US ruling against Salvadoran ex-General a ‘huge’ victory for victims
March 7, 2012
US ruling against Salvadoran ex-General a ‘huge’ victory for victims
A US court ruling that paves the way for a former Salvadoran Defence Minister to be deported from the US on the basis of his involvement in cases of rape, torture and extrajudicial killings in El Salvador in the 1980s is a huge victory for victims, a lawyer in the case has told Amnesty International.
On 23 February 2012, a Florida immigration judge found that former General Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova – who has lived in the USA since 1989 – could be sent back to El Salvador over his role in grave human rights abuses in the 1980s.
Carolyn Patty Blum, a Senior Legal Adviser at the California-based Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), represented several torture victims in the case. She told Amnesty International the court’s decision was a major victory for her clients.
“We always wanted to set our sights on the top commanders, those who were in a position of authority, because they were the architects of the crimes against humanity, of the systematic plans,” said Carolyn Patty Blum.
More:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/us-ruling-against-salvadoran-ex-general-a-%E2%80%98huge-victory-for-victims
