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| Policy Work | |
CJA works on a variety of human rights legislative and policy efforts. We focus particular attention on supporting policy initiatives that advance the U.S. government's commitment to criminally prosecute human rights abusers. Today, the vast majority of human rights enforcement efforts in the U.S. are removals and related prosecutions for lying on immigration applications. We strongly support efforts to switch these priorities and make prosecution of human rights abusers for human rights crimes a priority. On the legislative side, we support the expansion of the current human rights statutory framework to include abuses such as extrajudicial killing and crimes against humanity. We also strongly push for the inclusion of the "command responsibility" doctrine into all human rights laws. Command responsibility is a well-established theory of liability which covers military officers or civilian superiors who knew or should have known about abuses taking place under their command and failed to take steps to stop the abuses or punish the offenders. Real deterrence cannot be achieved unless military and government officials perceive that they may be held individually accountable, not just for committing abuses, but for their failure to take reasonable action to stop others under their command from committing abuses. The focus of future U.S. criminal prosecutions should therefore be on high-level officials who were responsible for setting policy in their own country and have sought refuge here. Congressional Testimony "From Nuremberg to Darfur: Accountability for Crimes Against Humanity " CJA was invited to submit written testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law in the hearing "From Nuremberg to Darfur: Accountability for Crimes Against Humanity." In the testimony, Executive Director Pamela Merchant summarized the gaps in the current criminal human rights statutory framework and the importance of enacting crimes against humanity legislation for survivor communities and for future prosecution of perpetrators. The testimony also reviewed instances where crimes against humanity has been used successfully in the U.S. civil context against human rights abusers from Chile, Haiti and Peru. "No Safe Haven: Accountability for Human Rights Violators." CJA client Juan Romagoza Arce and Executive Director Pamela Merchant testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. The hearing, "No Safe Haven: Accountability for Human Rights Violators in the U.S.," examined what could be done on the level of policy, legislation and enforcement to hold human rights abusers who have settled in the U.S. accountable. CJA client Juan Romagoza Arce, Romagoza Arce v. Garcia, provided powerful testimony about his detention and torture for 22 days at the National Guard headquarters in El Salvador in 1980. General Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova and General Jose Guillermo Garcia - two former Ministers of Defense who oversaw the worst period of human rights abuses in El Salvador's history - were found to be responsible for Dr. Romagoza’s torture in CJA's civil case against them. Ms. Merchant's testimony emphasized that efforts to hold human rights abusers accountable in the U.S. must be undertaken in the context of a broader human rights framework and must conform with international human rights standards. Her chief recommendation was that the U.S. government should make the criminal prosecution of human rights abusers, either in the home country of the human rights violator or in the United States, a top priority. Pamela Merchant's testimony is available here. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) was clearly very moved by the testimony. At the end of the hearing, he surprised those present by saying that he was going to send a letter to the then newly appointed Attorney General Mukasey to ask him to explain why the Generals were still living freely in Florida and had not been held to account for Dr. Romagoza's torture. The next week, Senator Durbin and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) sent a request to Attorney General Mukasey and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and asked them to review prosecution and/or deportation of Generals Garcia and Vides Casanova. This bipartisan request is an important development in CJA's quest for accountability. It is extremely significant that senior members of Congress advocate for the prosecution of high level human rights abusers with command responsibility for atrocities, not just low-level actors with "blood on their hands." As a result, the U.S. government has reopened investigations into the Generals. Follow-up questions and responses to the hearing are available here.
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| TrAnsitional Justice Trainings & Support | |
CJA provides trainings and other types of support in an effort to promote transitional justice efforts around the world. Because of our close working partnerships with survivor communities and accountability NGOs in the country where the abuses occurred, we are uniquely positioned to assist with and help jumpstart transitional justice efforts. Honduras Human Rights Training Program In December 2007, CJA completed its first human rights training program. “Prosecuting Human Rights Crimes in National Courts” was held on December 4-6 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The training brought together 80 Honduran prosecutors with a faculty of legal practitioners from Latin America, Spain and the United States with experience and expertise in the prosecution of human rights abusers. In addition to covering the basics of international law, investigation and case development, the sessions provided participants with specific examples of legal strategies used by prosecutors, judges and attorneys for non-governmental agencies in the national courts of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Spain and the United States. The training faculty included Eduardo Freiler, Judge of the Argentine Federal Court of Appeals and one of the lead prosecutors of abuses committed during the "dirty war," and Sergio Muñoz, President of the Supreme Court of Chile and a lead prosecutor of Pinochet-era abuses. A full list of faculty members with biographical information is available here. Honduran Attorney General Leonidas Rosa Bautista stated at the training that “[the Honduran Government] has not done enough to prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses. This training by CJA is a first step to change that fact.” Attorney General Rosa Bautista requested that CJA organize the training after the verdict in our U.S. civil case against former Honduran military intelligence chief Juan López Grijalba. He also stated his intention to prosecute López Grijalba for human rights abuses based on evidence developed in CJA's case. The prosecution of López Grijalba would be the first human rights prosecution in the country's history and would have regional impact. CJA is currently assessing how to best replicate the training program in other countries transitioning from periods of abuse. The focus of our training work will remain on the practical "how to" specifics of human rights prosecutions in national courts. We will also continue to include experienced practitioners in our training faculty with an eye to sharing best practices from national human rights prosecutions in different countries. Providing Legal Assistance in the Trial of Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori CJA is also providing technical legal assistance to the prosecutors and NGOs working on the trial of former president Alberto Fujimori in Peru and is acting as a senior advisor on the First Census of the Disappeared. |
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| Amicus Briefs | |
CJA authors or signs onto “friend of the court” briefs in human rights cases filed with appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, including those that deal with the treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, and the importance of keeping U.S. courts open to international human rights cases.
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| Outreach & Education | |
CJA partners with torture treatment centers, medical professionals, therapists, refugee and survivor groups, law firms, law school clinics, and human rights NGOs. CJA mobilizes torture survivors to speak publicly to personalize the issue of torture for the general public and to empower other survivors to seek justice. In addition, CJA employs an outreach strategy to enhance the ability of CJA’s cases to affect systemic change in home countries. The strategy seeks to give survivor communities an ownership role in the case, garnish the support and involvement of key government officials, opinion makers, and community leaders, and cultivate in-country media outlets to spark national discussion. Our cases have been widely covered by national and international print and broadcast media outlets. Click here to read press about CJA.
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