Report on Developments 2005–2007

This Open Society Justice Initiative publication describes the organization's recent activities, accomplishments, and ongoing efforts. Report on Developments 2005-2007 surveys the Justice Initiative's work in promoting open societies through legal reform, emphasizing the organization's impact on the ground.

The 72-page book uses feature stories to illustrate major challenges confronted by the Justice Initiative in its six major program areas: Africa, equality and citizenship, freedom of information and expression, international justice, legal capacity development, and national criminal justice reform. Stories include:

• The international campaign to end Charles Taylor's asylum in Nigeria, which culminated in Taylor's transfer to The Hague to face trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
• The denial of citizenship rights to Kenyan Nubians, as told through the experiences of Shafir Ali Hussein.
• Ethnic profiling by police in the Moscow Metro, where riders who do not appear to be Slavic are over 21 times more likely to be stopped than riders who appear Slavic.
• Government suppression of free speech in Cameroon, where radio station Freedom FM is prevented from broadcasting.
• The case of Marcel Claude Reyes, whose pursuit of information held by the Chilean government resulted in a landmark court decision establishing a right of access to government-held information.
• Progress and challenges at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, which has the historic task of seeking to deliver some measure of justice to Cambodians, more than 30 years after the mass atrocities of the Khmer Rouge.
• A paralegal program providing access to justice in Sierra Leone, where there are few working courts and many legal problems go unresolved.
• The jailing of brothers Mu'azu and Isah Ibrahim, who spent three years in pretrial detention in Nigeria, waiting for their day in court.
• Reforming the juvenile justice system in Kazakhstan, a Soviet-style system that makes little distinction between accused juveniles and adults.

In addition, Report on Developments includes description of the Justice Initiative's six program areas, an essay on the rule of law movement, and a list of publications available from the Justice Initiative.