International Bridges to Justice

“Form 990 information is compiled and prepared by the organization's accounting firm. A completed draft 990 is electronically sent to the organization's finance and administration director for review. Following a review by the finance and administration director and the organization ceo, any necessary adjustments are made and a final form 990 is sent by the accountant to the organization for final review and necessary signatures.”

“We believe the policy of conflict of interest covers any financial interests between the company and the individuals employed or working with that can impact either side in making sound and complaint business decisions and judgment, personal relations and business interests. Ibj has integrated these potential areas in recruitment and deployment practices to ensure that they don't exist or detected eerily enough to manage. Second guiding principle is full transparency of company and individual activities and practices. Lastly, ibj reacts to reported actual or implied cases, with speed and ownership, with full disclosure and communication.”

“Organizational documents are available to the public upon request.”

“For 2024, there were no us based employees so there were no forms w-2 or w-3 filed for 2024, but the organization did have non-us citizens employed in other countries during 2024 for a total of 91 employees. All employees were reported by the organization on the reporting forms of the individual countries.”

“Ibj does not have an interest in, or signature or other authority over, any foreign bank or financial accounts. However, because the federal form 990 is reported on a global basis, foreign financial accounts held by the foreign affiliates are included for informational purposes only.”

“Through a media partnership with rozana radio, ibj produced 36 arabic-language legal awareness broadcasts, reaching approximately 1.18 million people. Additionally, three short films were released amplifying client stories, and two justice roundtables in azaz convened 57 stakeholders, generating 18 recommendations and six reform proposals to improve legal representation and detainee care. Tunisia: through its un democracy fund-supported access to justice program in tunisia, ibj provided legal representation to 256 vulnerable individualsprimarily detaineesacross tunis and other regions, while also enhancing public and professional legal capacities. In 2024, ibj trained 115 defense lawyers (58% of whom were women) in rights-based criminal defense, in partnership with institutions such as the tunisian bar association, young lawyers association, and ftdes. Over 1,000 printed copies of the tunisia criminal defence practice manual, first of such documents in the country, developed by ibj, were distributed, and the justice hub app was launched to improve case management and calendaring for defense lawyers. Public awareness efforts included a national campaign promoting 19 key legal protections and radio-based rights education, reaching thousands of citizens and strengthening public understanding of legal rights and protections against unlawful detention.”

“China: in 2024, ibj continued to support chinese lawyers with online training resources. Our china elearning website currently hosts 120 modules on topics ranging from basic advocacy skills such as developing a theory of the case, reviewing a case file, and cross-examination, to more complex topics such as understanding forensic evidence and defending clients with mental or physical disabilities. In 2024, we created a new four-part series of elearning modules to form a course on negotiation skills. This course covers basic negotiation concepts such as how to identify the interests of the other party, how to separate interest from positions, how to identify alternatives to a negotiated agreement, and how to generate workable options. They also take lawyers through hypothetical scenarios, such as negotiating with a key but reluctant witness who can testify to a client's alibi, while applying these concepts. The goal is for lawyers to apply these skills in negotiating not only with witnesses, but also police, prosecutors, and detention center officials. Our modules were viewed over 13,000 times in 2024, and attracted over 2,956 new viewers, not including returning learners. Indonesia - launched in january 2024, the eu-funded *bridging the justice gap* initiative in indonesia has significantly advanced access to justice for women and minorities in conflict with the law, while bolstering protections for human rights defenders. Key achievements include the signing of six mous enabling legal aid lawyers to access detention facilities and provide critical early-stage legal and psychosocial support, benefiting over 480 women. The project has also reached over 11,000 people through an online rights awareness campaign and fostered legal reform by convening 119 stakeholders to generate 45 policy recommendations. Additionally, 15 female defense lawyers are implementing regionally tailored projects under ibj's justice makers competition. By prioritizing early access to legal counsel and enhancing defender skills training, the initiative is reducing the burden on underfunded legal aid systems and shifting organizational approaches toward prevention and systemic change, ensuring marginalized women are protected and empowered within the justice system.”

“In burundi, ibj has strengthened and improved its strategic relations with those involved in the criminal justice system through memorandums of understanding with inspectorate general of the national police, the ministry of justice and the bar association, and by maintaining its collaboration with ngos and csos. Thanks to these relationships, ibj burundi has been able to remain one of the few human rights ngos working to protect the legal guarantees of vulnerable people from the earliest stages of criminal proceedings. This has been made possible through mentoring sessions for defense lawyers on capacity-building issues, capacity-building for stakeholders involved in criminal proceedings in collaboration with the independent national commission on human rights, the monitoring of places of detention, and so on. Ibj was also able to raise awareness among thousands of ordinary citizens via a radio station with nationwide coverage on the special procedure of flagrante delicto, the prevention of certain offenses such as sexual harassment, and the subjective and objective grounds for lack of criminal responsibility or mitigation of sentence. In rwanda, ibj has taken the leadership to convene the government, state agencies, professional bodies as well as the civil society organizations to continue its work to strengthen human rights within the criminal justice system. In 2024 ibj convened a national event to review progress of implementation of recommendations by the universal periodic review of the human rights councils of united nations.”