Center of Legal and Social Studies

The Center of Legal and Social Studies (CELS) “is a non-governmental organization founded in 1979 to foster and protect human rights and to strengthen the democratic system and the state of law in Argentina.”

It is part of Memoria Abierta, a "coordinated action of human rights organizations, works to raise social awareness and knowledge about state terrorism in order to enrich democratic culture." 

CELS received their first grant from the NED in 2003 to “improve the capacity of human rights organizations in the interior of Argentina”, and NED support for this and related work continued in both 2004 and 2005.

Source
 * Horacio Verbitsky - President
 * Laura Jordán de Conte - Vice-President
 * Patricia Valdez - Secretary
 * Carmen A. Lapaco - Treasurer
 * Carlos Acuna
 * Eduardo Basualdo
 * Fanny Bendersky
 * David Blaustein
 * Lilia Ferreyra
 * Matilde Mellibovsky
 * Angélica Sosa de Mignone
 * Victorio Paulon
 * Sofía Tiscornia

Funding
Receives funding from the Ford Foundation. 

Staff
Source
 * Executive Director – Gaston Chillier
 * Facundo Capurro Robles, asistente
 * Deputy Director – Andrea Pochak

Founding Members
Source
 * Emilio F. Mignone - Honorary President
 * Augusto Conte
 * Alfredo Galleti
 * Carmen A. Lapaco
 * Boris Pasik
 * Angelica Sosa de Mignone
 * José F. Westerkamp

International Advisory Council (Up to December 2001)
Source
 * Alejandro Artucio
 * Antonio Cancade Trindade
 * Alejandro Garro
 * Cecilia Medina
 * Guillermo O'Donnell
 * Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
 * Michael Shifter
 * Theo Van Boven
 * José Miguel Vivanco
 * Lorne Waldman
 * Coletta Youngers

National Advisory Council (Up to December 2001)
Source
 * Susana Albanese
 * Germán Bidart Campos
 * Alberto Binder
 * Gilou R. García Reinoso
 * Eduardo Grunner
 * Gerardo Mazur
 * Cristina Rivada
 * Hilda Sabato
 * Elías Salazar
 * Leopoldo Schiffrin
 * Juan Sosa
 * Fernando Ulloa
 * Luis Yanes
 * Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni

More

 * Victor E. Abramovich "is executive director of the Center of Legal and Social Studies (CELS), the premier nongovernmental organization (NGO) for human rights in Argentina."
 * Guillermo Jorge "has also been pro-bono advisor of Poder Ciudadano (the Argentine Chapter of Transparency International) and the Center of Legal and Social Studies, a Human Rights NGO, and a visiting scholar at Stanford University."
 * Emilio Mignone, "a lawyer and university professor, founded the Center of Legal and Social Studies"

According to the US Department of State: "Some of the best-known human rights organizations include the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, the Center of Legal and Social Studies, the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights, Service for Peace and Justice, and New Rights of Man." 

Other
"Elaborated by the Center of Legal and Social Studies (CESL), with the support of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), and non-government organizations engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights." 

Contact

 * Web: http://www.cels.org.ar

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Leonardo Filippini
 * Jeremy Robbins