قانون جديد يصدره مجلسي ولاية كاليفورنيا لملاحقة مجرمي الإبادة الجماعية المستثمرين في الولاية

Dear AB 15 supporters,

Great news -- our bill passed both houses of the California legislature last Friday, and is now on its way to the Governor! We expect that AB 15 will be signed into law by October 11th, and we will be in touch soon in the next week or so about putting together a wider press release.

As we mentioned previously, there was some contention around certain provisions of the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. In order to get the bill through, we had to negotiate the language and narrow the bill's reach somewhat. While the final legislation is not as expansive as we had hoped, its passage is nevertheless an important step toward greater accountability for human rights abuses! What's more, AB 15 will set a shining example for what can be achieved across the country as we continue to push these reforms in other states.

The final bill text can be found here. Below, I have highlighted both the major victories AB 15 embodies, as well as some of the drawbacks of the Senate Judiciary Committee's amendments.

Victories:
California will be the first to offer survivors of human rights abuses an extended period to file their claims. Under AB 15, survivors will have 10 years to file, as opposed to the 1-3 years permitted nationally.
AB 15 includes a definition of crimes against humanity, making California the first state to codify this offense. Puerto Rico is the only jurisdiction that has previously codified crimes against humanity; even federal law has no such definition.
Torture, genocide, and crimes against humanity claims brought under this provision will be exempt from the state's borrowing statute (CCP 361) if all or part of the harm occurred in California. Defendants frequently assert the borrowing statute to block plaintiffs' claims in these cases.
Prevailing plaintiffs asserting torture, genocide, crimes against humanity, or trafficking claims will be awarded attorneys' fees and costs, regardless of where their harm occurred.