CJA

A federal appeals court has reversed a $54.6 million verdict against two retired Salvadoran generals — one of them a Broward County resident — accused of turning a blind eye to the torture of citizens during their country’s bloody civil war two decades ago.

One woman was gang-raped twice for being a pro-democracy leader, another was beaten for speaking out after her husband disappeared at the hands of Haiti’s oppressive military regime, and the third was raped by paramilitaries as a message to her activist husband…

A former paramilitary leader from Haiti has been sued by three women who allege they were gang-raped and beaten by members of his right-wing group. Emmanuel “Toto” Constant, 48, was served with papers on Friday as he left an appointment with the Immigration and Naturalization Service [Immigration Services], said Moira Feeney, an attorney with the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability…

Dr. Juan Ramogoza, who provided medical care to El Salvador’s poor, was imprisoned and tortured in 1980. He later fled to the United States. Two years ago he sued two Salvadoran generals for his suffering, and won. Now his homeland is honoring him as a “Distinguished Salvadoran Humanist.” Ramogoza speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon.

A California-based human rights group has filed lawsuits accusing two Somali residents of Northern Virginia of war crimes, including ordering torture, killings, rapes and other acts of brutality against a rival clan during the 1980s when they held positions of power in their homeland…

A California-based human rights group has filed lawsuits accusing two Somali residents of Northern Virginia of war crimes, including ordering torture, killings, rapes and other acts of brutality against a rival clan during the 1980s when they held positions of power in their homeland…

More than 20 years ago, a journalist called Oscar Reyes and his wife Gloria, an interior designer, were taken from their home in Tegucigalpa, Honduras by members of the country’s armed forces as part of an operation against suspected “subversives.”

“For me personally, the verdict provided a strong sense of healing and closure. For almost 25 years, I had carried a bag of heavy rocks with me everywhere I went. The day that I testified, I left that bag of rocks with the U.S. justice system…”