Local lawyer fights human rights violations in Nicaragua

By JAN HOLST

Kentwood City Commissioner Sharon Brinks practices law locally, but has found a way to use her expertise around the globe. Brinks, who planned to become an attorney when she was 15, is proud of her profession.

"I am proud of the legal system in our society," said Brinks. "We uphold a system of law that makes our country work."

Always fascinated by legal systems in other countries, Brinks has traveled extensively to places like Morocco, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. Many countries, she has discovered, do not adhere to the rule of law.

In China, for instance, individual liberties do not have a place in the legal traditions.

"The concept that law governs the government doesn't exist," said Brinks. "This is how I slipped into this project. We are obliged by what we believe in to give back in whatever place God put us. I am an attorney and this is what I can do."

Thousands of people in Central America sit in dark dirty jail cells in scorching heat, often without adequate food or clothing waiting for help. Local attorneys are working at no or very reduced fees taking test cases and trying to teach lay people about their rights.

Brinks believes that American lawyers can help and has organized a group of attorneys to travel with her to Nicaragua to support the Center for Human Rights. Their mission will be to teach lay people such as ministers how to access the courts on behalf of their people.

Nicaragua has traditionally been characterized by the rule of strongmen rather than the rule of law. The leaders use their governmental office to enrich themselves, their families, and friends rather than to promote public good.

"Nicaragua is in a transitory state from one system of law to the other," said Brinks. "They are striving to become a country where the rule of law means something."

Brinks explains that unlike in this country where a property title can be traced to days when the land was first settled, in Nicaragua, a peasant family working a small farm for generations can lose it to someone who has access to the courts.

"They just come in, produce paper work and claim it," said Brinks. "People can fight back if given the tools."

While other Americans travel to places like Nicaragua to bring economic relief or build houses, Brinks goes to support the Nicaraguan lawyers who are struggling against difficult odds to change the legal system.

She believes mere presence gives support to local lawyers attempting to change the system.

"They know that as an attorney, I believe in the rule of law. That means a great deal to them," said Brink. "I don't go to bring American justice, rather that point of the trip is to listen and learn about their struggles and support them, telling them that we appreciate what they are doing."

Although the main purpose of the trips is to promote a just legal system, Brinks enjoys helping the Nicaraguan people in other ways.

"The people that I have met have been so nice," said Brinks. "There is no reason for them to be optimistic and happy, but they are anyway."

This trip, scheduled for March 10, Brinks plans to fill both her and her father's suitcases with donated textbooks for a local Nicaraguan school. Last time she brought enough vaccine to vaccinate an entire village.

"Change happens when people relate to people," she said. "We (America) poured lots of dollars into Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch, but only about 10 percent of people benefited. It doesn't solve anything to hand out stuff, you have to give the people the tools that they need in order to do for themselves."

Filling her suitcase with things she can leave is just another way to help support people who need so much.

"Making these trips to Nicaragua are in reality an extension of my perspective on practicing law," said Brinks. "I believe that you are called to a profession to accomplish some good.

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