Justice for all

Recently, I’ve been reading a really great book — In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India, by Edward Luce. I was born in India but moved to the U.S. at a young age - and yet, I recently felt that I didn’t know enough about my birthplace’s political scene. So I decided to pick up this book, and it has provided me with valuable insights into the country’s political and economic development since the time of Gandhi’s independence movement.

Strangely though - much of what it describes are things I’ve already known intuitively after my summer visits to the country. When you go to India, you see stark disparities. It’s a country of contradictions. You see bustling technological complexes and advanced software research coupled with beggars on the street, trash on the side of the road. It seems ridiculous that squalor can co-exist with incredible intelligence and innovation - India’s top government-funded colleges, like the IITs, churn out some of the world’s most intelligent minds. These men and women go on to become true leaders in science, technology, and business. And more recently, India has been achieving remarkable economic growth. From the 1980s to 2001, the percent of Indians living below the poverty line fell from 40% to about 26% - not an insignificant drop. The government clearly has more than enough money and resources to ensure basic living standards. The question is not one of its financial capacity. So why does a country that is a technological and intellectual leader, with a legacy of peace and a burgeoning economy - fail to meet so many of its’ citizens basic needs? The conditions seem ripe - yet the change isn’t coming fast enough.

To me, the biggest problem in India always struck me as corruption. Luce cites that an estimated 85% of all development spending is pocketed by bureaucrats. And in the state of Bihar, India’s second poorest, more than 80% of the food is “stolen” due to corruption. The state loses so much money in development and infrastructure projects that at the end of day, little actually gets done - even when it is done in the name of the poor. As more money comes in, officials are pocketing more while the poor are getting the same - or even less. I saw this with my own eyes in India. Bribes are a regular way of life, and often are necessary for daily activities to occur. People have accepted that corruption is ingrained into the country’s culture and politics. In the book, Luce writes how government jobs are coveted by so many in India. Working for the government means that one has generous “benefits” - and can make vast amounts of money on the side by taking bribes. This shocked me at the time, and saddens me now.

Secretary Clinton recently visited India, focusing on relations between the two countries and India’s leadership on environmental issues, defense, and nuclear energy. Yet, I believe that there are so many more underlying factors that she could have discussed. Corruption, economic development, inequality, discrimination - these are the issues that make daily life a challenge for the billion people in India. Why does the international community always look at India in terms of 1) it’s tenuous relationship with Pakistan, and 2) nuclear power? Sure, these issues are important, but they are not going to change the lives of the millions that live in poverty. I understand that Secretrary Clinton was there to focus on foreign policy. But like President Obama did in his Ghana speech, she could have done well to bring up issues like corruption.

India is also constantly praised for being a democracy. Yes, it’s a democracy, but one component of true democracy - I believe - is lack of corruption: transparency, accountability. Unfortunately, corruption is a daily reality for Indians, but international leaders rarely allude to it, instead willing to ignore the problem while covering it all up in the name of “democracy.” True, there are many wonderful aspects of Indian democracy which have endured to this day, such as Nehru’s intelligent legacies of secularism and equality under the law for all citizens (despite so many caste- and religion-based cleavages). Yet, there remains much to be desired. If corruption is implicitly accepted by Indians and passed over in international debates - how will things ever change?

(This is just a brief snapshot of one issue that matters to me. I strongly recommend the book, which also talks about caste politics, the legal system, and many other cultural and religious factors that impact India today.)

Today I want to feature United Prosperity, a truly innovative organization that takes the concept of microfinance to the next level. Most microfinance institutions (MFIs) simply provide small loans to poor entrepreneurs who want to pull themselves out of poverty through their small businesses. However, this approach does not strengthen the local banking system or create domestic linkages that allow the entrepreneur to eventually borrow from local banks. Instead, the entrepreneur is often constantly borrowing from MFIs and can never move on to the next stage.

United Prosperity tackles this problem in a very unique way. Instead of directly providing loans to people, United Prosperity invites you to donate part of a “loan guarantee” which a small business owner will receive. The entrepreneur can then take the loan guarantee to a local bank, use it as collateral, and then obtain a larger loan from the bank. This empowers entrepreneurs to be able to borrow from local banks, and thus strengthens local institutional linkages. I think it’s a very powerful and innovative idea, and I can’t wait to see how far it goes.

United Prosperity is also great at social media. I first stumbled upon the organization after following it’s founder - Bhalchander Vishwanath - on Twitter. Bhalchander consistently posts the latest news and resources related to microfinance, social business, and development. He interacts with his followers, getting to know people on a one-on-one basis. As a result, he’s created a powerful community around his passion for microfinance, and has been able to successfully leverage this community to bring attention to his organization - United Prosperity. After I ran across the organization, I was taken by the innovative idea and I suggested that we work together. Now, students from a group I am part of - the Student Microfinance Development Initiative - are working with United Prosperity on research, marketing, and publicity. This is a prime example of how social media can be utilized to empower nonprofits and how connections can be leveraged to bring attention to your cause. Ultimately, a personal brand can do much to raise awareness of an associated nonprofit - building and maintaining a community isn’t easy, but it’s vital. The bottom line is that social media works - and United Prosperity has been doing a great job of carving out a clear online space for itself!

As you can see, United Prosperity has a unique idea and a fresh approach. The organization is in need of more loan guarantors. So head over to their website today and provide a loan!

Today, President Obama spoke to Africans in his speech to the Ghanaian Parliament. Before reading, I was kept in anticipation, exciting to hear the new vision of our President with regards to Africa. I was excited, especially, after the revelations in his Cairo speech - and I hoped that he would bring a fresh perspective to America’s foreign policy to Africa in his remarks.

Certainly, I was inspired. But, I have to agree with Texas in Africa, who states:

The speech was not surprising and not particularly interesting in that it contained nothing new beyond the reflections of an American president who has a Kenyan father. Obama’s speech presented the same line that American leaders have been delivering to African states since the end of the Cold War: be democratic, stop being corrupt, embrace market capitalism, stop fighting with one another, and we’ll help you deal with disease.

Unfortunately, this is true. Obama spoke about things we all know by now about Africa; he focused on democracy, economic growth, public health, and conflict. But here’s the thing: most people know the challenges facing Africa right now. The media tells the American people over and over again about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, about the genocide in Darfur, about the lack of economic growth and business opportunities in Africa, about poverty, and about dictatorship. He talks about Zimbabwe, pirates in Somalia, Kenya and post-election violence, and South Africa. We’ve heard of these conflicts and problems a million times. What about countries he didn’t mention? There is the conflict in northern Uganda and DRC and CAR, the intervention of the ICC in various countries, and countless other countries with their own stories to tell. But, he doesn’t mention these. Perhaps it’s too much to mention in one speech, but I still think there is more to be said.

Obama didn’t do much to go beyond these common conceptions of Africa. There was nothing new in terms of US relations with African countries, and nothing much said about the new way forward. What is America going to do, other than provide foreign aid? Obama does allude to these facts - that the West is not wholly responsible for the problems in Africa although often blamed for drawing inappropriate colonial boundaries - that Africans must step up and take charge of their continent’s future - and that we will support innovation and technology for African farmers. This is good, but I wish there was a greater redefinition of America’s attitude towards African countries. There was not enough said about what we can do to help.

One thing I did like was his focus on corruption. Corruption, certainly, is a serious problem and I feel that Obama is right in acknowledging this. Corruption is an enormous problem that often isn’t emphasized by the international community. But the reality is this: according to the World Bank - a conservative estimate of bribes paid worldwide (including developed and developing countries) - the “cost of corruption” is essentially 1 trillion US dollars. Not a measly sum by any measures.

As a result, one of my favorite parts of the speech was when he emphasized good governance and rule of law - and the need to end corruption - from state heads and CEOs to the everyday police officer:

This is about more than just holding elections. It’s also about what happens between elections. Repression can take many forms, and too many nations, even those that have elections, are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves or if police — if police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there. And now is the time for that style of governance to end.

This, I have to say, was truly inspring. Perhaps it’s especially because this summer, I’m working for an organization working to end torture and corruption by prison officials and police through appropriate training. It’s inspiring to me to see one component of our work - which I believe to be so important - to be pointed out by Obama. Along with just mentioning the cost of corruption, I hope Obama implements policies and supports initiatives working to stop this.

At the very least, I hope his speech touched thousands of Ghanaians and inspired people around the world. I hope it educated those who know less about the problems facing Africa. Though I’m not one to criticize, I do at the same time hope that our President will take more prompt action to change things and implement more concrete initatives to benefit the continent. What are your thoughts?

This Friday I wanted to highlight an amazing project which recently won the 2009 Echoing Green Fellowship. Accountability Counsel is an organization aiming to partner with communities harmed by international finance and development projects in order to hold international institutions and corporations accountable, and develop new accountability systems where none exist.

Communities around the world have been harmed by multinational corporations, which have displaced people and taken their land, dumped toxic chemicals and waste in bodies of water, and threatened those who have dared to challenge such injustices. This is nothing new. However what surprised me most is that no other organization existed to assist communities - that often lack the resources to pursue their cases through the legal system - in seeking justice for the wrongs they have experienced.

Accountability Counsel conducts trainings at the grassroots level regarding accountability tools and helps communities implement these tools, including litigation. The organization helps communities seek redress for the harm they have experienced at the hands of international corporations.

The project is spearheaded by Natalie Bridgeman, an inspiring young attorney who has worked on environmental and human rights issues, with a focus on development accountability. She is a graduate of Cornell University where she was a Udall Scholar, and of UCLA School of Law’s Program in Public Interest Law and Policy where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs. She has work experience with NGOs on advocacy campaigns, as a litigator at a large law firm, and as an accountability consultant.

About her inspiration, she says:

“While there, I traveled to the BioBio River where the indigenous Mapuche were protesting the illegal construction of a large series of hydroelectric dams on the River, which were displacing their villages and inundating their land. I stood a few feet away while the police tear gassed the eighty-year-old Mapuche women who were fighting for their land. I learned that the project was financed by an institution that used US taxpayer money – that my country was funding this injustice. They implored me to help. There was no turning back from development accountability work after that.”

Read more about Natalie’s project here!

Oftentimes, it seems to me that criminal justice reform falls to the wayside in light of many more seemingly pressing issues, even within the broader human rights community. People tend to look down on criminal justice reform, wondering why resources need to be spent on assisting those who are accused of crimes, when they would be much better spent on the rest of the population that is clearly not guilty. Why should we help people who are criminals anyway?

Sure, I understand this logic and to an extent I would even agree with it. However, in the U.S., far too much money is spent on the criminal justice system. Harsh sentences and prison time are given to those who often have committed nonviolent offenses (e.g. drug dealing) and there are mandatory minimum sentences, which give judges little discretion to adjust or reduce the sentences given for particular crimes - leading to increased years in prison where it is unnecessary. By putting drug offenders in jail and increasing the time in jail for the accused more generally, the government is stretching its justice system to the limits. As more people go to prison for longer periods of time, maintaining this system becomes increasingly expensive and a drain on state resources. By reforming the criminal justice sector, we are helping free up more money and resources for the other sectors - less money spent on the justice system leads to more state resources for education and healthcare. This is just one reason we should care.

Though the justice system in the U.S. is incredibly flawed, I’m even more surprised about the minimal attention given to the failed justice sectors in many developing countries. In much of the developing world, injustices caused by the criminal justice sector are far greater than those in the U.S. Take Zimbabwe, a primary example of the horrid prison conditions for inmates in developing countries. Reports suggest that inmates in Zimbabwe’s prisons are literally starving to death, while sick and healthy prisoners are living together in overcrowded cells.

“There are people there who look worse than the photographs of prisoners in [Nazi concentration camps] Dachau and Auschwitz,” - Roy Bennett, Imprisoned MDC politician, speaking on release in March

If you remain unconvinced, you might argue: well, even if the prison conditions are bad, they are still criminals. Why should a developing country, with even more limited resources than the U.S., work on fixing the justice system when the regular population is itself poor? To this I say - in many countries, it’s not just the horrible conditions of the prisons themselves that is a problem, but the lack of an entire legal infrastructure. This means that in many countries, you could easily be accused of a crime you did not commit, and then thrown into jail without being guaranteed a lawyer or a fair trial; you could languish in jail for years in pre-trial detention and be tortured by the police to divulge information that you may not even have. In Rwanda, for instance, more than 80% of defendants remain unrepresented and without access to a lawyer. Thus, we see that in many developing countries, oftentimes those who are languishing in prison are not the truly guilty - they are many times poor and marginalized, unfairly accused and without access to legal advice, and so deserve as much attention as the average person who has not been accused.

Shocking as this is, what’s more shocking is that there are situations like this in many developing countries. And what’s even more shocking is that the media and even the international human rights community pay little attention to criminal justice reform in developing countries. To be honest, I’m extremely disappointed in the Change.org criminal justice blog because it focuses for the most part on the American justice system, and rarely alludes to the rest of the world, where conditions are often even worse! Change.org is a popular destination and the criminal justice blog is perfectly poised to inform its readers of the failures of criminal justice worldwide - but unfortunately doesn’t fulfill this by choosing to focus narrowly on the U.S. There is so much to be said that isn’t.

Ultimately, I hope people begin to understand the role of criminal justice reform within the broader human rights movement, and I hope that this begins happening soon. The justice sector is in great need of assistance, and though it may not be a “sexy” issue, it is no less important than detainment of journalists and political prisoners, conflict, or even poverty.

Picture credit: rayphua on flickr