La première semaine
Avant de commencer mes études de droit…
Before diving into the details of my internship, it is important to provide some context surrounding my interest in IBJ. The mission of IBJ is to guarantee all citizens the right to competent legal representation, the right to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment, and the right to a fair trial. IBJ's mission aligns with my desire to go to law school - to pursue social justice. Social justice can come in many forms, including the mission statement of IBJ. When I received the email invitation to apply for William and Mary's international internship program and I saw IBJ's mission, my interest was piqued. My only concern was not wanting to perpetuate any form of western superiority/ colonialist mindset when helping people in what are often paternalistically referred to as "developing countries." To my satisfaction, IBJ does not do that. Their lawyers on the ground are usually native to the country and understand their respective criminal justice procedures, which is key to helping promote competent legal representation to people who need help. IBJ helps to create and edit documents that educate and explain legal concepts to attorneys, but they are always guided and proofread by local attorneys. This is how IBJ creates their international network of lawyers.
Avant mon départ
I was ecstatic when I received word from Professor Warren that I would be traveling to Geneva, Switzerland as an intern for International Bridges to Justice for my 1L summer. I also quickly befriended Abi Grand who was also hired as an intern at the same NGO. IBJ seeks to provide assistance to people around the world that may not ordinarily have access to legal representation. Whether it is through trainings, pamphlets, eLearning modules, or other means of training lawyers, IBJ helps to fund projects around the world, often in countries where inmates are held illegally and many have endured state sanctioned torture. As an abolitionist, helping people to escape from inhumane prison systems around the world is not merely a means for me to travel to Europe for the summer, but is something that I am passionate about.
Chez moi
While in Geneva, Abi and I are staying in dormitory housing called Cité Universitaire de Genève located in Champel, a residential neighborhood in Geneva. Each floor has a shared kitchen, refrigerator, and showers. My room is a studio equipped with a sink, closet, desk, bed, and large windows. Notably one of the best perks of Cité is the free public transit. Every two weeks, we are given a transit card to access Geneva’s buses, tram cars, and even Les Mouettes, which are boat lines that cross Le Lac Léman and are included as part of the city’s public transportation. Public transit operates on an honor system. Instead of scanning a card or paying the driver each time you board, you simply board the bus and you are expected to have a transit card on you. If you do not, occasionally the buses are audited by the municipal police and you will be charged around 100 CHF if you are missing your transit card. Luckily for Abi and I, the bus number 3 has a stop right outside our building and drops us off very close to work.
Politiques locales à Genève
Before going to Switzerland, I did some digging on current political situations here. I found two that are noteworthy. In December of 2020, the Swiss Parliament voted to legalize gay marriage. With enough signatures, a Swiss citizen is allowed to call for a referendum to have the nation vote on the issue. As you might have guessed, that occurred here by conservative activists. Instead of gay marriage passing in 2020, a referendum took place in 2021, and passed with 64.1% of voters supporting gay marriage. I am excited to be here during Switzerland’s legalization of gay marriage which will take effect on July 1, 2022! Though, I am surprised they set the date for July 1, considering June is LGBTQ Pride month… but, I digress.
The other issue more directly impacted me. When I arrived in Geneva, I was exhausted from traveling for nearly 24 hours straight. Naturally, I tried to order an Uber. To my surprise, the Uber App told me no cars were available. After taking a 50 CHF (roughly $50) cab ride that only lasted 20 minutes, I learned the reason for Uber not operating here. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court decided that Uber was liable for paying its employees salaries and were required to contribute to social security. Much to my disdain — and to the disdain of locals — Uber decided to cease operations in Geneva altogether.
Exactly one week after I wrote this blog post, Uber reached a deal with the city and returned to Geneva.
Mon travail à IBJ — Le premier jour
Working at IBJ requires everyone to collaborate together on projects, especially among the interns. Almost all IBJ employees have an area of expertise (finance, communications, outreach, marketing, law, etc.) but nearly everyone is at least competent in all of the above areas. Each project has so many moving parts that they often require everyone to chip in. Since IBJ is mostly funded through grants, a large part of the office is unfortunately made up of unpaid interns who often do much of the leg work. Several of the interns are European and speak French and English, so some interns work on translating documents received from the francophone countries IBJ works in, including DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda. Other interns work on the eLearning Modules that IBJ creates to train attorneys on the law in a particular country. But there are constantly other projects to work on, like researching grants to apply for, preparing for meetings, proofreading drafts, collaborating on a project... the list goes on.
The first day of work was bustling with excitement; it was the first day back for the entire office after a long weekend. Abi and I were assigned the same project to work on, which dealt with Afghanistan — a country that IBJ has rarely operated in before. The Afghan legal system has been utterly devastated by the US’s withdrawal of military troops in 2021. After the withdrawal, the Taliban took over the government and effectively ended any form of criminal justice system in place. Any work advancing gender equality in Afghanistan has been dismantled. Around half a million Afghan people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the Taliban’s takeover, and around 70% have been women. Together, Abi and I are working on drafting a proposal for a grant which would fund operations on the ground in Afghanistan for women in need of assistance. Part of this project includes communicating with a displaced Afghan lawyer and judge to learn about operations currently in place. It was devastating to hear stories about the state of affairs following the US military occupation ending. The only way to learn the truth about what is happening on the ground in Afghanistan is by listening to the first hand experiences of displaced Afghan people. Unsurprisingly, it is quite difficult to find any media coverage of Afghanistan today. Unfortunately, due to the nature of our aid, I cannot provide more information surrounding this project.
It’s difficult not to reflect on why Afghanistan is in this predicament. Currently, I am working for an NGO that is trying to provide assistance to Afghan people because of the US’s withdrawal of troops, which led to the Taliban taking over the Afghan government. More reflection can be had on why the US invaded Afghanistan in the first place, but that would require more than a blog post to adequately discuss.
From my multiple discussions with the Afghan lawyer and judge, I learned first-hand what it is like on the ground. Women cannot currently travel outside of their home without a male present that is related to them. For obvious reasons, this creates obstacles for female lawyers that are attempting to aid their clients that are incarcerated; not only would the lawyer need to be present, but so would a male relative. For this to happen, the relative cannot have work obligations and would need to have the freedom to travel for hours at a time. There is also no fair criminal justice process in Afghanistan. The judges act as the prosecutor, defense lawyer, and judge for criminal matters, and a defendant is not allowed to have legal representation. Half a million people have been displaced from their homes, either fleeing to neighboring countries, other regions of Afghanistan, or across the world.
If I have gained anything in my first week at IBJ, it has been legitimate perspective about the true state of affairs in Afghanistan. The little help I am contributing by applying for a grant is at most a small bandaid to cover the massive wound left by the US military occupation ending abruptly.
During my first week, adding to the office's already busy schedule, there was a board meeting which included all of IBJ's Board of Directors and Advisory Board to celebrate its 20th birthday (technically, 22nd birthday, but that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The board members were able to hear from each of the full time staff members regarding their projects taking place around the world. Members of IBJ’s international offices also dialed in to update the board. Several of the board members gave speeches about the importance of fighting for justice for people that cannot afford legal representation. Mia Yamamoto spoke about public defenders being some of the greatest lawyers in the world who provide some of the most needed legal representation. Another notable takeaway from the board meeting was from one of the Advisory Board Members, Nancy Hollander. She was also a public defender. I was shocked to learn that Jodie Foster played Nancy Hollander in the 2021 film, The Mauritanian. IBJ has been invited to a theatre in Geneva for a screening of the movie, which I very much look forward to this week.
Fin de la première semaine
My first week ended with the board meeting, and afterwards, Chris - the intern coordinator - took all of the interns to Bain des Paquîs. We ended the evening on the shore of Le Lac Léman over des bières pression and snacks. Bain des Paquîs gave us a stunning view and was the perfect way to end a busy first week. While celebrating the end of the week, we also bid "adieu" to two interns who finished their internships. One of the interns will be working on the ground in Cambodia at CBJ (Cambodia Bridges to Justice), one of IBJ's international offices. Friday was a stress-filled day, but also one full of celebration and commemoration of the ongoing mission of IBJ. I've been reminded of the ongoing fight for justice that drove me to apply to law school.
À la semaine prochaine!