International Human Rights Award

2008 Award Recipient: Karen I. Tse – Founder and CEO, International Bridges to Justice

Recognized as “One of America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News World Report, International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) Founder and CEO Karen Tse has been instrumental in implementing groundbreaking measures in judicial reform around the world, starting with the Chinese and Cambodian governments. A California-trained public defender, Karen first developed her interest in the cross section of criminal law and human rights as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, after observing Asian refugees detained in a local prison without trial.  Under the auspices of the United Nations, she pioneered rule of law initiatives and established the first arraignment court in Cambodia—later serving as a U.N. Judicial Mentor and training the country’s first core group of public defenders.

After witnessing many violations of the rights of citizens, Karen founded International Bridges to Justice in 2000 to promote systemic global change in the administration of criminal justice. She launched the organization by signing an MOU with the Chinese Ministry of Justice in 2001 to support Chinese criminal legal aid. IBJ is pioneering rule of law initiatives and building global Communities of Conscience through the training, support, and facilitation of dialogue of and among legal aid lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials.

Under Karen’s leadership, IBJ has expanded to Rwanda, Burundi and India, and is poised to create a Global Defender Support Program that will bring IBJ assistance to public defenders worldwide. Also, Karen recently launched JusticeMakers, a competition IBJ is sponsoring asking for innovative ideas that would end torture, arbitrary detainment and abuse.  Learn more about IBJ and JusticeMakers.

A graduate of UCLA Law School and Harvard Divinity School, Karen is also an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister. She has been recognized as a leading social entrepreneur by Ashoka, the Skoll Foundation, and Echoing Green, and featured in publications such as Forbes and The New York Times. Karen is this year’s recipient of Harvard Divinity’s 2008 First Decade Award.