05/14/2013: Please join us at the CJA’s 15th Anniversary Dinner Celebrating our Victories in the Movement for Global Justice, at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. The dinner will include the presentation of CJA's 2013 Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award and Champion of Justice Award. Click here for more information.

01/18/2013: Yesterday, the U.S. government recognized the government of Somalia for the first time since 1991. If it is going to succeed, the new Somali government must end impunity for war criminals and provide redress to victims. Read CJA statement here.

01/15/2013: Human rights advocates claimed a victory after a federal judge in Boston said he would consider a former El Salvadoran military colonel's alleged war crimes before sentencing him on separate immigration charges. Read more here.

01/11/2013: Today is both the eleventh anniversary of the opening of the Guantánamo prison and the day that "Zero Dark Thirty" premiers nationwide. Before making a decision about whether or not to see "Zero Dark Thirty," please read more.

12/10/2012: Former Salvadoran General Jose García is charged with "ordering, assisting, or participating" in torture or extrajudicial killings in El Salvador between 1979-1983. Part of the evidence against García is the massacre of El Mozote, which happened while he was Defense Minister. Follow the link to read CJA’s updates from the courtroom.

11/20/2012: A federal court in Ohio found Colonel Magan liable for the torture, arbitrary detention and cruel treatment of CJA client and former Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience, Professor Abukar Ahmed (pictured here). Magan was the head of the notorious National Security Service where thousands were unlawfully detained and tortured.

11/02/2012: In a landmark decision, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Samantar's appeal in the first case to consider the "common law immunity" of foreign officials. The decision denies immunity for human rights abuses like torture and extrajudicial killing and denies absolute deference to the executive branch.

10/01/2012: Oral arguments were heard in Kiobel v. Shell. At issue in the case is whether victims of foreign human rights abuses can continue to bring claims in U.S. courts against perpetrators who have found refuge in our country. Visit CJA's Kiobel Resource Center to read the transcripts and coverage of the case. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the next few months.

09/25/2012: Prominent human rights attorney and long-time CJA partner Mario Joseph is facing an escalating series of threats and harassment against his person and the offices of the Haitian human rights NGO, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI). The threats come as possible retaliation for BAI's human rights claims against former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and the current government of Michel Martelly. Learn how you can take action to defend Mario Joseph and BAI's important work.

09/14/2012: The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) dismissed Ieng Thirith from the second Khmer Rouge trial on grounds of mental unfitness. Ieng Thirith has been widely believed to have Alzheimer’s disease, affecting her memory and ability to confront evidence against her at trial.

09/11/2012: Inocente Orlando Montano, retired Salvadoran colonel and defendant in CJA's Jesuits Massacre Case in Spain, pled guilty to six counts of federal criminal immigration fraud and perjury before district judge Douglas P. Woodlock.

08/28/2012: On August 28, 2012, U.S. Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema awarded $21 million in compensatory and punitive damages against former Somali General Mohamed Ali Samantar. This judgment marks the first time that any Somali government official has been held accountable for the atrocities perpetrated under the Siad Barre regime.

06/20/2012: On June 20 in Madrid, Spain, YO DONA magazine announced that Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) attorney Almudena Bernabeu was the 2012 recipient of its prestigious International Award for Professional Work.

04/09/2012: During criminal proceedings in Peru, Telmo Hurtado - a former military officer and defendant in CJA's Accomarca Case - confessed to his role in the 1985 massacre of 69 villagers in Accomarca, Peru. Hurtado also revealed that he was ordered to cover up the role of senior officials in the massacre.

04/08/2012: Thank you for joining us for CJA's 2012 Annual Event, Celebrating our Victories in the Movement for Global Justice, featuring: Keynote Speaker Kerry Kennedy; former U.S. Ambassador Robert White, Ambassador to El Salvador during the country’s Civil War and recipient of the 2012 Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award; Mexico’s Lydia Cacho, a courageous journalist, human rights defender, and recipient of Champion of Justice Award; and CJA client Sophany Bay, a Khmer Rouge survivor who lost almost 100 members of her family.

02/25/2012: On February 23, 2012, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that Gen. Eugenio Vides Casanova, the former defense minister of El Salvador, can be removed from the United States for the torture of Salvadoran citizens, the 1980 killings of four American churchwomen, and the 1981 killings of two Americans and a Salvadoran land reformer.

About CJA

CJA is an international human rights organization dedicated to deterring torture and other severe human rights abuses around the world and advancing the rights of survivors to seek truth, justice and redress. CJA uses litigation to hold perpetrators individually accountable for human rights abuses, develop human rights law and advance the rule of law in countries transitioning from periods of abuse.

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Our Cases

CJA is now the leading NGO which brings cases against individual human rights abusers in the U.S. and Spain under principles of universal jurisdiction.

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