CJA In The News

The milestones achieved by the prosecution of Rios Montt significantly elevated Guatemala and its system of justice in the eyes of the international human rights community. This trial did not come easily to the Guatemalan courts, and did not proceed smoothly once it got there. Nevertheless, the successful prosecution was hailed by international observers and human rights groups as a major victory for justice–until the guilty verdict was overturned by the Constitutional Court in a 3-2 decision only 10 days after it was delivered.

Montano hoy enfrenta un proceso en una corte federal en Boston por haber mentido en sus formularios migratorios y ocultado información sobre su trayectoria militar durante la guerra civil salvadoreña (1980-1992). Montano será sentenciado en las próximas semanas por esos delitos, pero un crimen de guerra, por el que ha sido acusado en un tribunal de España, juega un papel central en el juicio de Boston.

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued a disappointing decision in Kiobel v. Shell, holding that the ATS does not provide an avenue for justice for Nigerian human rights victims who were harmed when Shell Oil assisted the Nigerian government in attacking them and their family members. Despite this, the splintered opinions by Justices Kennedy, Alito, and Thomas leave open the possibility that companies and individuals may still be liable for their abuses in cases with a stronger connection to the United States.

The death of former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary is a reminder that the UN-backed tribunal needs a proper exit strategy as it winds down its work, observers say.

Guatemala juzga por primera vez en la historia el crimen de genocidio cometido durante el conflicto armado interno que asoló el país durante 36 años. Con la excusa de luchar contra la guerrilla, más de 200.000 personas, en su mayoría de origen maya, fueron masacradas entre 1960 y 1996 fruto de un minucioso plan elaborado por el ejército. Uno de los principales artífices de las matanzas, el ex presidente, el general Efraín Ríos Montt, está siendo finalmente juzgado por estos crímenes.

The Justice Department has released a United States immigration judge’s ruling ordering the deportation of a former high-ranking Salvadoran military officer over his role in the 1980 rape and murder of four American churchwomen and other crimes there.

The sexual violence session of the Ríos Montt trial was public, but the witnesses were permitted to cover their faces. CJA is directly supporting the prosecution of Former Guatemalan President General Efraín Ríos Montt for genocide and crimes against h

The first female Attorney General of Guatemala is taking on some of the country’s most powerful kingpins, past dictators and local crime bosses. She’s lowered the Central American nation’s high crime rate and brought justice for victims of the 36 year old civil war. Dr. Paz y Paz will be receiving the 2013 Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award at CJA’s 15th Anniversary Dinner.

The passing of Ieng Sary and the dismissal of Ieng Thirith for mental unfitness—and the advanced age and poor health of the remaining two Khmer Rouge defendants (Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan)—make imperative the need for an efficient and exhaustive decision on the liability of Khmer Rouge era atrocities.

General Ríos Montt’s congressional term ended in January 2012. Two weeks later, he was indicted for genocide in his home country. Guatemala’s 36-year-long civil war was one of the bloodiest and most vicious of modern times, pitting state security forces and their allies against leftist rebels. By the war’s end in 1996, and in a country one-fourth the size of California, more than 200,000 people were killed or disappeared.