CJA

Sri Lanka’s Witness Protection Law Step Forward for Accountability

CJA welcomes news that Sri Lanka has adopted a witness protection law. The announcement comes days after the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights agreed to temporarily delay until September a U.N. report on human rights abuses in Sri Lanka during and immediately following its 26-year civil war. Click here to read more.

Family of Víctor Jara Seeks Truth for 1973 Killing Under Pinochet

CJA filed a brief yesterday in our historic case Jara v. Barrientos, accepting the defendant’s motion to set aside a default judgment and agreeing not to oppose the removal of the default judgment against former Pinochet Lieutenant Pedro Pablo Barrientos Nuñez, accused of torturing and killing Chilean folksinger and activist Víctor Jara. The family of Mr. Jara welcomed Barrientos’s motion, which, if granted, would allow the case to proceed to a full trial and bring to light the events that transpired surrounding their loved one’s death. Click here to read more.

Torture Victims from Abu Ghraib Should Have Their Day in Court

CJA urges federal district court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee to hear claims by four Iraqi citizens about torture inflicted on them by U.S. military contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc. Click here to read more in our press release and click here to read more about CJA’s involvement in this case.

CJA Encourages U.S. Engagement on Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Record

CJA sent a letter to U.S. Assistant Secretary Nisha Biswal, encouraging U.S. engagement on Sri Lanka’s human rights record to coincide with Biswal’s visit to Sri Lanka. CJA urged Biswal to acknowledge the positive actions taken by the Sirisena government to build reconciliation with the Tamil community and pressed for additional steps. Click here to read more.

Biswal should urge Sirisena to implement UNHRC report: CJA

CJA urges US Assistant Secretary of State, Nisha Biswal to use her office to encourage Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena to cooperate with the UNHRC in implementing the finding of the UN-led war investigation and take “steps to prosecute those responsible for the crime”.

El fin de la impunidad del ‘caso Ellacuría’

Aquel día la Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España (APDHE) y el Center For Justice and Accountability (CJA) presentaron en la Audiencia Nacional una querella contra el entonces presidente de El Salvador, Alfredo Cristiani; Humberto Larios, ministro de Defensa; Juan Orlando Zepeda, coronel y viceministro de Defensa; Inocente Orlando Montano, coronel y viceministro de Seguridad Pública y un grupo del batallón de Infantería Atlacalt, encargados de ejecutar los asesinatos.

Victory in Guatemala Court Serves as Model for Justice

CJA welcomes the news that yesterday, after a trial that lasted a few months, a Guatemalan court found ex-police chief Pedro Garcia Arredondo guilty of murder, attempted murder and crimes against humanity for the 1980 massacre of 37 people at the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala during Guatemala’s civil war. Click here to read more.

Demanda civil contra acusado de matar a Víctor Jara

Acusado de ser uno de los autores del asesinato de Víctor Jara, Pedro Pablo Barrientos Núñez, enfrentará a fines de febrero un juicio en Estados Unidos, país donde reside y que le otorgó la ciudadanía. Se trata de una demanda civil interpuesta en 2013, a nombre de su esposa, Joan Jara y sus dos hijas, por el Centro de Justicia y Responsabildiad de San Francisco.