CJA advocates expanding the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) to include civil claims for mass atrocities such as crimes against humanity, genocide, enforced disappearances and other claims that are not currently covered in this statute. Often times, civil complaints are the best avenue to accountability for those who have suffered anguishing human rights crimes. Civil remedies as provided for under the TVPA help empower survivors, create historical records of truth, and deny perpetrators the fruits of their crimes. CJA successfully included language to expand the TVPA in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill in 2013 with broad bipartisan support, a bill which ultimately did not advance.
