CJA In The News

A federal judge presiding over the immigration case of a former Salvadoran military colonel wants to know more about the status of Spain’s request for the United States government to hand over the defendant for a war crimes trial.

Los testigos en el juicio por fraude migratorio contra el exviceministro de Seguridad Pública salvadoreño terminaron de rendir sus declaraciones este lunes, en Boston, Estados Unidos. La lectura de la sentencia se pospuso para este martes y los querellantes esperan que abra el camino para tramitar la extradición pedida por España por el asesinato de los sacerdotes jesuitas en 1989.

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio [official websites] on Tuesday awarded [CJA press release, PDF] $5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages to a victim of torture at the hands of a Somali military colonel some 25 years ago.

Este jueves inició la audiencia para sentenciar el exviceministro de Seguridad salvadoreño, acusado en Estados Unidos por fraude migratorio, y requerido en España por el asesinato de los sacerdotes jesuitas. La defensa presenta como testigo de descargo al general Mauricio Vargas, a quien el gobierno estadounidense descalifica acusándolo de ser él, también, un violador de derechos humanos.

A federal judge weighing punishment for a former El Salvador military leader on immigration charges heard testimony Thursday about allegations the defendant committed war crimes before coming to the United States.

Al inicio de la audiencia, la defensa del coronel interrogó a la profesora Terry Karl de Stanford, testigo del Gobierno de Estados Unidos. Esta mañana se instaló en Boston la audiencia en contra de Inocente Orlando Montano, por fraude migratorio y perjurio.

Colonel Montano may have continued living unnoticed in a Boston suburb, working in a sweets factory, if it weren’t for the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), which filed a criminal complaint in Spain against him for the massacre of the Jesuits, five of whom were Spanish citizens. Montano was brought to the attention of the US government after the CJA filed a criminal complaint in Spain against him for the Jesuits massacre (five of the priests were Spanish).

Today in Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Federal Judge Mark Abel awarded $5 million in compensatory and $10 million in punitive damages (for a total award of $15 million) against former Somali Colonel Abdi Aden Magan. In 1988, Professor Abukar Hassan Ahmed was arbitrarily detained by Colonel Magan’s subordinates. On Colonel Magan’s orders, Professor Ahmed was shackled in an excruciating position in a squalid prison cell for nearly 24-hours per day for three months. There, he was brutally tortured and subjected to cruel treatment on Colonel Magan’s orders by lieutenants under his command. Nearly 25 years after his torture, Professor Ahmed has finally found justice in a U.S. court.

The commander of one of El Salvador’s notorious death squads, active during the 1979-92 civil war, could soon become the first top-ranking Salvadoran officer to face trial for murder. But if so, he will be tried in Spain, not his own country, where an amnesty protects even those guilty of atrocities against civilians.

Federal Judge Mark Abel awarded the compensation to Abukar Hassan Ahmed, who in a 2010 lawsuit said he endured months of torture in the 1980s during interrogations in Somalia. A judge had previously ruled that the former colonel, Abdi Aden Magan, was responsible for the torture