Mario Joseph

Mario Joseph has led the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), a public interest law firm in Port-au-Prince, Haiti since 1996. In over 25 years of human rights work, he has spearheaded the prosecution of Haiti’s dictators, including Jean-Claude Duvalier and the leaders of the 1991-1994 de facto dictatorship. Joseph represented the victims in the Raboteau Massacre trial in 2000, hailed as one of the most important human rights cases ever in the Western Hemisphere. His representation of the victims of the cholera epidemic introduced to Haiti through reckless disposal of waste at a UN Peacekeeper base forced the UN to invest over $400 million to respond to the epidemic, and changed the way the organization responds to environmental risks posed by its missions. Under his leadership, the BAI launched the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project, which combined courtroom work with public advocacy to promote the respect for the human rights of all Haitian women. Joseph was awarded the Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award from the Center for Justice & Accountability, the Alexander Human Rights Award from Santa Clara University, and Honorary degrees from the University of San Francisco and Indiana University School of Law. He was a finalist for the 2013 Martin Ennals Human Rights Defenders Award.