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Appeals Court, Reversing Itself, Holds 2 Salvadoran Generals Liable in Torture Case

A federal appeals court has reversed its own ruling and upheld a $54.6 million jury verdict against two retired generals from El Salvador who were held responsible in a 2002 trial for the torture of three Salvadorans during the country's civil war in the 1980's.

The opinion, issued Wednesday by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, was a surprising turn in decade-long efforts by American human rights groups to punish abuses that occurred during the conflict between the United States-backed security forces and leftist guerrillas in El Salvador.

Read entire article at NYT