9th Circuit: Corporations Can Be Sued For Human Rights Violations Abroad

[Tx4obama]

WASHINGTON -- Corporations can be held liable in U.S. courts for human rights violations committed abroad, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled on Wednesday. The 9th Circuit reached the same conclusion as two other appeals courts, the 7th and D.C. Circuits, which further isolates the 2nd Circuit's contrary determination, slated for Supreme Court review this term.

The case, Sarei v. Rio Tinto, arises out of a lawsuit brought in 2000 alleging that Rio Tinto, a multinational mining company, is responsible for the deaths of about 15,000 residents on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. In 1988, Bougainville residents revolted against Rio Tinto, sabotaging its mine and citing the company's displacement of villages, major pollution and systematic discrimination against native workers. At Rio Tinto's urging, the Papua New Guinea government sent in its military and, with the use of Rio Tinto helicopters and vehicles, killed many people in an effort to put down the revolt. Soon thereafter, Papua New Guinea imposed a military blockade on Bougainville to secure the mine, and the country fell into a decade-long civil war.

Wednesday's ruling by an 11-judge panel found that corporations can be sued for genocide and war crimes under the Alien Tort Statute. That law, passed by the first Congress in 1789, allows foreign plaintiffs to bring suit in federal courts for violations of "the law of nations."

SNIP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/9th-circuit-corporations-sued-human-rights-violations-abroad_n_1031516.html

[babylonsister]

1. There must be quite a list! nt

[markpkessinger]

2. Prediction: In Another 5-4 Split, the SC will uphold the 2d Circuit n/t