Justice Department Seeks To Reverse Two
Decades of Progress Under Important US Human Rights Law
Brief in Unocal Case Seeks To Limit Scope of Law, Protect
Abusers
NEW YORK - The Justice Department is urging the 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals to reinterpret U.S. law so that those who commit
human rights abuses abroad could no longer be held accountable
for their actions in U.S. civil courts, the Lawyers Committee
warned today.
In a case that could have far reaching impact on the ability of
human rights victims to bring their abusers to court, the 9th
Circuit is currently considering a suit which pits Unocal, a multi-national
oil company, against a group of villagers from Burma. According
to briefs filed in the suit [John Doe I, et al. v Unocal et al.],
the villagers allege that they suffered serious human rights violations
- including forced labor - during the construction
of a gas pipeline.
Under a law called the Alien Tort Claims Act [ATCA], a suit has
been filed against Unocal seeking damages in the villagers’
names. But on May 8, the Justice Department filed an amicus curiae
[friend of the court] brief in the case, asking the 9th Circuit,
which has upheld the use of the statute in human rights cases
before, not only to dismiss the claims against Unocal, but also
to “reconsider its approach” to the Alien Tort Claims
Act.
“The Justice Department’s brief goes much further
than simply discussing the details of the case particular to Unocal
and Burma,” said Mike Posner, the Executive Director of
the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. “The brief urges
the court to run a stake through the heart of a law which has
proven to be a valuable tool in pursuing justice for human rights
abuses.”
ATCA cases are currently pending against three other oil companies
who are being sued for alleged abuses which took place during
oil exploration and extraction activities.
- Exxon is currently being sued on behalf
of 11 Indonesian villagers who allegedly were murdered and
tortured during the construction of a pipeline in Aceh province.
- Talisman Energy is being sued for its
alleged complicity in the torture, slavery and other persecution
of Christians living in a southern Sudan region identified
for oil exploration; and
- Shell/Royal Dutch Petroleum is being
sued for its alleged involvement in widespread human rights
abuses that took place in the oil-rich Ogoni region of southern
Nigeria.
Courts first ruled that ATCA was an appropriate tool to use
to pursue human rights cases in 1980 in the case of Joel Filartiga,
a 17-year-old from Paraguayan boy, who was kidnapped and tortured
to death by a Paraguayan police official. The official, who
subsequently came to the U.S., was sued under ATCA by Filartiga’s
father and sister.
Since then, ATCA has been used to pursue cases against defendants
including:
- Radovan Karadic, the Bosnian Serb leader
allegedly responsible for genocide, torture and mass executions;
- Swiss Banks for their role in seizing
the assets of Jews during the Holocaust. The suits led to
a U.S. government-negotiated settlement to pay Holocaust survivors
approximately $1.25 billion;
- A Chilean military officer who was accused
of torture and other human rights violations conducted by
“traveling death squads” which operated after
the coup against the Allende government in 1973. In 2002 a
federal court in Florida denied a motion by the former Chilean
military officer to have his case dismissed and in so doing
upheld the principles of liability for human rights abuses
under ATCA. A jury trial is expected to begin in the case
in the Fall of 2003.
“The Justice Department is hoping to undo 20 years of
legal precedent,” added Posner. “But we are hopeful
that the Court will see through its smoke and mirror arguments
and see that the world is a safer, fairer place because of the
human rights applications of ATCA.”
LCHR is not a party to the Unocal suit, nor does it take a position
on the merits of this or other specific cases. But LCHR strongly
believes human rights victims should be able to use ATCA to
seek recourse.
Read a background
paper prepared by LCHR on ATCA.
Read the Justice
Department’s amicus brief
LCHR
Signs Brief Supporting ATCA
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