FAQ ABOUT LIBERTY CENTER What is Liberty Center ? This is a Mongolian non-profit and non governmental organization committed to encourage democratic reforms in Mongolia , protect human rights and civil liberties. Liberty Center was founded by twenty individuals in January 2000 and was registered in Mongolia on February 01, 2000 . Initiator and the Founding President of the Center is Mr.Elbegdorj Tsakhia. Who works for Liberty Center ? There are few paid staff who work for the Center permanently. However, temporary staff can be hired for projects implemented by the Center. Also, many local people and law students work as volunteers for the Center. Managing Board and Controlling Board of the Center consist of founders of the Center who make decisions on the policy of the Center and revise the Center’s activities to make sure that Liberty Center meets it mission. Liberty Center offers three types of services to protect human rights: 1) legal aid, 2) law library and 3) disseminating online alerts about human rights violations. How can I get legal aid if I am a victim of a human rights violation? You can approach the Center’s office located at Mongoliin Zaluuchuudiin Holboonii Bair, #301, Ulaanbaatar-48, Mongolia or you can send email to libertycent@yahoo.com to get free advice on your problem. Please keep in mind that Liberty Center is not a law-firm and does not offer you defense at a court trial. It helps you to find advocates, law books and offers you limited advice on your case. Shall I be concerned about disclosing my privacy when I approach to Liberty Center ? Liberty Center ’s staff shall not ask your name, job, political party or religious affiliation unless you choose to tell them. You can conceal any information you don’t want to disclose. In short, you can directly explain the case. The Center’s legal aid staff shall be open about his or her capacity and shall ask your permission if he or she would like to discuss your case with the Center’s volunteers before giving advice to you. How does the Center’s law library work? The Law library is open six days a week. It is located at the second floor of the Left Part of Tuushin company building in the center of Ulaanbaatar . The library collects laws, regulations and law books of Mongolia as well as international laws and conventions. A reader can be registered for a year at $5 price , but attorneys, law students and journalists are registered with significant discount. Readers can ask a librarian to find legal books which are not available in the library. The Liberty Center ’s staff try to do their best to make those books available in the shortest time. The Center aims to make sure that the funding for new books are available. How does Liberty Center select the cases for online alert? Clients of the Center can ask the Center to spread out alerts on their cases. Or the Center can initiate alerts on cases which are closely related to the mission of the Center. Who sponsors Liberty Center ? During the first two years of activity of Liberty Center , the sole sponsor of the Center was public. Liberty Center organized three fund raising events each 100-120 participants of which have been our first donors. The amount of private donations to the Center ranged from $15 to $500. The forms of donations offered by private companies ranged from furniture, computer to free internet service. Liberty Center ’s first international sponsor was Soros Foundation which enabled the Center to organize a successful journalism training project in 2002. Since then till August 2004, the Center was granted funds from UNHRHC, PACT and Mongolia Judicial Reform Program, Misereor Foundation, UNDP Mongolia Office and Amistad International. Who are the clients of Liberty Center ? Frequently, individuals who seek legal aid in cases related to misuse of political and government power come to Liberty Center . Often, individuals who were denied advocacy indirectly or who could not find an attorney find the Center’s law library as an important source for their building/strengthening of self-defense. How can I become a volunteer of Liberty Center ? Liberty Center organizes occasional trainings for those who would like to be human rights volunteers. Calls for participation of such trainings are published in print media at least a month prior to the training. After completing such training one can volunteer for the Center in any form she or he can offer his/her contribution to the Center’s activity and get information from the Center of its ongoing activities. Volunteers also participate in projects and campaigns that require mobilization of many people. For example, Liberty Center has its volunteers in every province of Mongolia and they helped collect or confirm information on legal organizations and services available to local people in 2003. Another way to become a volunteer of Liberty Center is participate in case discussions. Often, law students and young lawyers are registered as volunteers who participate in case discussions. The other type of volunteering for Liberty Center is to work for the Center without remuneration. Founders of the Center, Managing Board, President and Vice President of the Center are all volunteers who are not paid for their contribution to the Center. The Executive Director of the Center had been volunteering for the Center for two years during 2000-2002 and some months of last two years. Shall I be able to speak English or know internet to work for Liberty Center ? No. Even though all of Liberty Center ’s alerts are written in English, Liberty Center does not require its staff or volunteers to be fluent in English. But the Center does require its paid staff and project staff not to be in government office and not to run for any political party office and elections. As to knowledge in internet, Liberty Center encourages all its volunteers, staff and project staff to learn computer, internet and web mastering ability as soon as possible. Warm and open workplace atmosphere makes sure all willing volunteers, staff and project staff to improve their computer literacy directly at work by learning from “whomever is better.” Is Liberty Center affiliated to any other Mongolian or International organization? No. It is an independent organization. Why Liberty Center ’s alerts are usually short? Liberty Center acknowledges that many readers do not have time to read long stories. Thus, its alerts and stories are designed to be no longer than two pages. In few cases, it exceeds this limit by one more page. How long does it take to have a positive response after my case is spread out via internet? It depends on cases and on how well your case was presented. In many cases, readers of the Center’s alerts responded very quickly. A Mongolian deaf student found help in Washington D.C. just one day after his case was disseminated. A rural journalist found defense attorneys two days after his case was online, and it took a week to dismiss his case by the prosecutor. There are clients who care about a long term benefit from the Center though. For example, a tractor operator won his challenging case after one year of his studying laws in the Center’s law library. Moreover, approximately in one of two cases disseminated via internet, government changed its behavior positively.
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