Partners in Justice International

The Collaboration Needed for Justice. To make justice a reality for victims, survivors, and witnesses, we need a shared vision for the protection of their information, the preservation of their rights, and what it means to support their access to justice. Sometimes, this lack of collective vision can cause significant roadblocks. As an example, UN investigative bodies are often the only hope that victims have for truth and justice. However, the civil society organisations who need to engage those UN bodies can be reluctant to turn over their evidence because the protection of victim information isn’t guaranteed. There is no uniform agreement on how to handle the information. In 2024, to address this need for a shared agreement, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) convened two international roundtables — one in New York and one in Geneva — and PJI was a key partner for both meetings. We’re excited to announce that, in close collaboration with our partners at the ITJP, PJI led the drafting of an international cooperation and information-sharing protocol between civil society and UN-mandated investigations! This simple act of administrative collaboration has the potential to help more victims around the world speak their truth, achieve justice, and receive redress. Learn more about this partnership at https://buff.ly/3EZSJxy

At the end of 2024 and into January, this incredibly dedicated community came together and contributed nearly $94,000 to help PJI ensure that there is legal recourse throughout the world for victims of atrocities. Thank you! Your support for PJI is even more crucial in light of recent disruptions caused by the freezing of USAID and US State Department support — disruptions that have curtailed the work of many vital organisations dedicated to seeking justice for victims around the world. We don’t know what the coming months will bring, but we promise we won’t stop working toward a more compassionate and just world. Thank you for taking action and being a vital part of this work. We are grateful for each and every one of you and look forward to updating you on the impacts you’ve helped make possible through PJI.

This follow-up episode from @AsymmetricalHaircuts is full of expert tips on coping with the impacts of the traumatic materials professionals in the field interact with regularly. It includes tips from PJI's co-directors, Maxine Marcus and Kathleen Roberts! You can listen to the episode at https://buff.ly/4aS5fem

Thank you to Asymmetrical Haircuts for including PJI's co-directors in this episode of their podcast, "Dealing with Secondary Trauma, Part 1." The episode focuses on the personal impacts of engaging with traumatic material as part of the profession and how to process and cope with the weight of the work. Stay tuned for a follow-up episode soon that will touch on institutional support and provide expert tips for professionals in the field.

Thank you for all of your support and partnership in 2024. We are wishing you -- and all of humanity -- a New Year filled with peace, joy, and love!

Please donate today at https://lnkd.in/gKe_kDnm. #justiceathome

This follow-up episode from Asymmetrical Haircuts is full of expert tips on coping with the impacts of the traumatic materials professionals in the field interact with regularly. It includes tips from PJI's co-directors, Maxine Marcus and Kathleen Roberts!

The UN Team of Experts on Sexual Violence in Conflict has released their documentary film about the Sepur Zarco case in Guatemala, which PJI supported. The Sepur Zarco case was the very first case involving sexual slavery as a crime against humanity to be prosecuted in a national court; the PJI team is honoured to have accompanied the prosecutors in this powerful case. When asked about the importance of peer-to-peer exchange to improve domestic capacity for international crimes, in connection with the Sepur Zarco case, Carmen Lucrecia Morales (former prosecutor of the Special Cases Unit of the Internal Armed Conflict, Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office) said, “We were used to working only on local cases. However, the experience [international organisations] brought to the case was essential for us to know that it was possible to push this case at an international level and we received a lot of guidance and training that allowed us to see that it was indeed possible to achieve the objective and the sentence that was obtained. Behind this case, there were so many people that, by realizing that if we all work together and we give that validity to the victims we can achieve our goals.” In February 2016, the case reached the High-Risk Court in Guatemala and resulted in the two perpetrators receiving a combined sentence of 360 years. The success of this case encouraged women from communities throughout Guatemala who had suffered the same or similar atrocities and formed the basis for the Achí case. You can learn more about the Sepur Zarco case by watching the full 15-minute documentary at https://lnkd.in/exiE5ejS. #SepurZarco #Guatemala #Justiceathome

We dream of a day when PJI is no longer needed, but for today, victims of atrocities are counting on PJI’s unique approach — and you— to get the justice they deserve. The world is full of victims and their allies who are eager to prosecute the atrocities they suffered and that took place in their country, but they aren’t able — they simply lack the technical skills. That’s where we come in. With your help, PJI will provide training & assistance to prosecutors, investigators, and victim advocates around the world so they can prosecute atrocities in their local courts. No matter where they live, and no matter when the crimes took place, victims of atrocities deserve a chance for meaningful justice. Please donate today at https://lnkd.in/gKe_kDnm, so that we can ensure access to justice for every survivor of atrocities wherever they live. #justiceathome #transformativejustice

Major Progress! In 2024, the PJI team continued our long-standing work with the Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (Citizens Alliance). Together, we have analysed years of evidence collected by Citizens Alliance, filling in the gaps, and building a file from which one or more crimes against humanity cases could be built against individual perpetrators from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). After nearly three years of close collaboration, our colleagues at Citizens Alliance have now published a groundbreaking report: “Made in China: How Global Supply Chain Fuels Slavery in North Korea’s Prison Camps.” You can view the full report at bit.ly/4g28C3W . The report, written by Citizens Alliance, and based upon the investigation and analysis carried out with accompaniment from PJI, “sheds light on the long-term, widespread system of slavery, systematically executed through the cooperation between North Korean state agencies and their overseas partners. It specifically focuses on Chongori Kyowaso No.12, unveiling how products manufactured through forced labor in North Korean detention facilities are disguised as "made in China" and distributed within the global market. The report further details how profits from this trade sustain North Korea’s oppressive regime and contribute to its military expansion.” PJI applauds the expertise of Citizens Alliance, the years of victim-centred in-depth investigation, and the powerful contribution to accountability so long denied to survivors of slavery and related crimes in North Korea. Walking side by side with the victim community and basing their work centrally upon consultation with the affected community, Citizens Alliance is a true example of the professional documentation standard civil society actors can achieve. Learn more about our North Korea work at bit.ly/4g5Z1JB. #HumanRightsDay #JusticeatHome #TransformativeJustice