Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
| ||||||||||||
Alien Torts Claims Act - International Justice - Global Policy Forum Alien Tort Claims Act
Archived Articles
Back to Current Articles
2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000
Articles
2003
High Court to Consider Arrests Abroad (December 2, 2003)
The US Supreme Court considers whether US law permits the federal government to pursue arrests abroad with or without another country's consent. At the same time, the US administration of President George W. Bush limits the capacity of the Alien Torts Claim Act and opposes the International Criminal Court in order to “protect” its citizens operating abroad. (Washington Post)Unocal Faces Landmark Trial over Slavery (December 1, 2003)
The Unocal oil company faces trial for human rights violations in Myanmar in the early 1990s. Unocal is the first corporation to stand trial in the United States for atrocities committed against humanity abroad. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)Business Targeted for Rights Abuse (September 4, 2003)
Human rights organizations sued one of Burma’s corporate partners, the US oil company Unocal, for having supported human rights abuses by the Burmese military. The Christian Science Monitor points out that a victory in this case could lead towards a greater accountability of corporations.The Court of Last Resort (August 7, 2003)
US Republican Senator Arlen Specter criticizes his party's leader--President George W. Bush--for opposing the Alien Tort Claims Act. In order to win the war on terror, Mr. Specter argues, the US must show it "is serious about human rights." (New York Times)Human Rights Experts Defend Law from Business Attack (July 29, 2003)
Human rights advocates refute a study that exaggerates the costs the ATCA will place on transnational corporations. They argue the ATCA is an important tool for defending human rights, only costly to corporations guilty of grievous rights violations. (Inter Press Service)Wrong on Rights (July 18, 2003)
The US seeks to immunize corporations from the Alien Tort Claims Act, undermining human rights in countries where US companies work. While the private sector has embraced the stance, legal experts note that the Bush Administration's campaign would also protect terrorist groups like Al Qaeda from civil suits. (Yale Global)Rights Groups Overseas Fight US Concerns in US Courts (June 26, 2003)
Human rights groups from around the world are using US courts to hold human rights abusers accountable, spreading justice back to their home countries. So why does the Bush administration want to overturn the law that makes this possible? (New York Times)Unocal to Ask US Court Again to Dismiss Pivotal Human Rights Case (June 16, 2003)
Unocal seeks a limited interpretation of the ATCA that would deny human rights advocates a legal tool to hold the energy giant accountable. (Global Ethics Monitor)Showdown for a Tool in Human Rights Lawsuits (June 15, 2003)
Large corporations want the federal courts to throw out the ATCA. Human rights advocates have used the law to hold them accountable for violations they commit abroad. (New York Times)Attorney-General Attacks Key Law (May 15, 2003)
The Bush Administration has submitted a court brief in favor of Unocal, the energy giant accused of complacency with human rights violations in Myanmar. If the restrictive reading of the ATCA the Administration promotes were adopted it would significantly set back efforts to hold human rights abusers accountable. (Inter Press Service)De-Globalizing Justice (March, 2003)
International business lobbies are quietly launching a campaign to abolish the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows victims abroad to prosecute US based corporations complicit in human rights abuses. Human rights organizations are prepared to defend the Act, arguing that “in a world of transnational business, we need transnational accountability.” (Multinational Monitor)Apartheid Victims Sue Global Corporations (November 13, 2002)
A Washington-based legal firm is filing a lawsuit against twenty banks and multinational corporations for heavily supporting the former South African apartheid government’s crimes against humanity. Several US corporate giants, including IBM, General Motors, Exxon Mobil, J.P Morgan Chase, and Citigroup are implicated in the case. (OneWorld US)French Oil Giant Accused of Myanmar Abuses (November 2, 2002)
TotalFinaElf, the French oil company that operates the Myanmar's pipeline with the US oil company Unocal again stands accused of human rights abuses. Asia Times observes that TotalFinaElf's prosecutors have presented "a sad litany of charges of bribery and abuse ranging from Southeast Asia to Africa."New Standard for Aider and Abettor Liability under the Alien Tort Claims Act (November 2002)
The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held a multinational corporation operating in Burma liable for international human rights violations in Doe I v. Unocal Corp. This paper analyses the legal reasoning behind this groundbreaking precedent. (Morrison and Foerster)US Ruling Says Firms Liable for Abuse Abroad (September 19, 2002)
A US Federal Appeals Court ruled that multinational corporations are accountable under US law for violations of human rights committed by others abroad. The decision, in a case of oil company Unocal’s operations in Burma, is considered as a breakthrough that may create important precedents for similar lawsuits pending against ChevronTexaco and Coca-Cola. (Los Angeles Times)2001 Coke Sued Over Death Squad Claims (July 20, 2001)
Trade union leaders are suing Coca-Cola under the Alien Torts Claim Act for allegedly hiring right-wing death squads to terrorize union workers in a Columbian bottling plant. A Coca-Cola spokesman has responded that the company does "not own or operate the plants." (BBC)US Courts Become Arbiters of Global Rights and Wrongs (June 21, 2001)
This article reviews some of the cases brought by plaintiffs under the Alien Tort Claims Act, and discusses some of obstacles and implications of foreigners bringing civil suit in US courts for events that happened outside US territory. (New York Times)Alien Tort Claims Act Proceeding Against Robert Mugabe (September, 2000)
Zimbabwean citizens have brought a civil action in US courts against their head of state, Robert Mugabe, for orchestrating politically motivated violence against them. US law grants current heads of state immunity from tortuous action though, meaning Mugabe has a good defense. (American Society of International Law)Corporate Liability for Violations of International Human Rights Law (May, 2001)
This article argues that although the Alien Tort Claims Act provides relief to a limited number of victims, a more multilateral approach to addressing corporate violations of international law is needed. (Harvard Law Review)Rich and Rare are the Gems They War (April, 2001)
De Beers may be liable under the Alien Tort Claims Act for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity by funding, through the purchase of diamonds, insurgent groups engaged in conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone. ATCA should be amended to explictly enable suit of multinational corporations. (Fordham Int'l Law Journal)
More Information on International Justice
More Information on Transnational Corporations
