May/June 2000
Justice for a Hurting World
Gary A. Haugen is president of the International Justice Mission (IJM) in Washington, D.C. Haugen, a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School, worked as a trial attorney with the Police Misconduct Task Force of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1994, he was seconded to the United Nations to serve as the Officer in Charge of the UN's genocide investigation in Rwanda. Haugen has published numerous popular and scholarly works on international law and human rights.
IJM is an international human rights agency that provides hands-on operational field response to cases of human rights abuse referred by workers in faith-based ministries around the world. These workers refer cases to the IJM, after which IJM operatives conduct professional investigations and documentation of the abuses. To further the message of biblical justice, IJM has authored the book, Good News About Injustice, published by InterVarsity Press.
Dan Wooding: Give us some background on yourself, your family and your career?
Gary Haugen: After graduation from Harvard University, I spent a year working with South African church leaders on the National Initiative for Reconciliation during the brutal state of emergency of 1985-1986. After returning to the United States and studying law at the University of Chicago, my exposure to the pain of oppression in the world was deepened through my work for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, investigating the atrocities of abusive soldiers and police in the Philippines.
Eventually, I took a job as a trial attorney in the civil rights division of the United States Department of Justice. There I served on the police misconduct task force. While at the Department of Justice, I was detailed to the United Nations in the fall of 1994, to serve as the director of the UN genocide investigation in Rwanda.
In 1997, I began my term of service with the International Justice Mission (IJM).
I am married and the father of four children.
What did you discover when you first went to Rwanda? What effect did your findings have on you? How can you explain the fact that some of the murderers were Christians?
In Rwanda, it was my duty to direct an international team of lawyers, criminal prosecutors, law enforcement officers and forensics experts in the gathering of evidence against the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide and to conduct field investigations at various mass grave and massacre sites.
I had been present, I felt, in the midst of one of the greatest tragedies in human history. The reality of the evil surfaced even more as each child survivor I interviewed described the massacres of their parents, siblings and neighbors. The statistics of the genocide were mind-numbing and horrible. How do you go about hacking four thousand people to death?
All of this took place in a country in which 80 percent of the population claimed to be Christian--the birthplace of what historians refer to as the East Africa revival earlier in this century. Events in Rwanda, however, should give pause to all who are engaged in the work of world evangelization. We should examine the extent to which our evangelistic efforts are producing "Christians" or disciples of Christ. In every society there is a struggle between the values of the culture and the values of Christ.
In Rwanda, the fears, hatreds and history of the culture shaped those who called themselves "the church" much more powerfully than the church shaped the culture. Having said that, I also know that the Rwanda soil is ennobled by the remains of many Christian martyrs (Hutus and Tutsis) who refused to participate in the genocide and paid for that choice with their lives.
How and why did you start the International Justice Mission, and what is IJM's role in bringing justice?
I was struck by three simple but powerful facts. First, there were vast numbers of men, women and children in the world who were suffering. Second, within the communities where these abuses took place, Christian workers (missionaries, doctors, relief and development workers) knew a tremendous amount about these abuses yet felt helpless to do anything about them. Finally, there were Christians who had the professional training, experience and resources to document these abuses and seek relief for victims--but there was no vehicle to bring their gifts and energy to bear on these needs. Therefore, the IJM began to help people suffering injustice and oppression overseas who cannot rely upon local authorities for relief by documenting the abuses and intervening on behalf of the victims. To do this, the IJM relies on overseas Christian workers to report the abuses, enabling IJM's lawyers and investigators to seek effective intervention.
What is justice?
Justice occurs on earth when power and authority between people is exercised in conformity with God's standards of moral excellence. Injustice occurs when power is misused to take from others what God has given them, namely, their life, dignity, liberty or the fruits of their love and labor.
What are the primary elements of injustice?
Wherever we find the perpetration of injustice, we will find two components: coercion and deception. They may work separately or in combination. Coercion is the compelling or constraining of a person to act against his or her free will--usually by physical force or the threat of some other dire consequence. The other major component of injustice is deception. Sometimes injustice is perpetrated almost purely by deception.
Take us around the world to the areas where you are working. Paint a word picture of what you have seen and heard and how it has affected you.
For the last five years, Jayapriya, a 14-year-old girl in a poor village in India, has been forced to work 14 hours a day, rolling cigarettes by hand. She must roll 5,000 cigarettes a day and must work for ten straight days before she gets a day off. She is held, illegally, in bonded servitude. The moneylender of the village accepted Jayapriya as a form of credit, and her labor became a commodity of trade when her family needed an emergency loan. She cannot be released from her bondage until she pays the debt back in a lump sum; but at a "wage" of 10-20 cents a day, interest charges over 1,200 percent annually and monetary deductions, she is likely to spend the rest of her childhood this way.
Based on the investigation from IJM operatives, we were able to file a report on Jayapriya and 26 other child-bonded slaves with a senior government officer who has ordered "the respective magistrates to take immediate action in arranging for the immediate release and rehabilitation" of the children.
"Anita" was fourteen when she set off for her home village with the money she had saved while working as a domestic servant in the distant town of Guntur. While returning alone by train, four women befriended her, drugged her and had her transported to Bombay--where, like thousands of other girls, she was sold into a brothel and locked away in a hidden room. By the time she was seventeen she had been severely beaten scores of times, had suffered through three abortions and remained physically locked away to service the brothel's customers. And yet even in the midst of such darkness, "Anita" says she prayed and asked Jesus to help her.
The IJM was able to work with local law enforcement partners to get her out and to have the brothel owner arrested.
What record does the U.S. have in the field of justice around the world? Are we among the persecutors ourselves with our foreign policies? If so, can you illustrate?
The United States, not surprisingly, has a mixed record. Our government, like any other, is a government of fallen people who are tempted, as any others, by selfish interests and fear and prone to errors due to miscalculations and imperfect information. We have done well to struggle against various forms of tyranny represented by communism, fascism and other forms of totalitarianism. We did not do so well, however, in supporting the tyranny and brutality of Marcos in the Philippines, Pinochet in Chile, Botha in South Africa, Savmimbi in Angola, Mobuthu in Zaire, etc., etc., etc. The United States certainly did not acquit itself very well during the eight weeks of the Rwandan genocide, when a very modest deployment of an international peacekeeping force could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. But I am hopeful that American Christians will learn from the mistakes and sins of the past and play an active, prophetic role in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy--speaking for the values of Christ against the values of the culture.
How can anyone reading this make a difference, and what practical steps can they take?
Each member of the body of Christ has a very tangible role; Christ in his grace has shut none of us out of his glory. Clearly, not everyone has the same role, and an appreciation of the special gifts and expertise that God has granted for the work is extremely important. But Christ accepts every offering and often counts the most humble offering as the greatest. It may surprise some, but perhaps the most crucial task rests with the shepherds and teachers of the body of Christ--those who help us know God. Our engagement with the work of justice is no more and no less than an extension of our desire to follow our God and Savior. Thus the entire army of God can remain disengaged from the battle if they do not know enough about their Lord to hear his voice. But if our leaders teach us about the God of justice, we can, and will, follow him in the struggle against injustice.
The next most critical role in developing a Christian witness for justice in the world will be played by frontline workers in the field--the tens of thousands of missionaries, relief and development workers that minister throughout the world. Field workers can engage in the work of justice in a three-step task.
1. Fieldworkers should develop the eyes to see and ears to hear about injustice in their communities.
2. Fieldworkers can aid these victims of abuse by helping them to articulate their story.
3. Fieldworkers need to tell the story. The fieldworkers need to be responsible stewards of the burden that has been shared with them by passing it along carefully to those who might come to the victim's aid.
Apart from its frontline workers in the field, the Christian agencies of world missions and international relief and development have also developed the most extraordinary body of experts on countries and cultures around the world. Of course, if I could, I'd like to have access to their research, wisdom and experience as well. All of this intelligence and expertise within the worldwide Christian community is tremendously helpful in seeking justice where needed. The experience and know-how of fellow Christians in the practical matters regarding access to a country, logistics, security, geography, transportation and language can be indispensable for conducting investigations and interventions.
As one might expect, there is also a critical role to play for public justice professionals who have a capacity to work in a cross-cultural setting. The first task in seeking justice for the oppressed is to overcome the deception behind which oppressors hide their coercion and abuse. Accordingly, those who are professionally trained in ferreting out the facts have a critical contribution to make in defending those who are victimized by the abuse of power.
God's deployment of his ministers around the world also includes large numbers of Christian business people and professionals who have developed extensive expertise and influential relationships within the countries where they work. There are occasions when this wisdom and these relationships cannot only be leveraged for successful business development but can also be used in service to those who are weakest in the society. Occasionally, business executives and professionals can make direct inquiries of government authorities and business partners about specific cases of alleged abuse that come to their attention.
The boy sold into bonded servitude, the girl held in prostitution, the student tortured--they all deserve to have their stories told with honesty, authenticity, power and life. The writers, producers, artists and media professionals in our Christian community can play a vital role in bringing deliverance to the oppressed by telling their stories with all the conviction, clarity and vividness for which they were granted their special gifts of communication.
In fact, God in his graciousness has provided a role for every Christian in his work of seeking justice. We can go where we are needed. We can send people who can help. We can pray for those in the position to do what is necessary.
What is your message to the Christians of the world about justice?
God is in the business of using the "foolish" and the "weak" to accomplish his divine will on earth, and that simply means that I am qualified to be on his team. We all are. And when it comes to seeking justice in our world, he doesn't have a special roster. He intends to use you and me. He doesn't have any other plan. In fact, it was precisely for such good works that we were created; they don't save us or make us righteous before God, but they allow us to fulfill the godly purpose for which God created us. As Paul wrote, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). And what are good works? "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8 NRSV).
Is there anything else you would like to add?
There is much, but it can all be found in my new book from InterVarsity called Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World.
For more information about how you can be involved in God's work of justice, contact the International Justice Mission: P.O. Box 58147, Washington, D.C. 20037-8147. Phone: 703-536-3730. Website: www.ijm.org
Dan Wooding is an award-winning British journalist now living in Southern California. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST. Many of his articles are on the ASSIST website at www.rwcc.com/assist.htm.