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What We Do
How we work to stop atrocity crimes
People everywhere long to live in freedom, safety, and security. They want respect for their fundamental human rights.
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Access to justice is the foundational right on which other rights depend – and such access depends on evidence.
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Throughout her career in international criminal justice, PEJ founder Cynthia Tai saw firsthand how most information about atrocities and war crimes collected by local actors had little or no evidentiary value in court. This is because it is often not collected or maintained in a way that meets admissibility standards.
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This is an avoidable tragedy. Human rights defenders collect evidence at great risk and with high expectations – but again and again, they are disappointed when justice remains elusive. Cynthia established PEJ to help them obtain it.
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Using hybrid teams of local and international experts, PEJ works to create accountability for, deter, and prevent atrocities such as mass rape, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. PEJ’s efforts empower local justice actors to create fair, responsive justice systems. This spurs cascading positive change in alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 16 – peace, justice, and strong institutions.
Three-Step Solution
PEJ’s three-step approach creates cascading positive change that stops atrocities, assures survivors obtain redress, and builds strong, rights-protecting justice institutions.
1
Training
PEJ trains local actors, empowering them to document crimes according to the highest evidentiary standards and safely, securely store evidence. This helps protect survivors and witnesses and ensures evidence can be used to pursue justice.
2
Mentoring
PEJ mentors local actors. We help them identify and access the best regional, national, or international forums. We work with them to make sure they assemble strong cases that withstand scrutiny. Mentees, in turn, share knowledge within their own communities. This builds strong local networks that can seek and obtain accountability.
3
Independent Legal Counsel
When state institutions have failed, and international courts are the only open path to justice, PEJ acts. We investigate and file cases to make certain survivors obtain redress. We collaborate with local actors during this process to further mentor them and empower them to demand enforcement of their rights.
