By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 26 – Jose Amilcar Choto Pleitez has sued El Salvador and a slew of military figures, for torture, extrajudicial killings and other crimes against humanity.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where it was found in the docket by Inner City Press which covers the SDNY, in exile from the UN which is increasingly inactive on such crimes.
Jose Amilcar Choto Pleitez now lives in Tennessee. He states that his son was abducted by the El Salvador Armed Forces and presumed tortured and killed on February 18, 2014.
Also named in the complaint are former Minister of Defense General Deavid Munguia Payes, Sergeant Santo Manuel Coreto Ramirez of the Sixth Military Detachment and five soldiers.
The case was assigned to District Judge Paul G. Gardephe; a May 20 initial conference was scheduled.
The plaintiffs on May 12 wrote seeking to postpone the conference, and filed an amended complaint.
On October 19 they wrote again, to postpone the October 21 conference, saying they've hired a law firm in El Salvador to effect service, which they say will take two months. On October 20 Judge Gardephe moved the initial pre-trial conference to March 24, 2022.
In August 2022, facing an August 22 deadline to respond, El Salvador hired Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and asked for an extension to September 21. Counsel for the plaintiff opposed it, saying El Salvador neglected the matter and should not be given more time.
Jump cut to 2023 - Judge Gardephe dismissed the governmental defendants as immune, and on August 22 gave the plaintiffs until September 18 to show cause why their claims against the individual defendants should not be dismissed for lack of due diligence in serving the individual defendants.
Jump cut to September 26, 2025 when plaintiffs' counsel filed motion for default judgment.
The case is Choto Pleitez v. Republic of El Salvador, 1:21-cv-1424 (Gardephe).
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