In Africa, poverty is too often punished with prison. Nearly 70% of people in African prisons are pretrial detainees, many locked away for years not because of proven guilt, but because they cannot afford bail, pay for a lawyer, or navigate slow and under-resourced courts. In addition, across the continent, citizens face arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention for exercising their rights to expression, assembly or religion….
A world where the justice gap is closed and societies are safer and fairer for all.
We address the injustices that leads to the imprisonment of the poor and vulnerable, working alongside communities and state actors to design sustainable solutions that close the justice gap.
Hours of Pro Bono Legal Service
Indigent Incarcerated Individuals supported
Pretrial Detainees directly represented
people reached with preventive messaging
grassroots CSOs mentored through our Civic Space Strengthening Programs.
Security & Justice Institutions Engaged
Policy Reforms shaped through engagement with Justice Actors
Institutional Partnerships
digital products
We challenge unlawful detention and arbitrary arrests by providing free legal aid and rapid response support, ensuring that no innocent person is left to languish behind bars.
Working alongside correctional officers, chaplains, and community leaders, we build a culture of rehabilitation that addresses the root causes of incarceration and prevents people from being cycled back into the criminal justice system.
As repression moves online, we safeguard digital freedoms while promoting safe and responsible use of technology. We confront arrests and detentions linked to online expression.
We design the future of justice using data and technology. By tracking patterns of unlawful arrests, building tools for early legal response, and generating evidence, we prevent arbitrary detention before it occurs.
We defend freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and belief especially as it relates to arrests and detention and remind people of their power by equipping them with rights education
