Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)

Legal ServicesMassachusetts, United States11-50 Employees

IJDH has successfully helped Haitians enforce their human rights since 2004. The Institute partners with BAI to support grassroots struggles for justice in Haiti and in the powerful countries abroad where decisions about Haitians’ rights are often made. IJDH and BAI combine traditional legal strategies with organizing, emerging technology and public advocacy to address the root causes of instability and poverty in Haiti.

We fight for justice with routinely excellent legal work, but also with creativity, humility, inspiration and humor, and a supportive work culture. We effect broad changes with modest resources by nurturing large advocacy networks.

Notable achievements include:
•Representation of 5,000+ Haitian victims of cholera in a class action lawsuit against the United Nations, in pursuit of justice and accountability for the UN’s direct role in causing the October 2010 outbreak. This case is currently in the appeals process;
•A 2014 appeals court decision reinstating charges of torture, murder and other crimes against former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier;
•Convictions in twelve of sixteen rape cases that reached trial 2012-2014;
•Successful prosecution of the Raboteau Massacre, a 1994 military/paramilitary attack on a pro-democracy neighborhood, that convicted the top military and paramilitary leadership of Haiti’s 1991-1994 “de facto” dictatorship. Among the convicted is the highest-ranked officer ever deported from the U.S. on human rights grounds; 
•Important training for social justice lawyers, who have used their training to advance human rights in Haiti, the U.S., and throughout the world;

BAI/IJDH’s work has been featured in several award-winning documentaries, a Harvard University case study, and is the focus of the 2014 book How Human Rights Can Build Haiti.

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