MARIO JOSEPH, AV., BAI MANAGING ATTORNEY, has co-managed and managed the BAI since 1996, and has practiced human rights and criminal law since 1993. The New York Times called him, “Haiti’s most prominent human rights lawyer” in 2006. Mario spearheaded the prosecution of the Raboteau Massacre trial in 2000, one of the most significant human rights cases anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. He has represented dozens of jailed political prisoners, in Haitian courts and in complaints before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 2013, Mario was a finalist for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. In 2014, Mario and Brian Concannon were awarded the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice. In 2009, Mr. Joseph received the Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award from the Center for Justice & Accountability and the Katherine and George Alexander Human Rights Prize from the University of Santa Clara Law School.Mario has testified as an expert on Haitian criminal procedure before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and in U.S. courts, and served on the Haitian government’s Law Reform Commission. Mr. Joseph is also an educator and a graduate of Haiti’s Teachers’ College. He has extensive experience teaching human rights and legal issues to grassroots advocacy organizations, human rights groups and victims’ organizations.
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Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
IJDH has successfully helped Haitians enforce their human rights since 2004. The Institute partners with BAI to support grassroots struggles for justice in Haiti and in the powerful countries abroad where decisions about Haitians’ rights are often made. IJDH and BAI combine traditional legal strategies with organizing, emerging technology and public advocacy to address the root causes of instability and poverty in Haiti. We fight for justice with routinely excellent legal work, but also with creativity, humility, inspiration and humor, and a supportive work culture. We effect broad changes with modest resources by nurturing large advocacy networks. Notable achievements include: •Representation of 5,000+ Haitian victims of cholera in a class action lawsuit against the United Nations, in pursuit of justice and accountability for the UN’s direct role in causing the October 2010 outbreak. This case is currently in the appeals process; •A 2014 appeals court decision reinstating charges of torture, murder and other crimes against former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier; •Convictions in twelve of sixteen rape cases that reached trial 2012-2014; •Successful prosecution of the Raboteau Massacre, a 1994 military/paramilitary attack on a pro-democracy neighborhood, that convicted the top military and paramilitary leadership of Haiti’s 1991-1994 “de facto” dictatorship. Among the convicted is the highest-ranked officer ever deported from the U.S. on human rights grounds; •Important training for social justice lawyers, who have used their training to advance human rights in Haiti, the U.S., and throughout the world; BAI/IJDH’s work has been featured in several award-winning documentaries, a Harvard University case study, and is the focus of the 2014 book How Human Rights Can Build Haiti.
