Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) is a Haitian public interest law firm established in 1995 to support the Haitian people in their struggle to achieve universal human rights, access to a just legal system, social justice and the right to participate fully in choosing their government. At that time, democracy was growing in the executive and legislative branches of Haiti’s government, but the judiciary continued to function as it had in decades past under dictatorship – as a tool to reinforce the power of the powerful and punish those who challenged the system. In the two decades since, BAI has worked in partnership with grassroots communities to build justice for Haiti’s most marginalized.

In 2004, after the U.S. government removed Haiti’s democratically elected president, BAI founded the U.S.-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) to support and amplify BAI’s fight in places outside Haiti where decisions about Haitian rights are routinely made.

BAI defends jailed activists and other victims of oppression, represents victims of sexual assault, fights for fair elections and pursues claims of victims of UN-introduced cholera. The Bureau also fights in the court of public opinion by supporting activism, engaging with media and influencing government and international officials. BAI empowers rural communities to use civic engagement to fight for their rights. BAI also trains law graduates and emerging lawyers, building a social justice movement where none previously existed.

BAI fights for human rights and justice in Haiti.

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Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) stands with social justice movements and communities under threat. They fuse litigation, advocacy and grassroots organizing to dismantle oppressive systems of power – including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity and governmental overreach – and work to build the power of communities that have been pushed to the margins. Additionally, through the Bertha Justice Fellowship Program for emerging lawyers and Ella Baker Summer Internships for law students, CCR trains and mentors the next generation of constitutional and human rights attorneys.

Founded in 1966 by visionary, radical lawyers working on behalf of civil rights movement activists, CCR now challenges an expansive array of constitutional and human rights violations, including abusive immigration practices; criminalization of dissent; corporate human rights abuses; discriminatory policing; drone killings; government surveillance; Guantánamo; LGBTQI persecution; mass incarceration; Muslim profiling; racial injustice; sexual and gender- based violence; and torture, war crimes and militarism. In addition to constitutional law, CCR utilizes international human rights law, deploying mechanisms available through the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the International Criminal Court. Many of CCR’s historic victories – including Filártiga v. Peña-Irala and Rasul v. Bush – have established major legal precedents.

Bertha Justice Fellows participate across the full spectrum of CCR’s movement lawyering work and are tasked with substantial responsibilities that prepare them for ongoing work in the field.

CCR’s approach is adaptive, fearless and relentless — because Justice Takes A Fight.

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Centerlaw was founded in 2003 to work for the promotion, integration and enforcement of international human rights and humanitarian law in the Philippines. Centerlaw pursues this mission through litigation and by conducting legal research in the Philippines and throughout Asia.

Since its founding, Centerlaw has initiated litigation on issues ranging from the right to life by challenging extrajudicial killings, to the protection of press freedom and the protection of the environment. In all its litigation, Centerlaw incorporates international law norms and taps jurisprudence that recognizes international law as a source of rights and recourse for relief.

Centerlaw has been at the forefront of the legal fight against curtailment of internet freedom and the freedom of expression under the country’s cybercrime legislation. In line with its advocacy to protect and promote data privacy, Centerlaw was the first to file a complaint for the massive breach in voters’ data involving the country’s Commission on Elections.

Centerlaw also lodged the first legal challenge against Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “tokhang” war on drugs which has claimed at least 13,000 lives. This resulted in the Supreme Court granting an unprecedented temporary protection order for some of the victims and the President and National Chief of Police putting a temporary stop to the program.

Additionally, Centerlaw represents the families of 15 victims of the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre – the summary murder of 58 politicians, journalists and others. In the main criminal case, there are 196 accused, including governors, mayors, police and military. Centerlaw also represents the family of Jennifer Laude, a transgender woman who was murdered by a U.S. Marine. The court found the Marine guilty of homicide and awarded Laude’s family damages.

Centerlaw actively participates in prosecuting the perpetrators of killings of journalists sued for criminal defamation.

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Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) is a civil society organization and law clinic based at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. As such, CALS connects the worlds of academia and social justice. CALS’ vision is a socially, economically and politically just society where repositories of power, including the state and private sector, uphold human rights.

CALS’ work focuses on five intersecting program areas, including basic services, business and human rights, environmental justice, gender and the rule of law. The organization uses research, advocacy and strategic litigation as its tools for advancing human rights.

CALS remains deeply committed to transformation in the South African legal profession and beyond. Since 2015, its Bertha Justice Fellows have run a project organizing workshops in Eastern Cape schools, giving high school learners an opportunity to come together and engage with topics ranging from black consciousness to gender.

CALS’ vision is a socially, economically and politically just society where repositories of power, including the state and the private sector, uphold human rights.

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Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (The Center for Legal and Social Studies) is an Argentine human rights organization founded in 1979 during the last military dictatorship. It promotes the protection of human rights and their effective exercise, justice and social inclusion – both nationally and internationally.

In its early years, CELS fought for truth and justice for the crimes committed under State terrorism. At the end of the 1980s, it expanded its agenda to include human rights violations committed under democracy, their structural causes and their relationship to social inequality. CELS’ actions are aimed at shoring up the democratic State, public policy advocacy, expanding the effective exercise of rights, supporting victims and the search for justice.

Since its beginnings, CELS has coordinated national and international work, particularly with regard to universal and regional protection mechanisms. In recent years, our strategies have expanded toward participation in international discussions on human rights from a Latin American perspective. In this way, CELS is consolidating itself as a national organization with a global agenda.

Today, our key areas of work are: memory, truth and justice for crimes committed in the framework of State terrorism; institutional violence and incarceration policies as areas of human rights violations; social inclusion and social, economic and cultural rights, particularly with regard to access to land and decent habitat; public policy regarding mental health; justice system reforms, the rights of migrant persons, sexual and reproductive rights, and freedom of expression.

To carry out this agenda, CELS resorts to strategic litigation on both the national and international stages, investigation, alliances with other organizations, public policy advocacy and communication. This work is done in alliance with other national, regional and international organizations and movements.

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Colectivo de Abogados “José Alvear Restrepo” (CAJAR) is a non-governmental organization that has been working in Colombia since 1978 for the advocacy of human rights and the building of peace with social justice. Through the legal representation of victims, collectives and groups, and the advocacy of their rights, CAJAR seeks truth, justice, comprehensive reparation and guarantees for non-repetition.

As a result of CAJAR’s work, high-level court decisions have favored the protection of human rights and strengthened the rule of law. These decisions have also influenced legislative reforms as well as jurisprudence; achieved the recognition of crimes committed against humanity; established the responsibility of high-ranking individuals for serious crimes; and made significant progress in restoring victims’ rights. Likewise, since its foundation, CAJAR has worked on the political solution of armed conflicts and transitional justice formulas compatible with the rights of victims.

CAJAR also provides training to legal facilitators from trade unions, grassroots initiatives and indigenous and Afro- Colombian communities on the legal defense of their land and environmental rights. CAJAR has developed a political sustainability strategy to allow for the continuity of their human rights defense work that is based on the training of law students as legal assistants. Under the guidance of senior lawyers, the legal assistants benefit from active participation in judicial processes and training. In this way, CAJAR fosters a new generation of human rights lawyers who will continue the fight for social justice.

Overcoming impunity. Defending territory. Peace-building.

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EarthRights International (ERI) combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment. ERI specializes in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training grassroots and community leaders and advocacy campaigns. ERI seeks to end earth rights abuses, provide real solutions for real people and promote and protect human rights and the environment.

ERI’s early work culminated in the landmark case Doe v. Unocal, in which the supposedly “powerless” ethnic minorities from the jungles of Burma beat a “powerful” U.S. oil company, Unocal, on its own turf. Inspired by the Unocal case, ERI continues to pursue similar cases where U.S. courts are used to hold corporations accountable for human rights and environmental abuses committed abroad. ERI continues to represent individuals and communities from across the world against environmental and human rights abuses. These lawsuits have been filed against companies such as ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Newmont Mining and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.

In June 2017, ERI opened the Mitharsuu Center for Leadership and Justice in Chiang Mai, one of the only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum-certified buildings in Thailand. The Center is home to the EarthRights School and networks of earth rights lawyers and defenders working to strengthen environmental law and policy locally, regionally and globally.

ERI’s current work spans six areas of urgent global concern including extractive industries, such as oil, gas and mining; mega projects, such as dams and highways; land rights and clean environments for vulnerable communities; corporate power and the obligations and immunities of international financial institutions; the rights and security of earth rights defenders; and climate change and climate justice. Working across these themes, ERI strives to shift power from corporations to local communities around the world.

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Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) is a public interest law clinic dedicated to advancing access to equal and quality education in South Africa. As movement lawyers, the EELC team works closely with Equal Education, a membership-based movement of predominantly high school learners (known as “Equalisers”), as well as parents and teachers.

EELC’s movement lawyering has included work on campaigns for adequate school infrastructure, scholar transport, learner safety, adequate school funding and ensuring equitable land and housing policies to further access to education.

The EELC team are also community lawyers, with individual and community- based clients across South Africa. Through its walk-in clinic, EELC provides advice on matters including access to schools, discrimination against learners, allegations of corruption and poor school governance and failure of officials to fulfill promises related to school development, among others.

In addition to movement lawyering and community lawyering, EELC is a research and advocacy organization conducting research and making submissions on issues impacting on education equity.

EELC uses legal advocacy, research and litigation to advance the struggle for equal and quality education in South Africa.

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European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) is an independent, non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to enforcing civil and human rights worldwide. It was founded in 2007 by renowned human rights lawyers in order to protect and enforce the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as other declarations of human rights and national constitutions.

Together with affected persons and partners worldwide, ECCHR works to end impunity of those responsible for torture, massacre, rape, corporate exploitation and fortressed borders. Through its Education Program, ECCHR dedicates a considerable part of its resources to the training of future human rights defenders and to providing a platform for joint and transdisciplinary learning. This platform aims to share inspiration, experience and knowledge among a growing international network of practitioners.

ECCHR’s aim and daily work is to counter injustice with legal interventions.

ECCHR uses groundbreaking strategic legal interventions to challenge impunity, injustice and human rights violations worldwide.

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Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR) is an Islamabad-based human rights organization that was founded in 2010. Working in conjunction with its international partners, FFR focuses on the advancement, protection and enforcement of fundamental human rights within and outside Pakistan for the welfare of all Pakistani citizens. FFR aims to protect the rights of individuals in Pakistan under the auspice of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. FFR is working on cases against the U.S. covert drone strikes, representing a growing number of civilian victims of such strikes; towards elimination of the death penalty; in response to enforced disappearances; towards social justice, including housing and economic rights and gender issues; and in protection of privacy rights.

FFR litigates cases of strategic significance in the courts of law, when possible, in order to seek some measure of justice for their clients and to effect systemic change. FFR also understands the power of advocating in the court of public opinion in order to elevate their clients’ stories into the public consciousness and create a public record of wrongdoing. This requires the cultivation of extensive media networks to build global awareness of the issues FFR tackles and to grow support for their work. By humanizing their clients through telling their stories, and emphasizing the value of human rights norms, FFR changes the debate and changes people’s minds.

FFR enforces fundamental human rights through strategic litigation.

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Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) Since its foundation in 1994, the HCLU has been working to ensure that everyone in Hungary knows their fundamental human rights and is empowered to enforce them against undue interference by those in positions of public power. The HCLU monitors legislation, pursues strategic litigation, provides free legal aid assistance in more than 2,000 cases per year, provides trainings and launches awareness-raising media campaigns in order to mobilize the public.

The HCLU’s main goal is to enable fundamental rights and principles to prevail in Hungary. The organization focuses on areas of law where unlawful acts are most common or systematic and victims are especially vulnerable. The HCLU is present at courts, ministries, national and international conferences, universities and in the capital as well as the countryside.

The HCLU’s work is organized around three projects: the Equality Project which protects the rights of the Roma, people with disabilities, LGBT+ people and those living with HIV/AIDS; the Privacy Project which addresses patients’ rights, personal data protection, the rights of drug users, the right to physical self-determination and freedom of conscience and education; and the Political Freedoms Project which uses litigation to protect freedoms of expression, information, association and assembly, freedom of the press and participatory rights.

The HCLU’s main goal is to enable fundamental rights and principles to prevail in Hungary.

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The Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) advance the Haitian people’s struggle for justice and democracy in Haiti and on the international stage. IJDH and BAI advocate, litigate, build constituencies and nurtures networks to create systemic pathways to justice for marginalized Haitians and to hold international human rights violators accountable. IJDH amplifies Haitian voices in places outside Haiti where decisions about their rights are made and helps to build an accurate, rights-based narrative of Haiti internationally. IJDH provides structural support to fortify the capacity & impact of BAI, while BAI provides essential framing & guidance for IJDH’s work.

IJDH works with grass­roots groups in Haiti to help develop an effec­tive human rights advo­cacy pro­gram with global out­reach. In the U.S., IJDH col­lab­o­rates with grass­roots orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing faith-based, sol­i­dar­ity, devel­op­ment, and human­i­tar­ian orga­ni­za­tions to coor­di­nate advo­cacy on human rights in Haiti, and net­works with sol­i­dar­ity and Hait­ian Dias­pora activists through­out the world. Our work seeks to change the inter­na­tional envi­ron­ment that allows such mas­sive dis­re­spect for social, eco­nomic, civil and polit­i­cal rights to flourish.

The Insti­tute gath­ers infor­ma­tion on human rights vio­la­tions in Haiti, and relays it to the inter­na­tional human rights com­mu­nity, media and grass­roots groups.We work closely with oth­ers inves­ti­gat­ing human rights in Haiti, and pro­vide train­ing and analy­sis to indi­vid­u­als and orga­ni­za­tions inter­ested in Haiti, includ­ing vis­it­ing del­e­ga­tions.Our long col­lab­o­ra­tion with Hait­ian grass­roots groups and our legal expe­ri­ence in Haiti allows us to pro­vide con­sis­tent, cred­i­ble infor­ma­tion and analy­sis. Our doc­u­men­ta­tion is rou­tinely used by advo­cates and deci­sion mak­ers, and we are often cited in the press. Shin­ing a sharp spot­light on human rights abusers and their for­eign sup­port pro­vides pro­tec­tion to poten­tial vic­tims and empow­ers pro-democracy advo­cates in Haiti. 

IJDH helps vic­tims of human rights vio­la­tions pur­sue cases in national and inter­na­tional courts. In Haiti, its lawyers rep­re­sent polit­i­cal pris­on­ers and per­se­cuted jour­nal­ists, and doc­u­ment cases of mur­der, tor­ture and destruc­tion of prop­erty. Out­side Haiti we help pre­pare cases for inter­na­tional courts and assist in civil lit­i­ga­tion in the U.S. This work aims to stop cur­rent human rights vio­la­tions, deter future human rights vio­la­tions and obtain com­pen­sa­tion for vic­tims of past violations.

The Legal Resources Centre (LRC)  is an independent, non-profit, public interest law clinic. Established in 1979, with offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Grahamstown and satellite offices in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Mthatha and Mpumalanga, the LRC has an extensive track record of working with civil society and communities whose rights have been violated.

The LRC seeks to advance development, equality and democracy by using the law to have the Constitution deliver on its promise. To these ends, the LRC uses a range of tools, including impact litigation, legal advice, research, negotiations, training, advocacy, law and policy reform and networks within South Africa and abroad. The LRC’s areas of focus are community access to resources, just cities, education, environmental justice, social services, refugees and non-discrimination.

Bertha Justice Fellows at the LRC have been involved in a wide range of precedent-setting litigation that brings the South African Bill of Rights to life. Examples include Absa v. Moore, which has led to protection of the rights of hundreds of people who have lost their homes to fraudulent schemes, and Saidi v. Minister of Home Affairs, which led to a landmark judgement from the Constitutional Court providing protection to asylum seekers whose applications for refugee status are under review.

The LRC uses the law as an instrument of justice for the vulnerable and marginalized, including poor, homeless and landless people.

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Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBHM) (Community Legal Aid Institute) is a not-for-profit legal aid organization that provides free legal services for the poor and victims of human rights abuses. They also undertake legal empowerment for marginalized groups and advocate for law reform and human rights protections through research and analysis, campaigns and strategic litigation. LBHM focuses its work on four key issues: the abolition of the death penalty, LGBT rights, mental health and intersections of human rights and HIV. LBHM is a frontline organization that fights injustice, protects dignity and restores hope.

Because Every Human Matters.

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Michael Sfard Law Office is a Tel-Aviv- based legal practice specializing in international human rights law and the laws of war, with an emphasis on the litigation of cases which emerge in the context of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory. Michael Sfard, founder of the office, has served as counsel in numerous important cases on these topics in Israel, including the successful litigations for the removal of settlements built on private Palestinian lands, petitions concerning the Separation Barrier and the challenge to the Israeli policy of targeted killings. The office provides legal services to prominent Israeli human rights and humanitarian organizations as well as peace groups including Yesh Din, Peace Now, Breaking the Silence, Comet Middle-East and the Human Rights Defenders Fund. The office also represents Palestinian communities and Israeli and Palestinian activists, including conscientious objectors to military service.

Specializing in international human rights law, international humanitarian law and Israeli administrative law to fight to end Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory.

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Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is an NGO based in Gaza City. The Center was established in 1995 by a group of Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists in order to protect human rights and promote the rule of law in accordance with international standards; create and develop democratic institutions and an active civil society while promoting democratic culture within Palestinian society; and support all the efforts aimed at enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their inalienable rights in regard to self-determination and independence in accordance with international law.

The work of the Center is conducted through the documentation and investigation of human rights violations, provision of legal aid and counseling for both individuals and groups and preparation of research articles relevant to such issues as the human rights situation and the rule of law. The Center urges the adoption of legislation that incorporates international human rights standards. To achieve its goals, the Center has recruited a committed staff of well-known human rights lawyers and activists.

PCHR trains Bertha Justice Fellows to work in documenting human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. The Fellows develop a clear understanding of the mandate and function of the International Criminal Court and other international tribunals. They are trained to build legal cases and make the proper legal intervention before the Israeli courts, as well as make use of the available international enforcement mechanisms.

Dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law and upholding democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

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Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales, A.C. (ProDESC) is a non-governmental organization founded in 2005. The organization’s primary mission is the defense of economic, social and cultural rights of underrepresented workers and communities in Mexico. ProDESC achieves this goal through integral defense of workers and communities – with a gender and intercultural perspective – that contributes to the enforcement, justiciability and accountability of these rights. ProDESC works solely with collective entities including communal landowners, coalitions of landowners, coalitions of workers and local membership- based advocacy groups that represent various community interests and other labor rights organizations throughout Mexico. Ultimately, their innovative strategies result in a higher quality of life and participation of workers and communities in their own development.

ProDESC’s methodology of integral defense is the base for their work, fostering different forms of collective power, strengthening women’s leadership and developing alternative paths for transnational justice. Building on the effectiveness of ProDESC’s model, the organization has launched the School for Transnational Justice. The school provides practical training to new generations of activists in the defense of economic, social and cultural rights using a transnational justice framework.

ProDESC generates organizational and defense capacities that contribute to the validity, justiciability and enforceability of economic, social and cultural rights so that the groups with whom they work enjoy a dignified life.

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Reprieve is a high-impact legal charity pursuing justice for those the world reviles, ignores or considers expendable; speaking truth to power; and exposing some of the worst injustices of the 21st century. Its mission is to abolish the death penalty, secret prisons and extrajudicial killing. Reprieve works on behalf of some of the most disenfranchised and demonized people in the world, on the understanding that liberty is eroded at the margins. It is in the cases of these individuals that human rights are most swiftly jettisoned and the rule of law cast aside.

To achieve these aims, Reprieve carries out in-depth investigations into the use of the death penalty and the implementation of counter-terrorism policy. Reprieve then litigates cases of strategic significance in order to seek some measure of justice for its beneficiaries and create a public record of abuses committed. Recognizing that many of the people whom the organization assists do not have access to meaningful courts of law, Reprieve also battles in the court of public opinion. By humanizing victims of extreme human rights abuses, extraordinary shifts can be brought about in the minds of influential decision-makers and the public. As proof of Reprieve’s impact, to date it has helped to secure the release of over 80 prisoners from Guantánamo Bay — more than any other law firm or NGO — and has helped more than 400 people around the world to avoid execution or secure freedom.

Reprieve helps people who suffer extreme human rights abuses at the hands of the world’s most powerful governments.

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Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI)  is a non-profit human rights organization that works with communities, social movements, individuals and other organizations in South Africa and beyond to develop and implement strategies to challenge inequality and realize socio-economic rights. SERI’s conviction is that it is the people subject to poverty and inequality who are best placed to devise and implement strategies to enforce their rights. SERI provides legal advice and representation, research services and advocacy support to clients and partners. They act to protect and expand the political spaces in which individuals and communities organize and press for social change.

SERI’s work reflects the three major challenges facing poor communities in South Africa today: securing a home, making a living and protecting and expanding political space. Their work on “Securing a Home” focuses on opposing evictions, working for informal settlement upgrading, challenging unfair foreclosures and reforming banking practices that prejudice the poor.

SERI’s work on “Making a Living” takes up the needs of people in precarious work, particularly farm workers and informal traders, and helps them challenge unfair labor practices and restrictions on their rights to do business. In their “Expanding Political Space” work, SERI confronts the use of the criminal justice system to suppress community-based protest; the use of defamation actions and other common law remedies to stifle protest and freedom of speech; and police violence in poor and vulnerable communities.

Securing a home. Making a living. Expanding political space.

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Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) is a public interest environmental law organization based in Zimbabwe that promotes environmental justice, sustainable and equitable use of natural resources, as well as democracy and good governance in the natural resources and environmental sector. ZELA seeks to accomplish its mission through legal and policy research, advocacy, impact litigation, conflict resolution and civic education.

Through its work, ZELA helps rural and urban communities assert and claim their environmental, economic, social and cultural rights and seeks to ensure that environmental and natural resources management policies, strategies and legal frameworks respond positively to the needs of marginalized women, men and youth. ZELA’s work cuts across different environmental sectors and is organized into five programs: Extractive Industries and Mining, Local Service Delivery Governance, Land and Natural Resources, Climate Change and Energy and Responsible Investments and Business.

Direct and indirect beneficiaries of ZELA’s legal services include community-based organizations, local authorities, parliamentarians, government departments and industry and civil society organizations in Zimbabwe and beyond.

ZELA is the current global Coordinator of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition that monitors diamond trade to curb conflict diamonds.

Protecting the rights of communities and conserving the environment and natural resources.

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