SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A human-rights attorney who fought for decades for justice and the rule of law under Haiti’s former dictatorship is the recipient of Santa Clara University School of Law’s 2009 Katharine and George Alexander Law Prize. Mario Joseph will receive the award March 8 at 6 p.m. at the Silicon Valley Capital Club.
It is the second annual Alexander Law prize to be awarded by SCU. The prize recognizes a member of the worldwide legal community who has used his or her skills, knowledge, and abilities to correct an injustice in a significant manner.
Mario Joseph is widely considered one of Haiti’s most influential and respected human rights attorneys. Since 1996, he has served in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as managing attorney of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), which takes on prominent human rights cases representing political prisoners and victims of political violence, in a battle to fairly apply Haiti’s justice system for the country’s poor majority.
Joseph is the chief trial lawyer at the BAI, where he follows its pioneering “victim-centered approach” combining traditional legal representation for individual clients with assistance and empowerment for victims’ organizations.
“We honor Mario Joseph for his passionate fight to improve the justice system in Haiti, and his selfless work on behalf of political prisoners, victims of political violence, and the poor,” said Santa Clara Law Dean Donald Polden. “He is a fierce voice calling for justice amid threats to his own life. Mr. Joseph has not only freed individuals from injustice but has placed systematic pressure on the dictatorship to respect the rule of law. We honor him for his courageous leadership, his tireless service to those in need, and his dedication to preserving the rights of all.”
Under Joseph’s leadership, the BAI has become a model for training lawyers to represent the poor in human-rights cases. He has trained Haitian lawyers who are now judges, prosecutors, and high Ministry of Justice officials. He has worked with U.S. law school clinics and trained lawyers from North America, Europe and Africa who went on to successful human-rights careers throughout the world. BAI alumni include Nicole Lee, the Executive Director of TransAfrica Forum, and Matthew Carlson, a legal officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Joseph’s accomplishments
Joseph was the lead lawyer for the victims in the prosecution of the BAI’s most successful case, the trial of dozens of perpetrators of the Raboteau Massacre, a 1994 attack on a pro-democracy neighborhood by the de facto dictatorship’s top military and paramilitary leaders. He helped the San Francisco-based Center for Justice & Accountability pursue perpetrators of the Raboteau Massacre in American courts, by providing expert testimony and legal advice, and coordination with his clients.
After six weeks of what was considered one of the most important human-rights prosecutions anywhere in the Americas, in November 2000 the jury convicted 53 defendants for the attacks.
Three members of the military high command were deported from the U.S. to Haiti to face charges in the Raboteau case, including the former Assistant Commander-in-Chief, the highest-ranking soldier ever deported from the U.S. to face human rights charges.
Joseph’s clients later received a historic damage recovery of $430,000.
Joseph’s persistent calls for a rule of law in Haiti became a focal point for international pressure on the former dictatorship, and he was regularly consulted by members of the U.S. Congress, human rights organizations, journalists and grassroots activists throughout the world.
Another prominent Joseph case under the Interim Government was that of Catholic priest and human rights activist Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, who was arrested while feeding hundreds of children their only meal of the day. “Father Gerry” had been imprisoned and forced into exile several times for his opposition to the Duvalier dictatorship in the 1980s.
After Fr. Jean-Juste endured years of charges, arrest, and detention for speaking up for human rights, Joseph finally successfully appealed all charges against him in June 2008. The work involved collaborating closely with Bill Quigley, Fr. Jean-Juste’s U.S.-based lawyer, and a professor at Loyola New Orleans University Law School; Fr. Jean-Juste’s doctor, Dr. Paul Farmer, and with U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, who pressured the U.S. government to intervene on Fr. Jean-Juste’s behalf.
Fr. Jean-Juste has returned to his parish work and to his feeding program, which now serves over 7,000 meals a week.
Since the return of democracy to Haiti in 2006, Mr. Joseph has worked to free remaining political prisoners, and launched pioneering projects on prisoners’ rights and children’s right to primary education.
Before joining the BAI, Mr. Joseph worked on human rights cases for the Catholic Church’s Justice and Peace Commission. Also an educator, Mr. Joseph has held a variety of teaching and administrative posts. He is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Superieure, Haiti’s leading teaching college, and the Gonaïves Law School. Since 2005, he has been a member of the governing Bureau of the International Association of Democratic Jurists.
