The Center for Justice and Accountability


PERUVIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSER ORDERED TO PAY $37 MILLION
March 4, 2008 - A federal judge in Miami ordered former Peruvian Major Telmo Hurtado Hurtado to pay $37 million in damages to plaintiffs Teofila Ochoa Lizarbe and Cirila Pulido Baldeon and the estates of their deceased family members who were killed during the infamous Accomarca Massacre of 1985 in Peru. This is the first time that anyone has been held to account for atrocities committed in connection with the Accomarca Massacre. A trial on damages was held in February where courageous testimony was provided by the plaintiffs who witnessed Hurtado and his troops murder 69 civilians in the remove mountain village of Accomarca. Major Hurtado appeared in court by order of the judge in a prison jumpsuit and shackles. He is currently being held in an immigration detention center while he fights deportation to Peru. Major Hurtado refused to participate in the proceedings. Read the full press release on the damages award. Para español, pulse aquí. Read more about the cases against Telmo Hurtado Hurtado and Juan Rivera Rondón.


SENATORS DURBIN AND COBURN ASK ATTORNEY GENERAL TO PROSECUTE AND/OR DEPORT CJA DEFENDANTS
November 20, 2007 - CJA applauds Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) for the historic request they made today to Attorney General Mukasey and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to review prosecution and/or deportation of Salvadoran Generals Garcia and Vides Casanova for human rights violations. Senators Durbin and Coburn made the bipartisan request in response to testimony that they heard at the November 14, 2007 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, "No Safe Haven: Accountability for Human Rights Violators." At that hearing, CJA client Dr. Juan Romagoza Arce provided powerful testimony about his detention and torture at the National Guard headquarters in El Salvador in 1980. At the time of his torture, General Garcia was the Minister of Defense and General Vides Casanova was the Director General of the Salvadoran National Guard. CJA Executive Director Pamela Merchant also testified. Read the letter sent by Senators Durbin and Coburn to Attorney General Mukasey and Secretary Chertoff asking them to review prosecution and/or deportation of the Generals. Click here to read CJA's press release on the letter. The full text of Pamela Merchant's testimony can be found here. Juan Romagoza's testimony can be found here.


CJA Wins The Thomas J. Dodd prize

October 1, 2007 - CJA received the Third Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights. Previous honorees include Louise Arbour, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights; South African Justice Richard J. Goldstone; Bertie Ahern, Prime Minister of Ireland and Tony Blair. Photos of the award ceremony are available here.

Harold Koh Francisco Soberon

CJA's 2008 Annual Dinner: Sponsorships Available, Tickets on Sale Now!

March 21 , 2008 - CJA's Annual Dinner wll be held on May 13, 2008 at the City Club in San Francisco. The event will honor Harold Hongju Koh, Dean of the Yale Law School and Former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and Francisco Soberón, a driving force behind the prosecution of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori and president of the Association for Human Rights in Peru (APRODEH).

Click here for more information, including reservations, sponsorship information and speaker biographies. Or contact us now:
(415) 544-0444 ext.303
dinner@cja.org

Lui Qi

CJA Defendant Liu Qi Resurfaces in Olympic Role

April 2008- CJA defendant Liu Qi is in the news again as the Chairman of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Committee. China's poor human rights record has been the subject of much recent media attention. Liu Qi's role as a human rights abuser has received less attention.

In 2004 a federal court in California entered a declaratory judgment against Liu Qi for violations of the rights of five CJA clients to be free from torture, arbitrary detention and other abuses. At the time, Liu Qi was the Mayor of Beijing. CJA's clients are Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured and beaten by Beijing police under Liu Qi's authority. Liu Qi has been an outspoken opponent of religious freedom in China and vowed to "crush" the Falun Gong; he also made other statements indicating his active participation in authorizing the abuses. Click here for more on the case

CJA is deeply disturbed that the U.S. Olympic Committee is embracing Liu Qi as opposed to condemning his involvement in human rights abuses.

SPANISH JUDGE HEARS TESTIMONY FROM EXPERT WITNESSES AND SURVIVORS IN THE GUATEMALA GENOCIDE CASE

February 5, 2008 - Judge Santiago Pedraz took testimony today in Madrid from genocide survivors on abuses committed by the Guatemalan military during their campaign of terror perpetrated against the Mayan population of Guatemala in the 1980s. The witnesses, represented by CJA and the Spanish Association for Human Rights, traveled from Guatemala to Madrid at great personal risk after the Guatemalan courts’ recent refusal to grant Spain’s extradition request for the named defendants, all former Guatemalan officials, in the Guatemala Genocide Case.

Read CJA's press release on the testimony. Para español, pulse aquí.

Read more about the Guatemala Genocide Case.