desk, waiting for a judgment to be rendered.  Because all cases that procedurally fall into certain categories are automatically appealable in Uganda, there is no real limitation on cases that reach the Supreme Court.  The merits of the case are irrelevant, unlike in the United States where the case must be granted a writ of certiorari in order for the Supreme Court to hear it.  When I asked the Chief Justice about this, he reasoned that “every Ugandan should have access to the highest court.”  As much as I think this is an admirable and not impossible goal, I am not sure that it is the most practical for Uganda.  Uganda is a small enough nation that if it had an appropriate degree of staffing and infrastructure, it could allow for this sort of unfettered appeals process.  However, the fact that there are 70 judges serving 30 million people makes the process anything but efficient.  And when one court hears an appeal for every party who fancies itself aggrieved, there is bound to be immense backlog.  That is what is happening in Uganda.  The judges are overworked at every level, and the backlog is enormous.  In such a state, it seems to me that idealistic goals, such as the unlimited appellate procedure, must take a backseat to efficiency.  However, that is just the view of an outsider second year law student.

However, despite the inefficiencies plaguing the Ugandan judiciary, there are some very positive aspects to it as well.  One of the main things I have taken away that I appreciate about the Ugandan system is that the judges really do their own work.  Judges here do not have clerks, unless they are very very fortunate (aka important).  The Chief Justice has one research assistant, and, for the summer, me.   With the exception of the little contribution that his R.A. and I can temporarily make, the Chief Justice does all his own work.  He researches the issues, he digs through the written submissions and appellate records, he writes his own judgments, and he acts as the head of the judiciary.  He is also very proud that he is does it all himself.  In the United States, most judges have at least one clerk and many times interns and secretaries working for them to do the “grunt work.”  This is not to say that U.S. judges do not do their own work, they certainly do, but they have a lot more assistance than Ugandan judges enjoy. 

Aside from the valuable and eye-opening work experience that I have attained in Uganda, I have also been very lucky as to experience Uganda and Ugandans.  Through work, involvement with a community organization for street children, and traveling I have gotten to know a great deal about Uganda and the Ugandan people.  From talking about politics and cultural comparisons with many workers within the judiciary (judges, registrars, secretaries, drivers, etc.) I feel that I have gotten a feel for one aspect of culture in Uganda.  It is always interesting to hear locals, especially government employed locals, talk about their own politics and culture.  It has been a really great learning experience, and it has also provided a great deal of entertainment for me. 

I’ve also made a point to get involved with a community organization in one of the less affluent districts of Kampala. Some of the Pepperdine students who were in Kampala last year began the relationship with this organization, which was started by a young Ugandan who grew up as a street kid but was able to get an education through a soccer scholarship.  The organization provides housing for about fifteen boys who were living on the street, and is able to pay the school fees for most of them as well.  Additionally, the organization provides activities for probably fifty more kids within the community.  They have a place to go to be kids and to stay out of trouble.  I have gone over to just hang out with the kids pretty frequently, and every time I go it is more special.  The kids love us so unconditionally, and everyone I’ve met through the organization has been willing to do anything for me at the drop of a hat.  For my birthday, they got a cake and threw a little party.  I was nearly brought to tears at the sight of thirty kids and a few adults, all who have nothing (financially) compared to me, finding a way to get a cake to celebrate my birthday.  It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.  Seeing how little these kids have, and yet how much they are willing to give, has been nothing short of life changing.

Finally, I have been blessed with the ability to travel and see the rest of Uganda.  I have gone on a safari, been gorilla trekking, and rafted the Nile River.  And although those experiences have been phenomenal, they are more valuable because of all the country I got to see on the way to them.  Driving through the Ugandan countryside is beautiful in many respects, and startling in others.  The hills and greenery of the country is breath-taking, but the little towns and villages that we have driven through have revealed how most Ugandan live.  As our buses have driven though these towns, the children run up smiling screaming “muzungus!” while the adults run over with boxes and bins full of food, drinks, and crafts to sell us.  There is poverty like I’ve never seen in these little towns, and the sight of their joy at having another tourist van drive through is very depressing.  The kids are excited to see new people come through, and the adults are excited to see potential income come through.  Either way, it is a very strange and sad reality.  However, despite the fact that most Ugandans only see money signs when they look at us white tourists, they are always incredibly kind to us.

All in all, I have enjoyed my time in Uganda immensely.  I am struggling to fathom that I will be back in the United States in less than two weeks, but it was an inevitable reality. 

OM India - Fighting Ritualized Prostitution

Karissa Hurst
Hyderabad, India

            Our experience in India so far has been AMAZING. I hope this post doesn’t echo Becky’s thoughts on our time in Hyderabad too much. Working in the anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) has been so eye opening and such a great experience. Most people think of commercial sexual exploitation when dealing with human trafficking, but the unit we are working in is much more specialized. The AHTU focuses on ritualized prostitution in the Hindu religion and a practice of dedicating Joginis to the goddess Yellama. Joginis are dedicated as temple prostitutes once they reach an age of maturity. Patrons (men in the community) can sponsor them and maintain ultimate “rights” to them above other temple worshippers. This practice is illegal in India, but as our boss told us, laws don’t carry much weight in India. Our boss told us that the rule of law is developed, but the only use for the law is to keep the international community off their back about human rights violations.

            The interesting thing about our office is that they take an extremely unique approach to stopping the Jogini system in Hyderabad. The state in which we are staying is called Andhra Pradesh, and it has the worst Jogini problem in the country with over 16,000 Joginis still practicing. Dedications are still ongoing, and the cycle of ritualized prostitution continues. AHTU works to end the cycle of ritualized prostitution by stopping future generations from engaging in the practice. They currently have 15 girls, who are daughters of active Joginis, living in our shelter called Pratigya Bhavan. Becky and I have had a very hands-on role in the girls' lives and spend our afternoons tutoring them and mentoring them as they adjust to their new way of life. By giving them a proper education and healthcare, AHTU is eliminating their “need” to enter into a life of prostitution. While many human rights organizations focus on immediate rescue and after care, it is refreshing to work for an organization that is focusing on long-term, sustainable change. 

            While our job has been somewhat undefined, we are encouraged to contribute in any way that we can. We have had an opportunity to interact with the girls in the shelter a lot, they even call us “auntie” in Telugu. We have done research about organization progress over the last year and written grants to get more funding from international aid organizations. It has been fun to use my undergraduate education in non-profit management to help AHTU with their fundraising and strategic planning.  They had a great need for grant writers and researchers, so we feel like we have made a tangible difference in the organization this summer.

            Additionally, we have built upon and made use of, the research that the Pepperdine Law students did last summer. They really value the work that Pepperdine students contribute and appreciate the relationship we have with them. Our co-workers still talk about Tracey and Alyssa and the amazing work they did last summer. We feel so blessed to be continuing Pepperdine’s relationship with the Dalit Freedom Network and are hopeful that our work this summer will really help in their mission to stop the Jogini system in Andhra Pradesh.

 

Basta!

Kelsey Waples
Ayacucho, Peru
June 30, 2011

I believe the mind-body connection is a strong one and that our bodies often alert us to emotional imbalances more quickly than we admit them to ourselves. So when Wednesday began with hot chocolate and a sweet tamale for breakfast and lunch included a lemonade-passion fruit slushie followed by a strawberry meringue…and then a vanilla meringue…I knew something was up. I nearly put a stop to the sugar-a-thon by starting the long walk home, but mid-way up the hill I made an abrupt 180˚and returned to the Centro for some mayuchi—homemade peanut ice cream. (In my defense, the Quechuan mamás only sell it on holidays and weekends, so this was a rational decision based on the probability I’d be in the Centro on one of my few remaining weekend days—at least that’s what I told myself). But it didn’t stop there, dinner consisted of kettle corn and oatmeal cookies. Curling up in bed that evening, my body shouted, “¡Basta! (Enough!),” which my mind and heart echoed, wearily.

As Ayacucho was the department most heavily affected by the internal conflict of the 1980’s and 1990’s, all my work here centers around cases stemming from the extreme violence of that era. I began by skimming through several case files to get an idea of the investigation and judicial processes here and then focused in on the Putis case. Briefly, the military encouraged several communities of Andean campesinos (rural peasants) to relocate from their remote mountain villages to the outskirts of the Putis military base in order to be better protected from the Sendero Luminoso terrorist attacks. Shortly thereafter, the troops separated out the men, raped the women, and then shot and buried all in several mass graves. The official report from Truth and Reconciliation Commission lists 123 victims, including 27 children between 6 months and 13 years old.

The story is truly atrocious, but I’ve read the stories of child soldiers in Rwanda and child prostitutes in India, and watched enough Hollywood gore, heartbreaking documentaries and 5’oclock news to continue through the file without much ado. However, as the days tick by, I’m beginning to feel saturated with horrifying details. There are commanding generals known only by nicknames and letters from the Department of Defense expressing “sincere regret” that they were unable to locate the service records of specific officers or personnel records for entire bases. There are lists of victims and extensive DNA-testing reports to establish identity and family relations. There are letters sent to the Canadian embassy requesting information on suspected defendants. A forensics report states that the wounds indicate an attack by an armed group on unarmed victims. Just this week I read through a report from the psychological analysis of one of only two survivors . It describes a shattered life, more pain than any human can process.

Then, last week I had the opportunity to visit the government forensics lab in charge of analyzing exhumed remains in order to establish identity and cause of death. Thirteen skeletons from the Chungari case, neatly labeled and laid out on tables, looked somewhat calm, almost at peace, in their precisely organized state. It was the clothes stashed under each table, now dirty, torn and bloodstained, that quietly shattered this illusion by revealing something of the life behind each generic set of bones and the horror that brought each one there. Holding back tears, I could picture the vibrant young woman who once proudly wore the bright yellow tank top and the humble farmer harvesting potatoes in his navy cable-knit sweater.

To top it all off, thanks to a Border’s liquidation sale, my evening reading has been The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Little, a novel about the Holocaust. It’s written from the perspective of an SS officer and attempts, with disturbingly precise detail, to explain how ordinary men carried out the daily dirty work of The Final Solution. I figured it would be an appropriate dovetail to the atrocities I’d be learning about here as both explore the human capacity to act with extreme inhumanity. Plus, at 975 pages for $5.63, the student in me couldn’t pass up such a deal. Hindsight is truly 20/20 and perhaps it was not the wisest choice to cap long days at the office with long nights diving further into the abyss.

At this point, my sense of hope and passionate outrage is losing the struggle against profound sadness and a sense of defeat in the face of monstrous obstacles. Thankfully, in a few days I’m taking a well-timed trip to Cusco and Machu Pichhu, which will give me some space to process and re-balance. When I return, it will be time to seek out stories of survival, healing and justice, to focus less on the dark past and more on the bright future that so many are contributing to in so many ways.

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Suffering

Liz Adams / Lima, Peru

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  For just as the suffings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

 

How wonderful that God is so relational! That Jesus walked this earth and felt the same emotions as we do as human beings.  And who better to understand the sufferings that we have, than He who was rejected, threatened with death, spit upon, mocked, whipped, and ultimately exectued? When we look for a shoulder to cry on, who do we turn to?  When we look for someone to share our hurts with, who do we go to?  We go to someone that will listen.  Maybe give advice…maybe just sit silently and listen with an understanding ear.  And it’s usually those who have suffered themselves who are most capable of understanding. You always recognize the man who has suffered, persevered, and found himself because you know that you can go to him and he will have plenty of time for you. As the passage at the top indicates, it is through our own sorrows that we gain understanding and patience to help others through the suffering they go through.  God gives us comfort, and we in turn comfort others who are hurting.

“We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow. If we try and evade sorrow, we are foolish.  Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life; it is no use saying sorrow ought not to be.”  Suffering may or may not make a man better.  Suffering either lets us find ourselves in the arms of our Savior, or it destroys us slowly but surely.  It’s not necessarily something to avoid, for suffering often takes away the shallowness that would otherwise consume us.  In fact, Jesus himself came to the earth knowing that He would suffer.  Rather than avoid the suffering, He says,  “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name!” (John 12:27)

I write these things because I have seen much suffering in the short time I’ve been in Peru.  The other blog posts have been on a more humourous note, but this time I write to tell you (and to later remind myself) that not everything about this trip has been a fun, enjoyable adventure.  In traveling to various countries, I have seen quite a bit of suffering.  And I’ve personally known many of the people who I’ve seen suffer.  But, the difference is that most of them are rather abstract about their sufferings.  They aren’t wanton to talk about the hard times they have been through.  However, working on a legal basis has been an entirely different experience.  For one, the people we work with either want to, or find it necessary to, confide in us the details of their experiences.  As lawyers, we cannot prosecute a case without knowing as many of the facts as possible.  Many of these facts are not things that we want to know, and are not things that the people want to share.  But, they must be drug out little by little.  In the cases of genocide and child sex abuse, this has been particularly difficult.  In many respects, I see these same people suffer in their day to day lives.  They struggle just to get by.  Sometimes they have enough food, sometimes they don’t.  Hot baths aren’t even an option, let alone a reality.  But they fight, and most of the time they do get by.  Until tragedy strikes.  There’s no savings account for such things.  There’s no welfare program set up, or District Attorney’s office to take up their case.  The police are corrupt, and so are most of the judges.  They don’t really have a place to turn for help.  I thinking especially of the mothers whose little daughters have suffered sexual abuse.  I have heard them admit that they feel as though they have failed.  Not because they couldn’t provide food for their children, but because they couldn’t protect their daughter from becoming another’s prey.  With tears streaming down their faces they recount all that they have worked for, and all that they have tried to do over the years to provide the best life possible for their family.  Their sentiments are the same as any loving parent.  But there came a moment when they were caught unaware, and they were taken advantage of.  And now they feel alone, and without anyone to turn to.  Even their neighbors have turned their backs.  It’s a horrible thing to find yourself in need, only to realize that unless your neighbor has the same need or disadvantage, they have no interest in helping you.  So, they turned to Paz y Esperanza in hopes of finding justice….and a shoulder to cry on.

It has been humbling to hear these mothers try to explain the gratitude that they feel for those of us helping with their case.  In our last meeting, after preparing them to testify before the judge at the next hearing, one of the women had tears in her eyes.  Her voice broke as she said that she doesn’t just think of us as her lawyers, but as her friends.  I can only hope to be so worthy of her gratitude.  I think of the things that I have suffered in my lifetime, and realize that they don’t compare at all to what she has suffered.  It’s not really fair, but life rarely is.  I hope to try and comfort these women and their daughters with what little I understand of needing to be comforted.  Everytime I look into their eyes, my heart breaks for them.  And it breaks even more at the hope I see shining behind the looks of despair.  I can’t explain why it makes me sad to see that hope.  I think it’s because they have more hope than I do that everything will turn out ok.  The judicial process is so long and corrupt here.  I fear that they may never see justice served.  But at the same time I admire their hope.  If I were in their situation, I don’t think I would be brave enough to hope for anything good to happen.  But, I believe that God’s mercy in their lives is great enough to give them that hope.  Maybe I’ve never experienced that kind of mercy because I’ve never been through that kind of suffering.  Or maybe I experience God’s great mercy in another way…that I’ve never had to live through the nightmare they are living right now.

Through these experiences I’m learning more about what life is like for a great number of people in this world.  It’s not pretty, but it’s their reality.  It makes me so thankful for what I have, but it also makes me want to bring comfort to as many people as possible.  Maybe I haven’t suffered enough to really understand what others are going through.  But, I have been comforted by God through other people and the time they have taken to love me through hard times.  Based on how much that has meant to me, I can only imagine the comfort that one seeks when going through tragedies such as these.  I hope this serves as a reminder to me that God uses our sufferings for good.  When called upon to comfort others, I hope I will remember the comfort that I have received, and make ample time to comfort others.