Our Work
LITIGATION
Human Rights Complaints
2023
September 2023
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) joins Haitian Bridge Alliance, the UndocuBlack Network, Cameroon Advocacy Network, Center for Constitutional Rights, National Immigrant Justice Center, RFK Human Rights, and the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic in submitting a shadow report on the treatment of foreign nationals, including refugees and asylum-seekers, to the United Nations Human Rights Committee for its fifth periodic review of the United States.
2022
December 2022
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Transnational Legal Clinic (TLC), University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic (HRC), University of Miami School of Law Immigration Clinic, Alternative Chance, Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK), and Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) request an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hearing on deportations of Haitian nationals from the United States to Haiti.
December 2022
The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), Komisyon Fanm Viktim Pou Viktim (KOFAVIV), Nègès Mawon, Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains (RNDDH), Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), Haitian Women’s Collective (HWC), CUNY School of Law’s Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, and MADRE request an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hearing on widespread sexual violence against women and girls in Haiti.
November 2022
The Haiti-based Nègès Mawon and the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), and U.S.-based solidarity organizations Haitian Women’s Collective (HWC), the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), and the Disaster Law Project (DLP) submit a report in response to a call for inputs from the UN Working group on discrimination against women and girls for its forthcoming report on “Human Security of Women and Girls in the Context of Poverty and Inequality.” Read the French version here.
October 2022
The Haiti-based Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and Komisyon Fanm Viktim pou Viktim (KOFAVIV), along with international partners Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), CUNY School of Law’s Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, and MADRE file a report with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) connecting the sharp increase in sexual violence in Haiti to the practices of the country’s unconstitutional and U.S.-supported regime. The submission is an update to protective measures granted by the IACHR in response to a petition filed in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. Read the French version here.
July 2022
IJDH endorses a report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), submitted by Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), Human Rights First (HRF), The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFK Human Rights), on the US government’s anti-Black discrimination against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
March 2022
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), Nègès Mawon, and the Global Justice Clinic (GJC) at the New York University School of Law provide information to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, in response to her call for inputs on violence against women and girls in the context of the climate crisis. Read our submission to the UN Special Rapporteur here. Read the Kreyòl version here.
In addition, IJDH co-signed a submission by the GJC and Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn on land grabbing and violence against women and girls in the context of the climate crisis. Read the submission in English here.
2021
December 2021
IJDH submits to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development regarding the duty to cooperate and non-state actors. Read the French version here.
September 2021
Haitian Bridge Alliance, with the support of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) and the Bertha Justice Fellowship Program, and with important contributions from IJDH’s Bertha Justice Fellow Erik Crew, submitted a report on human rights abuses faced by Haitian and other Black migrants in the Americas to the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Professor E. Tendayi Achiume.
July 2021
IJDH, BAI, KOFAVIV, Chans Altenativ, and RNDDH submit Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to the United Nations Human Rights Council regarding Gender Based Violence and Justice Challenges in Haiti. Read the English UPR submission for Gender Based Violence here, and the French version here. Read the English UPR submission for Justice Sector Challenges here, and the French version here. Both submissions are also available through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website: the submission on gender based violence is linked with its annexes as Joint Submission 13 (JS13) and the submission on justice sector challenges as Joint Submission 8 (JS8).
2020
December 2020
On Human Rights Day, December 10, 2020, BAI and IJDH, along with the Director of Judicial Inspection for the Conseil Supérieur du Pouvoir Judiciaire / former Director of the Central Financial Intelligence Unit and the Former prosecutor and former Director General of Haiti’s Anti-Corruption Unit, presented evidence to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the subject of impunity for human rights violations and judicial dysfunction in Haiti. The Commission had called this public hearing in response to the BAI and IJDH’s Request (EN/FR); Haiti’s ambassador to the United States and to the Organization of American States (OAS) likewise participated.
2019
September 2019
On September 23, 2019, BAI and IJDH, joined by Sonel Jean-Francois, former juge d’instruction (investigating magistrate who carries out investigations into allegations of criminality) and head of Haiti’s Central Unit of Financial Intelligence (UCREF), appeared before the the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR/CIDH) for a public hearing on corruption and accountability failures, including related to PetroCaribe, under President Jovenel Moïse’s Administration and their consequence for human rights, as also detailed in BAI and IJDH’s written submission (EN). The Haitian government also presented.
2016
March 2016
Institute for the Justice & Democracy in Haiti, AIDS-Free World, the Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti, the Haitian-American Leadership Council, and the Haitian Diaspora for Democracy and Development, address the ways in which the cholera epidemic resulted in grave violations of the right to an effective remedy, the right to life, the rights to water and sanitation and the right to health guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights.
March 2016
Soumission faite par une coalition des organisations de bas des droits de l’homme á Port-au- Prince et Saut d’Eau (Plateau Centrale), engagées a donner l’assistance aux victimes, promouvoir les droits des femmes, filles, et victimes des abus sexuels, et lutter pour une fin de l’impunité des auteurs de tout origine.
March 2016
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, and MOLEGHAF endorse a UPR submission by Kouraj, Gran Lakou, Association Pour La Lutte Contre l’Homophobie as a coalition of Haitian human rights organizations, based in Port-au-Prince, Artibonite, and Jacmel, committed to the fight against homophobia and discrimination.
March 2016
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and Bureau des Avocats Internationaux join organizations in endorsing a submission by a coalition of Haitian and American human rights organizations women, lawyers and activists — FEMCADH, KOFAVIV, MOFAS, Gender Action — based in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Saut d’Eau (Central Plateau, Haiti) and Washington, D.C. (USA),on gender-based violence and discrimination, and women’s rights in Haiti.
January 2016
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Gender Action, and Li, Li, Li, submit a report that considers and informs on the situation of women’s rights under the Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women focusing on particular issues in Haiti. The report addresses low representation of women in political life, including the 2015 elections (Article 7); sexual harassment and other derogatory treatment in work (Article 11); the disproportionate impact of cholera on women (Article 12); and problems facing rural women (Article 14).
January 2016
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Gender Action, Li, Li, Li, Read!, KOFAVIV, FAVILEK, and women’s rights groups make a submission to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women addressing issues of societal discrimination and widespread sexual violence against women, impunity for perpetrators of gender-based violence and sex trafficking, exploitation of prostitution and sexual abuse by peacekeepers.
2015
June 2015
The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti addresses the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on areas of concern under several of the articles, related to access to justice, incidences of sexual violence, gender discrimination, and women’s political participation.
2014
September 2014
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Beyond Borders, Li Li Li Read!, and US and Haiti Law School make a UPR submission that highlights the plight of child domestic servants, in Haiti. The report suggests that despite the Government of Haiti’s efforts to criminalize the practice of restavèk, the poor enforcement of legislation, lack of clarity in the Labor Code, and insufficient economic and cultural interventions are some of the factors that have contributed to the continuance of the practice, in violation of articles 1, 3, 7, 8, 24, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, other international instruments, and Haitian law.
2012
February 2012
Statement submitted by the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, MADRE, KOFAVIV, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen de Abricots, École Supérieure Catholique de Droit de Jérémie, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission to the UN Commission on the Status of Women for the 56th Session Concerning the Empowerment of Rural Women and Their Role in Poverty and Hunger Eradication, Development and Current Challenges in Haiti.
2011
March 2011
This joint submission filed by the Lawyers’ Earthquake Response Network (LERN), the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), summarizes human rights issues raised in 12 stakeholder reports submitted by a coalition of 57 grassroots groups, internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions representing a diverse spectrum of Haitian stakeholders. It provides information under Sections B, C, and D as stipulated in the General Guidelines for the Preparation of Information under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
March 2011
This report summarizes key concerns regarding the inadequate implementation of a rights-based approach to assistance and development by the Government of Haiti and international community. These shortcomings have at times contributed to violations of the rights to food, water and sanitation.
March 2011
Les échéances électorales constitutionnelles qui ne sont jamais respectées par le Gouvernement haïtien étaient une de nos préoccupations dans la construction d’un Etat de droit en Haïti. L’exclusion des partis politiques dans les élections législatives de 2009 et les présidentielles et législatifs de 2010 et 2011 a préoccupé le BAI depuis le début du processus électoral. Les violations du droit de vote des Déplacés Internes ont été également les préoccupations du BAI depuis le séisme du 12 Janvier 2010. Suite à de graves violations des Droits Humains du peuple, le BAI, TransAfrica Forum, et Louisiana Justice Institute prennent la liberté de soumettre ce rapport concernant les droits politiques au Conseil des Droits des Humains des Nations Unies pour l’Examen périodique universel d’Haïti.
March 2011
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and Bureau des Avocats Internationaux endorse a UPR submission by Center for Constitutional Rights, Alternative Chance, Conférence des universitaires pour la défense des droits et de la liberté, and LAMP for Haiti Foundation on prison conditions and pre-trial detention.
March 2011
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and Bureau des Avocats Internationaux endorse a UPR submission by Restavek Freedom that highlights the plight of restavèk children, child domestic servants, in Haiti. The report notes the continuing practice of restavèk despite its prohibition under international and Haitian law, describes the restavèk practice and focuses on the neglect, mistreatment, and abuse suffered by restavèk children, and highlights the challenges posed by cultural perception, ubiquitous poverty, the lack of government infrastructure and enforcement, and the earthquake on the abolishment of restavèk and the protection of children’s rights in Haiti.
March 2011
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and Bureau des Avocats Internationaux endorse a UPR submission by Fondasyon Kolezepòl pou Sove Timoun, Moun Viktim, and Action des Unités Motivés pour une Haïti de Droit on children’s rights in Haiti, covering the right to health with a focus on malnutrition and the cholera epidemic, children’s right to special protection with a focus on children with disabilities, child victims of trafficking and sexual violence, and children’s right to housing with a focus on protection for children in conflict with the law.
2010
October 2010
The International Women’s Human Rights Clinic of CUNY School of Law, MADRE, the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), Morrison & Foerster LLP, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Women’s Link Worldwide, with the support of Haitian grassroots organizations Komisyon Fanm Viktim Pou Viktim (KOFAVIV); Fanm Viktim, Leve Kanpe (FAVILEK); and Kodinasyon Nasyonal Viktim Direk (KONAMAVID) file a request to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for precautionary measures for women and girls in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the wake of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake.