About the Institute

Background

In 1979, the New York based Center for Constitutional Rights filed the first civil lawsuit to recover damages on behalf of a Paraguayan family who had discovered that the police officer who had tortured their son to death in Paraguay was living openly in the U.S. Arguing that torture was an "international tort" within the purview of U.S. federal courts, these lawyers and plaintiffs brought and won a test case under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS)—a statute dating to the founding of our republic that allows civil suits by "aliens" for violations of certain established rules of international law. Since then, Congress entrenched a modern cause of action in the 1992 Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA). The TVPA extends the right to sue to U.S. citizens tortured abroad and to the representatives of victims of summary execution. In Sosa v. Alvarez Machain, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the jurisprudential validity of these suits, echoing the conclusions of the majority of lower courts that had heard such cases.

In 1998, Gerald Gray—a clinician and social worker dedicated to working with survivors of human rights abuses—founded the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) in San Francisco to specialize in cases under the ATS and TVPA. To date, CJA has successfully sued perpetrators on behalf of plaintiffs from a number of countries, including El Salvador, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Haiti, Chile, Peru, Somalia, East Timor, and Honduras. In addition to CJA, several U.S. legal centers and law school clinics are devoted to this work with plaintiffs and witnesses in the U.S. and abroad. Canadian and European legal centers—such as the Canadian Center for International Justice, Redress Trust (the United Kingdom), and the Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme(France)—do similar work under different statutory schemes. None of these centers, however, has had the expertise or resources to establish the treatment support systems that all have recognized are necessary for their clients and witnesses as they pursue litigation. Instead, such organizations provide such assistance on an ad hoc contract basis where possible.

CJA, for example, has over 30 plaintiff clients nationally, but no dedicated funding or staff for psychological support or social work. In its very first case, Bosnian plaintiffs and witnesses living in relative isolation in Utah were not initially assessed or provided service for the severe medical and psychological damage they had experienced. In the two-year pre-trial period, their symptoms were exacerbated by the stress and uncertainty of litigation. More than one client considered dropping out of the case, and one client lost his job. The Bosnian claimants ultimately won their case, but not without physical and psychological costs. Clinicians in the torture treatment centers working with clients in political asylum proceedings have confirmed that these reactions and problems can be mitigated with social work, psychotherapy, group therapy, psychiatric medication, and proper medical referrals.

The Institute’s Activities

The Institute brings together clinical treatment resources and legal resources engaged in providing redress to victims. In particular, the Institute works closely with the Palo Alto clinical non-profit, The Institute for Study of Psychosocial Trauma (ISPT), which has 25 years of experience in the field. ISPT principals have generated seminal clinical literature on trauma and legal processes. They have provided direct psychotherapy to torture victims in addition to participating in clinical training, supervision, consultation, and program management with others in this field. For the past five years, ISPT has subcontracted aspects of these services to The Center for Survivors of Torture in San Jose (where Gerald Gray served as program director).

The Institute has also formed a network of clinicians with experience working with torture survivors and established a number of agreements with the relevant legal centers in order to provide support for plaintiffs and witnesses. In particular, IRR is a part of the California Consortium of Torture Treatment Centers and works with other organizations that are members of the national counterpart—the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs. IRR also collaborates with treatment centers and universities worldwide to train other health professionals for the work.

Santa Clara As Host

Santa Clara University as a Jesuit institution has made programmatic commitments to examine social justice and globalization issues in all areas of the University curriculum. It is uniquely suited to host this organization. The Institute finds its home in the School of Law and the School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries Program.

The School of Law has a close relationship with CJA. Professor Beth Van Schaack is on the organization’s Legal Advisory Board and many law students intern with CJA during the year and over the summer. Professor Van Schaack, who served as staff attorney and acting Executive Director of CJA, litigated Romagoza v. Garcia, a human rights suit involving Salvadoran refugees which resulted in a $54.6 million jury verdict. Santa Clara University School of Law features a certificate program in international and comparative law, social justice, and human rights through its Center for Global Law & Policy and Center for Social Justice & Public Service. In addition to regular coursework in human rights, clinical representation, immigration, and international law, Santa Clara has hosted a workshop on transitional justice featuring academics and activists working in Iraq, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, Chile, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The workshop produced a series of faculty, guest, and student papers, some of which were published by the  School of Law's Journal of International and Comparative Law.

The Institute’s joint sponsor, the School of Education, Counseling Psychology, and Pastoral Ministries, is committed to fostering human compassion and social conscience.

Working through its host institutions, the Institute enables Santa Clara students and faculty to develop and apply their skills to communities in particular need of their services.