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Gary Alan Haugen (born April 16, 1963)[1] is an American attorney who is the Founder, CEO, and former President ofInternational Justice Mission, a global organization that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world. International Justice Mission partners with local authorities to rescue victims of violence, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors, and strengthen justice systems. Haugen founded the organization in 1999.
Haugen graduatedmagna cum laude fromHarvard College in 1985 with a B.A. in social studies.[1] He earned a J.D. from theUniversity of Chicago Law School,cum laude, where he was theFord Foundation Scholar in International Law and a Tony Patino Fellow. Haugen also served as a visiting scholar in politics at theUniversity of Adelaide inAustralia.
In the mid-1980s, Haugen served on the executive committee of the National Initiative for Reconciliation inSouth Africa. Chaired by then-BishopDesmond Tutu and Michael Cassidy of African Enterprise, the NIR consisted of Christian leaders proactively devoted to political reform and racial reconciliation.
Upon his departure from South Africa, Haugen began work for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, based inNew York City. In the late 1980s, Haugen conducted a structural examination of the Philippine government's prosecution of human rights abuses committed by its military and police. Haugen investigated multiple murders and other violent abuses by the Philippine military and police, and participated in the exhumations of victims and the provision of protection services for witnesses. In analysis of his investigations, Haugen authored a book published by the Lawyers Committee entitledImpunity: Human Rights Prosecutions in the Philippines.
After working with the Lawyers Committee, Haugen began a career with theUnited States Department of Justice. In 1994, Haugen was put on loan from the Department of Justice to the United Nation's Center for Human Rights to serve as Officer In Charge of itsgenocide investigation inRwanda. In this capacity, Haugen directed an international team of lawyers in the gathering of evidence against theperpetrators of theRwandan genocide. Haugen developed the investigative strategy, protocols and field methodology for gathering eye-witness testimony and physical evidence from nearly 100mass grave and massacre sites across Rwanda. Haugen personally conducted and directed field investigations at various sites.
Until April 1997, when he left the Department of Justice to found International Justice Mission, Haugen worked as a senior trial attorney with the Police Misconduct Task Force of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on police misconduct cases, and on cases involving various forms of human rights abuses. When Congress granted theAttorney General new authority to pursue enforcement action against police departments with patterns or practices of misconduct, Haugen was selected to serve on a smalltask force with national enforcement authority.
Haugen currently serves on the Human Rights Executive Directors Working Group, the Board of the Overseers of the Berkeley Journal of International Law, and theWorld Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Justice.
In his 2014 book,The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence (Oxford University Press) Haugen introduces and defines the term "The Locust Effect" referring to the all-encompassing and devastating effects of common, ordinary violence on the lives of the poor. From the book: “Beneath the surface of the world's poorest communities, common violence – like rape, forced labor, illegal detention, land theft, police abuse and other brutality – has become routine and relentless. And like a horde of locusts devouring everything in their path, the unchecked plague of violence ruins lives, blocks the road out of poverty, and undercuts development.”
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton endorsed the book, saying that "The Locust Effect is a compelling reminder that if we are to create a 21st Century of shared prosperity, we cannot turn a blind eye to the violence that threatens our common humanity."
Other endorsers include Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Nobel Laureate and Founder of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus, Founding President for the Center of Global Development Nancy Birdsall, Founder and Executive Chairman of World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab, President of Oxfam America Ray Offenheiser, President and CEO of CARE Helene Gayle, Google Giving Director Jacquelline Fuller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church Pastor Tim Keller, Chief Executive of World Vision Australia Tim Costello, and others.
Haugen is an engaged Christian. He is a member of theAnglican Church in North America, and spoke at their General Convention in 2014.[2] Since founding International Justice Mission in 1997, he has described witnessing a "sea change" within the "Christian community that was [once] largely disengaged from the struggle for justice in the world," but now views care for victims of injustice as a significant issue in faith.[3] Inspired by the work of historical leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa as well as contemporary Christians in seeking justice for the oppressed, Haugen founded IJM on the principle of Isaiah 1:17 ("Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." NRSV). Though it is afaith-based organization, IJM protects the poor from violence without regard to religion, race or any other factor, and they seek to partner with all people of goodwill.[citation needed]
In 2012, Gary was honored by the U.S. State Department as a Trafficking in Persons "Hero" – the highest honor given by the U.S. government for anti-slavery leadership. In 2007, Haugen was awarded the Wilberforce Forum Award, an annual award presented byPrison Fellowship that recognizes an individual who has made a difference in the face of formidable societal problems and injustices.
Haugen has spoken at numerous venues around the world includingHarvard University,Yale Law School,Berkeley School of Law,Pepperdine University,Stanford University, The University of Chicago Schwartz Lecture, TheWorld Economic Forum,The World Bank, The Clinton Global Initiative, Willowcreek Leadership Summit, Passion Conference, and TED2015.[4] In 2009–2010, Haugen taught a course at the University of Chicago Law School on Human Rights and Rule of Law in the Developing World.
In February 2002, Haugen hosted a policy briefing on international sex trafficking with U.S. Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright in conjunction with the events of the Reebok Human Rights Award. In November 2005, Haugen moderated a panel on human trafficking between SenatorsSam Brownback (R-KS) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY.) In 2015, Haugen testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing entitled "Ending Modern Slavery: What is the Best Way Forward?"
Haugen and the work of IJM have been featured byDateline NBC,[5]The Oprah Winfrey Show,[6][7] NPR,[8]60 Minutes II,The Today Show,Dateline NBC,NBC Nightly News,CNN,MSNBC,Fox News,BBC World News,The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal,Forbes magazine,[1]Need Magazine,[9] Foreign Affairs, Christianity Today,[10]The New Yorker,[11] andThe New York Times Magazine.[12]
Haugen was also featured in Harvard Magazine[13] and in the University of Chicago School of Law's magazine,The Record.[14] Haugen has authored numerous articles on foreign affairs, international law and human rights.
In 2010, U.S. News & World Report[15] named IJM one of the top 10 service groups making a difference in the world, describing IJM as an example of "noteworthy public service programs that are having an impact."
In 2019, Haugen received an honorary degree fromWake Forest University. He was also the keynote speaker at theBaccalaureate service for Wake Forest's commencement in 2019.[16]
In 2014, Haugen and co-author Victor Boutros publishedThe Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence (2014,ISBN 0-1999-3787-7).
Previous works include:
Haugen, 40, ... graduated from Harvard in 1985
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