Since its founding in 2006, IJN has provided free legal assistance to dozens of survivors of torture, extraordinary rendition, and/or prolonged arbitrary detention without charge in U.S.-run prisons overseas. IJN filed the first cases on behalf of prisoners detained without charge at the notorious Bagram prison in Afghanistan -- commonly referred to as "the new Guantanamo" in the media. IJN fought these legal battles for nearly a decade, until the U.S. Military closed Bagram at the end of 2014. Since the closure of Bagram, IJN has continued to advocate on behalf of the men once imprisoned there, seeking their repatriation or resettlement in a safe third country, and monitoring their situation.
As part of our advocacy efforts, IJN has built a global network of individuals and organizations including attorneys, scholars, organizers, and community-based activists who have assisted in the Bagram litigation and other progressive justice initiatives from remote locations across the globe via cloud computing and online networking tools.
Our network and projects have expanded to Southern Africa, where the Namibia Justice Network currently provides magistrate judges in Namibia with access to desperately-needed international legal materials, recent decisions of peer courts, and technical training and support. At the request of the Namibian Ministry of Justice and the University of Namibia Law School, IJN custom-built the first online law library of its kind for the Namibian judiciary, which we hope will enable this emerging progressive democracy to continue to eliminate the vestiges of apartheid-era injustice for years to come.
Our organization is run by volunteer human rights advocates who commit their time and energy to supporting equal access to justice worldwide. All of the donations we receive go directly to funding our human rights programs, allowing our small organization to make a big impact. We couldn't do our work without the support of fellow justice seekers across the globe, and are incredibly grateful to our donors for supporting our mission.
