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Guantanamo´s 10th anniversary
CEJIL condemns indefinite detention of individuals without trial and calls on the US to abide by its international obligations

 

Washington D.C, 11th January, 2012 – Ten years after Guantanamo Bay detention center opened and three since President Obama issued an Executive Order mandating its closure, the prison still remains in operation. As of today, 171 men face indefinite detention in Guantanamo and high ranking officials have not yet been prosecuted for authorizing the use of torture during interrogations. In addition, on December 31st, 2011, the US President signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which officially legalizes indefinite detention of individuals without trial.


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Justice is still pending for the victims
El Salvador´s plea for forgiveness is a step forward in the case of the Massacre of El Mozote

San Salvador and San Jose, January 17th, 2012- This Monday, President Mauricio Funes apologized to the victims, their families and the people of El Salvador for the massacre of El Mozote and surrounding communities, in which  nearly a thousand victims died in hands of the  Salvadoran army.

The Archdiocese’s Human Rights Office in El Salvador (OTLA) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) recognize that this public event, held on the twentieth anniversary of the Peace Agreements, represents a historic moment, particularly considering that these facts were denied for years by the Salvadoran authorities. It also represents a first step towards full reparation for the harm caused to the hundreds of victims of the massacre and their families.

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Anniversary of Inter-American Court sentence in Gomes Lund v. Brazil case (also known as “Guerrilha do Araguaia”)
One year later: still no justice or truth in Brazil

 
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, December 14, 2011. The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Grupo Tortura Nunca Mais do Rio de Janeiro (GTNM/RJ), Comissão de Familiares de Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos voice their concern for the lack of diligence in fully implementing the sentence in the “Guerrilha do Araguaia” case.
On December 14, 2010, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a sentence in the Gomes Lund and others v. Brazil case, condemning Brazil for the forced disappearance of 70 people, for the lack of adequate procedures to establish the truth and for the ongoing impunity of crimes committed 38 years earlier.

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The case will be presented to the Inter-American Court at a hearing in 2012
30 years after El Mozote: Still no justice for one of Latin America´s largest massacres

Washington D.C and San Salvador, December 9, 2011- The undersigned organizations pay a sincere tribute to the hundreds of victims and their families, as well as the hundreds of internally displaced as a result of the El Mozote Massacre. The mass murder of 966 men, women, and children (number of victims identified thus far) was the largest massacre perpetrated by the Salvadoran Army during the country’s internal armed conflict (1980-1992) and one of the bloodiest in Latin America’s recent history.

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Towards the implementation of a Legal Assistance Fund for Victims

The Inter-American System for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights - comprised of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights - is widely recognised as an independent system that provides victims of human rights violations with a last opportunity to obtain reparations when domestic institutions fail them or do not exist.

The Inter-American System faces numerous structural challenges. One of these has been overcome through the creation of the Legal Assistance Fund for Victims.