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International Human Rights & Capital Litigation

PII is nationally recognized for its work on international human rights, human trafficking, capital litigation, and sentencing mitigation.  Whether called on to investigate torture at Abu Ghraib prison, the abduction of a human rights worker by Guatemalan police, enslaved workers or a wrongful murder conviction, PII brings integrity, keen analysis, and the ability to adapt to diverse cultures, languages, and political situations.

Cases involving potential violations of human rights elicit strong emotions and difficult questions.  Victims of human trafficking, domestic enslavement, or wrongful conviction often are left without any resources–even when the people and organizations committing the crimes are criminally prosecuted—and need legal help to achieve financial recoveries.

International Human Rights

Human rights litigation presents investigators with rigorous challenges, often involving dangerous, emotional, and tragic circumstances. Investigators find themselves working across international borders, languages, and cultures to collect evidence that attorneys can use in a courtroom.

PII has worked on some of the most groundbreaking litigation in the field of international human rights.

Case in Point

Principal investigator for attorneys in litigation filed on behalf of Iraqis tortured at the Abu Ghraib prison. Saleh v. CACI, et al. was filed against two American defense contractors that helped operate the prison: CACI, which provided interrogators, and Titan, which provided translators. The legal team included attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). This historic litigation resulted in financial settlements for some of those injured at the prison. Read more here.

Case in Point

Investigated allegations against Blackwater for the shootings of civilians in Iraq. In September 2007, Blackwater guards in a tactical support team called “Raven 23” killed 17 Iraqis and injured another 20 in a shooting at Nisour Square in Baghdad. PII assisted plaintiff’s attorneys representing the victims in litigation seeking damages for the shootings, traveling to the Middle East to interview witnesses and survivors of the shootings. Four Blackwater contractors eventually were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for the killings.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking matters are both international and national issues. PII has assisted attorneys representing victims of human trafficking, both in litigation against traffickers and against U.S. companies that benefited from trafficked labor, since 1995.

Case in Point

Located and interviewed critical witnesses in the infamous Thai slavery case in El Monte, California involving 72 Thai nationals who were enslaved in an apartment complex surrounded by barbwire and armed guards and forced to sew clothes for 20 hours a day. Though a law enforcement raid freed the victims, they were left without resources or documentation and faced the threat that they and/or their family members living outside the U.S. would suffer retaliation by criminal recruiters beyond the reach of U.S. law. PII assisted attorneys with a civil case on behalf of the Thai nationals by combing the apartment complex for evidence and records that were instrumental in obtaining a settlement from Montgomery Ward, Mervyn’s, Bum International, Miller’s Outpost, and other retail outlets who sold goods manufactured at the El Monte sweatshop.

Case in Point

An attorney for Sony Pictures and his wife held a Filipino woman, Nena Ruiz, as a slave in their home for nine years before she ran away. The couple had confiscated Ruiz’s passport, forced her to work 18 hours a day, abused her physically, and forced her to sleep in a dog’s bed. PII assisted Ruiz’s legal counsel by collecting evidence for the lawsuit, resulting in an $825,000 award for the victim. The attorney and his wife were convicted on criminal charges in federal court. Read LA Times article here.

Capital Litigation / Mitigation Specialist

PII has assisted defense counsel as guilt/innocence phase investigators and mitigation specialists in more than 40 capital murder cases in California, Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico, Ohio, Washington, Utah, New Mexico, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and New York at the trial and appellate levels. PII also has investigated wrongful convictions and, after an individual’s release, worked with civil counsel seeking damages.

Case in Point

In May 2026, Steven James was granted parole by the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency after 45 years in prison, including on Arizona’s death row. PII’s mitigation specialist, Nora Rohman, assisted counsel for James with his state and federal habeas filings and then preparing for a resentencing trial. In advance of the trial, counsel reached a parole-eligible plea deal. Ater two parole hearings, the Board granted his parole and James is scheduled to be released from custody. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled, “We conclude that counsel’s complete failure to investigate and present mitigating evidence of James’ troubled childhood, his mental illness, and his history of chronic drug abuse constituted deficient performance.”

Case in Point

On July 23, 2015, a Seattle jury voted unanimously to spare the life of Christopher Monfort, who had been convicted of killing a Seattle police officer, marking the close of more than five years of investigative work by PII. Soon after Monfort’s arrest, PII’s president, Keith Rohman, joined his legal defense team as the mitigation specialist, painstakingly chronicling Monfort’s life story.  Following the verdict, jurors told the defense team they had carefully reviewed the social history Rohman prepared, and that it played a key role in their decision. Read Seattle Times story here.

Case in Point

In August 2010, nearly a decade of work by a team of PII investigators was rewarded when Cochise County (Arizona) Superior Court Judge Wallace R. Hoggatt vacated the death sentence of defendant Kyle Sharp, who was sentenced in 1997 for the murder of Judith Coughlin. Judge Hoggatt cited PII’s work as “instrumental in identifying and locating the witnesses… who testified concerning the horrific abuse… inflicted upon Kyle Sharp over the course of many years when he was a child.” Read Story Here.