Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA)

CJA is an international human rights organization dedicated to deterring torture, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other severe human rights abuses around the world through litigation, policy advocacy, and outreach in pursuit of truth, justice, and redress for victims and survivors. CJA was founded in 1998 with support from Amnesty International and the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture to represent torture survivors in their pursuit of justice. CJA uses two civil laws to hold perpetrators of international human rights abuses accountable in the United States: the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). CJA also pursues criminal human rights cases before the Spanish National Court, which has initiated investigations into abuses around the world. The most famous of these cases, against Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, represented the first time that a former head of state was prosecuted on the victims’ initiative. CJA has pioneered a survivor-centered approach to the quest for justice that combines legal representation with medical and psycho-social services to both empower and heal torture survivors and their communities. CJA leverages resources by partnering with pro bono law firms and expert witnesses to help litigate cases. The organization has built a unique network of partners, which includes medical professionals, therapists, military and forensic experts, refugee groups, law school clinics, and other human rights non-governmental organizations.