25 Years of Bringing Home Justice

The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) has spent a quarter century dedicated to seeking truth, justice, and redress for war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, and other atrocities around the world through our litigation, transitional justice initiatives, and advocacy. We pursue international justice from the ground up, working in solidarity and partnership with victims, survivors, and their communities. We believe that our approach to international human rights is uniquely suited to pursuing justice in the world today.

Champion of Justice

The Champion of Justice Award recognizes extraordinary contributions to the field of human rights. This year, it is our privilege to present this award to two human rights defenders who exemplify what it means to bring justice and international human rights home.

Dale Minami

Dale Minami

Dale Minami is a San Francisco based lawyer and is one of our country’s leading voices for civil and human rights. Among his many achievements in advancing equality in the United States, Mr. Minami led the legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu, who bravely defied the United States government’s mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Mr. Minami and his team successfully challenged the Supreme Court’s 1944 decision in Korematsu v. United States, widely considered one of the most unjust decisions in our nation’s history. His approach to justice has always been rooted in community, and in 1972, he co-founded the Asian Law Caucus, the first organization in the United States dedicated to promoting, advancing, and representing the legal and civil rights of Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Mr. Minami’s work empowering lawyers and advocates from impacted communities to lead the fight for justice is an inspiration for our work at CJA.

E. Tendayi Achiume

E. Tendayi Achiume

E. Tendayi Achiume is the inaugural Alicia Miñana Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. She was also the United Nations Human Rights Council’s fifth Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism and is the first woman to serve in this role. As Special Rapporteur, Professor Achiume examined racial discrimination through an intersectional lens, looking at racism in the context of systems and structures governing citizenship, nationality, and immigration. She researched the intersection between racial equality and the global extractives industry and presented the UN with the threats to racial equality that nationalist populism poses. In her final report she called for urgent action to address ecological crisis, climate injustice and racial justice.Professor Achiume powerfully brought justice back home to the United States when in the wake of the extrajudicial killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement; she led 65 other UN Special Rapporteurs in calling for the U.S. government to take action on systemic racism and state violence. At a time when international justice demands an approach that accounts for the structural and systemic factors that lead to atrocity, Professor Achiume’s innovative work shows us a way forward.

The Judith Lee Stronach Award

The Judith Lee Stronach Award honors individuals and organizations who have made an outstanding contribution to the movement for global justice. This year, we presented this award to the Syrian British Consortium (SBC) in recognition of their investigation into international crimes committed during the 2012 Darayya Massacre in Syria. SBC is an advocacy group that amplifies the voices of Syrians towards building a democratic and inclusive Syria, and it was our privilege to work alongside them during their multi-year investigation into this iconic event of the Syrian conflict. Led by Syrian investigators – including some originally from Darayya – SBC’s groundbreaking project established crucial details on the crimes committed, entities responsible, and means through which the attack was coordinated and executed.

The Daraya Massacre Tenth Anniversary

The Partner in Justice Award

The Partner in Justice Award recognizes the remarkable partnerships that make CJA’s work possible. This year, we presented this award to Keker, Van Nest & Peters for their partnership and contributions to our historic victory in bringing justice to the victims of Argentina’s Trelew Massacre. Together, we put an end to fifty years of impunity for one of the key perpetrators of the Trelew Massacre. Thanks to KVP’s partnership, a jury in Florida found Roberto Guillermo Bravo responsible for extrajudicial killing and torture. This was the first time Bravo has been held to account after years of resisting extradition to Argentina, which is seeking to put him on trial for his role in the Massacre. Together, we conducted discovery while much of the world was in lockdown in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic; the impressive skill and trial expertise of the KVP team made it possible for us to bring justice to the victims’ families, who have been unyielding in their decades-long struggle for accountability.

Keker, Van Nest & Peters

Performances

CJA was thrilled to have Kronos Quartet and Kevork Mourad perform at the 25th Anniversary Gala.

Kronos Quartet

Kronos Quartet »

David Harrington – violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Paul Wiancko, cello

THANK YOU TO OUR 2023 SPONSORS

Champion of Justice $40,000

Wilson Sonsini Foundation

Justice Advocate $25,000

King Family Foundation

The Morrison Foerster Foundation

Robert Flynn

Justice Defender $15,000

Debevoise

Kevork Mourad

Justice Warrior $10,000

Mina Titi Liu & Eric Rosenblum

Defender $6,000

Partner $3,000

Ajay Krishnan & Annie Reding
Carmen Cheung Ka-Man & Hirohisa Tanaka
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Minami Tamaki LLP
Thomas Fogarty Winery

Friend $1,000

Anonymous Donors
Broc Cellars
Charline Yim
Foley Hoag LLP
Jamin & Meghan Quinn
Lokelani Devone
Mintz Group
Pamela Merchant & Kirby Sack
Richard Capelouto & Gina Maya
Van Der Hout LLP
William Cheung
William & Seema Aceves

2023 Wine Sponsors

PAST HONOREES AND SPEAKERS

2022
Patricia Viseur Sellers, Special Adviser on Slavery Crimes at the International Criminal Court and Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College of the University of Oxford
Mnemonic/Syrian Archive, dedicated to preserving digital evidence of atrocity crimes
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, pro bono counsel in Jaramillo v. Jiménez Naranjo

2021
Ben Ferencz
, chief prosecutor for the United States in The Einsatzgruppen Case at the Nuremburg Tribunal
Colette Flanagan, founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB)
Women’s League of Burma (WLB)
Morrison & Foerster LLP and Dentons US LLP, CJA’s pro bono co-counsel in Boniface v. Viliena

2020
Gerald Gray
, LCSW, MPH, a psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker, founded CJA in 1998
Yazidi women seeking justice, genocide survivors demanding justice and finding solidarity with other survivors.
Debevoise & Plimpton, CJA’s partner and co-counsel on our groundbreaking cases seeking accountability for the Lutheran Church Massacre

2019
The Honorable Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein, Senator representing the State of California, led the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation of the CIA’s use of torture
Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, partner to CJA’s efforts on Colombia
Sherman and Sterling, pro bono co-counsel for Colvin v. Syria Arab Republic

2018
The Honorable David Scheffer
, former and first United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues
Hassan Bility, Director of the Global Justice and Research Project, Liberia
Mintz Group

2017
Youk Chhang, Executive Director, Documentation Center of Cambodia
Morgan, Lewis & pro bono counsel

2016
Ambassador Stephen J. Rapp
, former U.S. Ambassador- at-Large for War Crimes Issues
Colectivo de Abrogados “José Alvear Restrepo”
Tara Lee and DLA Piper, pro bono co-counsel for Warfaa v. Ali

2015
Navi Pillay, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and judge at the International Criminal Court
Chadbourne & Parke LLP
Suleiman Ismail Bolaleh, Chairman of the Horn of Africa Human Rights Watch Committee, the leading human rights advocacy organization in Somaliland

2013
The Honorable Claudia Paz y Paz, Guatemala’s former Attorney General who oversaw the genocide prosecution of President and General Efrain Rios Montt
Latham & Watkins LLP
Ahmed Salah, Coordinator for the Coalition of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution in Egypt, co-founder of the 6th April Youth Movement and of the Egyptian Movement for Change

2012
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Ambassador Robert White, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy and former Ambassador to El Salvador and Paraguay
Lydia Cacho, Journalist and Founder of CIAM Cancún which works to hold perpetrators of violence against women accountable in Mexico

2011
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
Jose Pablo Baraybar, Director of the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team, whose groundbreaking work has been instrumental in prosecutions of human rights abusers
William Neukom, Founder, President, and CEO of the World Justice Project and former CEO of the San Francisco Giants
Kamala Harris, junior Senator for the state of California former Attorney General for California and District Attorney for San Francisco

2010
Cooley Godward Kronish LLP
Helen Mack Chang
, founder of the Myrna Mack Foundation and partner in CJA’s Guatemala Genocide Case

2009
Mario Joseph
, Founder of Bureau Des Avocats Internationaux, a leading Haitian human rights legal NGO and CJA partner

2008
Harold Hongju Koh, former Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State and Dean of Yale Law School

2007
Paul Hoffman
, co-founder of CJA and leading international human rights attorney

PAST CORPORATE AND ORGANIZATIONAL SPONSORS

  • Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
  • Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
    (formerly Farallone Pacific Insurance Services)
  • AT&T
  • Baker Botts LLP
  • Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
  • Bertrand, Fox, Elliot, Osman & Wenzel
  • Beveridge & Diamond PC
  • Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP
  • California Labor Federation
  • Clinton Reilly Landmark Properties
    (formerly Clinton Reilly Holdings)
  • Cooley LLP
  • Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP
  • Covington & Burling LLP
  • Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
  • Dentons
  • DLA Piper
  • Donahue Fitzgerald LLP
    (formerly Fitzgerald Abbot & Beardsley LLP)
  • Eagle Harbor Group LLC
  • Frisby & Associates
  • Gap Foundation
  • Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP
  • Ghosh Financial Group of Wells Fargo Advisors
  • Hadsell Stormer Renick Dai LLP
    (formerly Hadsell & Stormer, Inc.)
  • Holland & Knight LLP
  • Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP
    (formerly Keker & Van Nest LLP)
  • Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
  • King & Spalding LLP
  • King Family Foundation
  • Kirkland & Ellis LLP
  • Latham & Watkins LLP
  • Meyers Nave
  • Minami Tamaki LLP
  • Mintz Group
  • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
  • Morrison & Foerster LLP
  • The Morrison & Foerster Foundation
  • Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
  • Nolan, Barton, Olmos LLP
    (formerly Nolan, Armstrong & Barton, LLP)
  • Norton Rose Fullbright
    (formerly Chadbourne & Parke LLP)
  • O’Melveny & Meyers LLP
  • Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
  • Pacific Gas & Electric Company
  • Renne Public Law Group
    (formerly Renne Sloan Holtzman Sakai LLP)
  • Roje Consulting LLC
  • Ropes & Gray LLP
  • Rosen, Bien, Galvin & Grunfeld LLP
  • Sack Properties
  • Salesforce Foundation
  • Sandler Foundation
  • Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP
    (formerly Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP)
  • Sard Verbinnem & Co.
  • Shargel & Co.
  • Shearman & Sterling
  • Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
  • SNR Denton
    (formerly Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP)
  • Squire Patton Boggs
    (formerly Patton Boggs LLP)
  • Steptoe & Johnson LLP
  • Union Bank
  • Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale LLP
  • Van Löben Sels/RembeRock Foundation
  • Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP
  • Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation
  • Zalayet, Adler, & Suba Private Wealth Management

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art acted only as the venue for the Center for Justice and Accountability gala event and was not otherwise affiliated with any fundraising activity or event sponsorship. Any views expressed by the Center for Justice and Accountability were strictly those of the Center for Justice and Accountability and did not necessarily represent those of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.