Title: International Justice Mission

Source/Sponsoring Agency: International Justice Mission

URL: http://www.ijm.org/

Date Checked: 5/28/2009      Status: Active

Date Annotated: 3/4/2009

Topics: AIDS/HIV; Foreign Law; Human Rights Law; Poverty Law; Women and the Law; Land Use Planning;

Other keywords: Slavery; Sexual violence

Contents: Founded in 1997, the International Justice Mission (IJM) is a nonprofit human rights agency whose lawyers, investigators and social workers strive to procure justice for victims of violence, abuse and oppression throughout the world. IJM was founded by Gary Haugen in response to the results of an extensive study by lawyers, human rights officials and public officials that identified abuse of power by police and other authorities as a pervasive problem worldwide. Drawing on his work as a U.S Department of Justice Attorney and as the United Nations’ Investigator in Charge following the Rwandan genocide, Mr. Haugen now serves as president of IJM. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., and with affiliate offices in the U.K. and Canada, IJM currently has ongoing operations in Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, Guatemala, Bolivia, Honduras, Peru and South Asia. The core of their work is based upon the premise that individuals who can rely on their local justice systems for protection of the law are far less vulnerable than those who cannot. IJM’s multilayered purpose is to provide relief to victims by stopping the violence, creating accountability on the part of perpetrators, continuing to serve the subsequent emotional and physical needs of victims, and cultivating a structure within the justice system that is both preventive and responsive. To this end, a significant portion of IJM’s work includes partnering with state and local authorities on an individual basis to ensure a functioning public justice system for the victim, and to identify and address specific sources of corruption, lack of resources or general lack of response in the system, to thereby “obtain convictions against individual perpetrators and to bring meaning to local laws that are meaningless if not enforced.” IJM’s website is well organized and easily navigable with a consistent tool bar provided at the top of each page. The color scheme is pleasing, and the pages, although busy, are well-arranged with extensive graphics and narratives by organizational professionals and the victims they have assisted. If the visuals on those pages become overwhelming, there is an excellent site map available to assist in moving directly to specific content. Of most significance is the Resources tab located at the top of the page which provides a link to free downloadable materials including copies of PDF documents and videos. Materials are organized into categories including Actions/Advocacy, Casework Stories, IJM Publications (past quarterly reports), Statistics and Factsheets, and Videos (media coverage, speaking engagements, and more). The site’s Press Center provides very current media highlights featuring many prominent members of the media, together with IJM’s own press releases. Its online store serves as a source of books and DVDs featuring their cause, and visitors to the site may sign up to receive email updates on breaking IJM news. The site also serves as a forum through which individuals may report cases of abuse involving victims located outside of the United States.

Author of Annotation: A. Emerson