Justice Education Society of British Columbia

Fall 2011 Newsletter

The Justice Education Society’s International Programs have had a busy autumn and transition into the new year. JES has continued to develop working relationships with the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP and has also continued into the second year of the Canadian International Development Agency-funded Building Effect Justice Systems project in Central America and Ethiopia.

Other activities include the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade-funded Special Methods of Investigation project in Central America, the release of a documentary on Aboriginal and Mayan justice traditions, as well as the finalization of print and film resources on public legal education in Vietnam.

Additionally, JES is registering as an NGO to obtain legal status for operation in Guatemala.

Guaranteeing Human Rights by Building Effective Justice Systems

JES is coming to the end of its second year of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded initiative on building effective justice systems in Central America and Ethiopia. Each country in which the JES operates is currently at a different phase of the project. The following highlights activities in the region.

Above right: The Director of Police, Carlos Antonio Ascencio Giron, the Attorney General of El Salvador, Romeo Benjamín Barahona Meléndez, and the Executive Director of the Justice Education Society, Rick Craig, discuss Canadian cooperation in the justice sector.

El Salvador
The Crime Scene Examination (Phase 1) ‘train the trainer’ course was launched in San Salvador and is now being used in other cities. The first course was delivered in Santa Ana, El Salvador on October 1. A second course was offered in San Miguel in November. JES is now working on the development of materials for Major Case Management and Investigation (Phase 2) in the country.

In January, El Salvadorian Attorney General Romeo Barahona and JES Latin American Program Coordinator Anne Catherine Bajard presented donated crime scene investigation kits to police representatives from various regions in El Salvador.  Fifteen kits were presented to regional police representatives and the National Security Academy. Additionally, the Attorney General provided nine mobile units (trucks) for crime scene investigation in the country.

Above: (From left to right) The Canadian ambassador to El Salvador, Marianick Tremblay, the El Salvadorian Attorney General, Romeo Barahona, and JES Latin American Program Coordinator, Anne Catherine Bajard, in front of the donated crime scene investigation kits.

Guatemala
The Oral Trial techniques (Phase 3) training course for judges and prosecutors is under development for Guatemala and will be delivered in March.

Honduras
JES offered its first Crime Scene Examination course in Tegucigalpa from September 6 – 24. JES is currently working on the development of materials for Major Case Management and Investigation (Phase 2) in Honduras.
 
Left: The inauguration of the first trainer’s training course in Crime Scene Investigation in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, beginning September 6.

Ethiopia
JES has recently signed a partnership agreement with the Ethiopian NGO Justice for All-Prison Fellowship Ethiopia. The partnership will support the implementation of the project in-country.

JES is planning a mission to Addis Ababa in February to begin the activities and complete a needs assessment on the role of the prosecution in Crime Scene Examination (Phase 1) and Major Case Management and Investigation (Phase 2).

DFAIT Special Methods of Investigation Project

JES has undertaken a number of activities with our partners in Central America to increase their capacity for special methods of investigation. This project is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).

Left: VPD Detective Brett Hallgren (far right) with Guatemalan, Honduran and El Salvadorian participants and JES staff at a seminar on forensic video analysis at the JES Vancouver office October 25-29.

Other Projects

DFAIT Quetzaltenango Project

Over the past two years, JES has worked with a Guatemalan NGO in conjunction with the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Ministerio Público) to develop a case management model in the department (state) of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. This model entails the training of prosecutors, investigators and crime scene specialists in their areas of specialization and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.

Needs Assessment for the Mexico DFAIT Project

DFAIT continues to support JES in its efforts to assess the capacity of the criminal justice system in Mexico at the state level. The needs assessment focuses on the areas of Crime Scene Examination techniques, Major Case Management and Oral Trial techniques and seeks to determine whether JES’s Building Effective Justice Systems program might assist in Mexico’s justice transformation at the state level.

This quarter’s activities included several visits to the country and the completion of a website where documents on the Mexican justice reform are archived and accessible to Canadian stakeholders in Mexican Justice Reform. JES has now chosen to focus its research in the Southern region including Quintana Roo, Campeche, Yucatan, Tabasco and Chiapas.

Public Legal Education

Evelyn Neaman, International Program Manager for JES, traveled to Vietnam in December to train lawyers on conducting focus groups. The groups will provide feedback on newly developed materials for farmers regarding land disputes and for women regarding divorce. The training was part of the ongoing Judicial Development and Grassroots Engagement project. 

Additionally, videographer Stephen Herman traveled with the JES team and captured film footage of several of the focus group sessions. Two versions of the film will be produced by March: one in Vietnamese to be used as a training tool and one in English for public engagement purposes in Canada

Additional Activities

Mayan Documentary
The Aboriginal and Mayan Traditional Justice Knowledge Exchange Project has produced a film entitled “On the Road to Justice: An Exchange of Aboriginal and Mayan Justice Traditions.” The project is sponsored by CIDA’s Indigenous Peoples Partnership Program. A link to the documentary will be posted soon at www.justiceeducation.ca/international.

“Voices on Justice” Broadcast Series
For CIDA's International Development Week 2011, JES is about to release the second interview in this series featuring Gloria Porras, the Secretary General of Guatemala. She speaks about activities undertaken by JES in conjunction with the Guatemalan Ministerio Público. 

The “Voices of Justice” series was launched to coincide with CIDA's International Development Week 2010. The series focuses on good governance and institution-building projects abroad. The first broadcast featured an interview with Chief Judge Hong of the Vinh Long province of Vietnam on public legal education in his country.

A link to both of these interviews can be found here.
 
Right: Guatemalan Secretary General Gloria Porras


CIDA and DFAIT Brown Bag Lunches in Ottawa
The Society organized a lunch session for DFAIT staff in September and for CIDA staff in October to discuss JES’ recent international work.
 
Left: The Society organized a lunch session for DFAIT staff in September 2010 and for CIDA staff in October 2010 to discuss recent JES international work.

Office and Staff News

JES’ International Programs are pleased to welcome many new members to their Canadian and Central American teams.

Canadian Team

Anne Catherine Bajard – Latin American Project Coordinator
Anne Catherine brings over 20 years of international program experience working in the areas of human rights, indigenous rights and governance, territorial rights, intercultural education, women's rights, Community Economic Development and media and communications. Ms. Bajard was the former Regional Director for Crossroads International.

Jennifer Boundy – International Program Assistant, Mexico
Jennifer Faith Boundy has an MA in Women’s Studies from York University. For the past 8 years she has worked to promote women’s rights and indigenous peoples’ rights through her work with an indigenous women’s fair trade weaving cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico.

Edgar Morales – International Program Assistant
Originally from Guatemala, Edgar Morales brings to the International team his experience in sales and marketing, recruiting, customer service and office management.

Dylan Mazur – UBC School of Social Work Intern
Dylan Mazur joined JES in January as part of a four-month practicum placement for his Bachelor of Social Work at the University of British Columbia. Dylan will be working on the development of two projects for the Society, including a public legal education initiative for persons with visual and hearing impairments in BC, as well as an international project focused on the introduction and interpretation of psychological evidence in trauma-related crimes.

Central American Team

Roció Reyna Pérez– El Salvador Program Specialist
Roció Reyna Pérez is a lawyer and a public notary. Roció was an assistant prosecutor for eleven years, working on crime scene investigation; six of these years were spent on the Crimes Against Life unit.  The experience amassed in her previous positions will be immensely helpful in Roció’s current role as Program Specialist for projects in El Salvador with the Justice Education Society.

Alejandro Elías Wilson – Guatemala Program Specialist
Alejandro Elias graduated from Universidad de San Carlos with a Law Degree and is now finishing up his thesis for a Masters in Criminal Law. Alejandro worked at the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Jutiapa, Guatemala, as an assistant prosecutor and was later transferred to Guatemala City to work in the Family Crimes unit.  Alejandro was then promoted to work in Technical Coordination and, in 2008, further promoted to Coordinator for the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Guatemala City. Alejandro is now working with the Justice Education Society in the capacity of Guatemala Programs Specialist.

Lombardo Rodriguez – XELA Project, Guatemala
Lombardo was the assistant prosecutor for the Prosecutor’s Office Against Drug Trafficking in Northeastern Guatemala.  Lombardo was the Chief Operating Officer for the Witness Protection Program and is a certified Instructor and designer of protective operations, trained by the U.S. Marshal Service. Lombardo brings his variety of skills and experience to the Justice Education Society in his role as Quetzaltenango Diagnostic Projects Coordinator.