On 4 December 2024, during the 38th annual convention of the International Bar Association Conference (Conférence Internationale des Barreaux – CIB), held in Martinique with 450 Francophone lawyers coming together from all over the world, the inaugural international human rights award was awarded to laureate Jacques Letang, President of the Federation of Bar Associations in Haiti. The CIB launched the award titled “Prix CIB Bâtonnier STASI“ in honour of its founder Mario Stasi. Deputy Director Dr Viviane Dittrich had been invited to join the international jury, composed of high-level jurists from various countries and presided by Xavier-Jean Keïta, former Principal Counsel, Office of Public Counsel for the Defence, International Criminal Court, currently Deputy Secretary General of CIB.
Jacques Letang is a trained judge and lawyer in Haiti, where he campaigns for human rights and the rule of law. He is a founding member of the Human Rights Office in Haiti and since 2015 has led a legal team which has facilitated the release of over 150 arbitrarily detained people, supported hundreds of victims of gender-based violence and handled symbolic cases of human rights violations such as the La Saline massacre. He is a 2021 laureate of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights. (vd)