9 WHAT IS STRATEGIC LITIGATION? PRACTICE NOTE 5 STRATEGIC LITIGATION OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN AFRICA • Legal. Litigation can bring changes in legal standards, whether through case law or legislation, such as the criminalisation of enforced disappearance in national criminal codes. • Governance. Litigation can trigger practical changes to the relevant procedures, budgets, and institutions, although this tends to take time. • Social. Beyond the specific case, litigation can result in changes in the tolerance of and response to enforced disappearances and/or other human rights violations in the country or region concerned. See the Practice Note on Evaluation of Impact for more information on this framework. Case study: La Cantuta (Peru) Facts. Enforced disappearance in 1992 of nine students and one professor at the National University (“La Cantuta”), in Peru. The crime was committed during the internal armed conflict in Peru by the “Grupo Colina”, an affiliated body of the National Intelligence Service. Legal Action. The relatives of the victims sought justice in Peru, but due to the amnesty laws in place, those responsible for the enforced disappearances were released. The relatives then decided to take the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and later to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Court issued a landmark judgement in 2006 in favour of the victims. Other civil society techniques. After the disappearance of the victims, their relatives and the organisations supporting them launched a national and international campaign seeking justice and the truth about the fate of their loved ones, involving communications, advocacy, demonstrations, and public events, among others. Impact for the victims. As an outcome of the case before the Inter-American Court, the relatives of the disappeared in La Cantuta were awarded material and non-material reparations, a public apology, a public memorial site, and other forms of reparations.