Interactive Radio for Justice is designed to create a dynamic and interactive communication between citizens targeted by ICC investigations (victim and perpertrator communities) and the local, national and international authorities who are responsible for bringing them justice. The project is based on the principle that rule of law needs to be understood to be respected, and it needs to be respected to be used in a participatory and stable society. We use the opportunity of ICC presence in a region to help people who have experienced the worst crimes to understand what laws exist, how they can use these laws, and what their rights and responsibilities are in a society that is governed by rule of law. We use radio as our principle means to create this conversation, and cell phones are used extensively to record responses from international and national authorities based far away from target communities. Text-messages, or SMS, are used in the field by citizens who want to make contact with our local teams to record their questions, and for our teams to communicate with each other.

Interactive Radi for Justice has been active in the Ituri region of the DRC since May 2005. Three accused warlords currently in custody at the ICC are from this region. IRfJ has brought three journalists from its team in Bunia to the ICC, in 2006, 2008 and 2009, to hold interviews with key ICC officials and to follow important moments in trial activity in order to broadcast this material in local languages for target-communities.  Our first public meeting in Bunia, in March 2007, brought the ICC Registrar and ICC Deputy Prosecutor; the Director of MONUC-Ituri and the Heads of the Human Rights and Political Affairs Units of MONUC-Ituri together with the Judge-President and Prosecutor of the Civil Court for Ituri and the Judge-President of the Military Court in Ituri to answer questions directly from citizens from in and around Bunia.  Our second public meeting in Bunia, in July 2009, brought the ICC Chief Prosecutor and the Head Defense Counsel for the first defendant on trial at the ICC together to answer questions from citizens from throughout Ituri. Both meetings were recorded and broadcast over our partner radio stations in French, Lingala and Swahili.

 In order to encourage youth to think about and discuss the role of justice in their lives, the music for justice initiative of IRfJ produces music written and performed by local youth on justice and reconciliation themes.  This music is played during IRfJ programming and is distributed to local radio stations, and we have also organized a public music for justice concert in Bunia, in July 2010, where bands who have recorded on our CDs performed and human-rights NGOs were invited to distribute information on their activities.

  IRfJ was launched in the Kivus region, where ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced his second phase of investigations in the DRC, in July 2009.  We have radio partners in Goma and in Kasugho, both in North Kivu. Our field manager is based in Goma.

 In Central African Republic: IRfJ was launched in Bangui, the capital city of Central African Republic (CAR), in January 2008. Jean Pierre Bemba, former vice President for the DRC, has been indicted and arrested by the ICC for crimes against humanity committed in Bangui.  IRfJ held a public meeting in Bangui, in February 2008, where the ICC Chief Prosecutor answered questions from citizens, mostly victims of violence in 2002, about his newly announced investigations in Bangui.  This public conversation was recorded and broadcast on the radio in French and Sango. IRfJ works with a network of four community radios in Bangui and three other towns throughout the CAR; Bouar,  Bambari and Berberti. Questions are recorded in all five towns in our network, programs are produced in Bangui and broadcast over the radios in our network in both French and Sango.  Our team in Bangui is producing its first music for justice CD to be distributed in September, 2010.

 A detailed description of each program series and other IRfJ activities of the project can be found on the website: www.irfj.org.  All audio programming can be found in French, with English transcripts, as well as two short films produced by the project, on the website as well.  IRfJ has recently created a page on Facebook, please log on and become a fan!

Project Details

Project url: 

http://www.irfj.org

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Supporting organization: 

Insight Collaborative

Project Social Media Links: 

Interactive Radio for Justice

Location