Event Description
Almudena Bernabeu will relate the journey to bring Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano to trial in Spain, where he was recently sentenced to 133 years in prison for the massacre of six Jesuit priests and two women in 1989. This trial and conviction mark only the second time in which a case brought before Spanish courts went forward on the basis of a universal duty to provide access to national courts for human rights abuse victims. Although the Pinochet case created historic momentum, many obstacles have impeded these cases and prevented accountability efforts from succeeding. The Jesuits’ case has the potential to recover an important practice providing justice and preventing further abuses.
Speaker
Almudena Bernabeu, the co-founder and director of Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers, is a renowned transitional justice and international human rights lawyer. She led the investigation and prosecution for the Jesuit murders, leading to Inocente Orlando Montano’s extradition. In 2012, Bernabeu was included in TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people.