Background on Filartiga

This post will attempt to portray what events happened in the Filartiga case leading up to the lawsuit in federal court. Full description of the events are beyond the scope of this blog and the judicial opinion gives a decent description. Filartiga can be found at Filartiga v Pena-Irala 577 F.Supp. 860 (D.C.N.Y. 1984), however the court only gives cursory description of the events. An in depth look at the case can be found in The Anatomy of Torture: A Documentary History of Filartiga v. Pena-Irala by William J. Aceves.

The whole case underlying Filartiga occured in Paraguay. The deceased, Joelito Filartiga was the son of Dr. Filartiga, a prominent human rights advocate in Paraguay against the Stroessner regime. Dr. Filartiga had been tortured on more than one occassion in the past. Dolly Filartiga was the deceased brother and a victim of some of the actions of the Defendant, Pena-Irala. The Defendant Pena-Irala was the Inspoector General of Police of Asuncion. He happened to live a few homes down from the victims.

Joelito was tortured and killed by the defendant. According to court records in Paraguay Joelito was killed in a jealous rage when the hsband of Pena-Irala's daughter caught the two of them in bed. However, medical examinations showed evidence of torture including electricity, broken bones and stabbing. Dolly was shown the murdered body of her brother and told by the defendant that they have what they were looking for and deserved.

The legal proceedings in Paraguay were a sham. The attorney that attempted to represent the Filartiga's was threatened and he finally had to drop the case. Over time, Dolly left Paraguay for the United States to get away from Paraguay. However, she found out that Pena-Irala was in New York with his wife but had overstayed their Visa. This quickly set forth a series of events that lead to the deportation proceedings against Pena-Irala, the filing of the civil action in federal court and the begining of a case that empowered an old law.