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Dripa B

Alien torts: Trial trails | The Economist (07.10.10) - 0 views

www.economist.com/...17199924

USA AlienTortClaimsAct business HumanRights litigation

shared by Dripa B on 09 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • Dripa B on 09 Oct 10
     
    the second circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled on September 17th that corporations could not be held liable under the Alien Tort Claims Act for breaches of international law abroad...But the respite may be short-lived. Courts in other countries, such as the Netherlands and Britain, have recently become more active in punishing firms for misdeeds abroad and human-rights campaigners have taken note. John Ruggie, the special representative for the United Nations secretary-general on business and human rights, will wind up his six-year study with a report next year that could also lead to new restraints on corporations. [refers to Shell, Unocal (part of Chevron), Talisman, Dow Chemical]
Dripa B

Suing over apartheid (17.10.07) | News24 - 0 views

www.news24.com/...0,,2-7-12_2203962,00.html

alien_tort_claims_act apartheid barclays british_petroleum citigroup crimes_against_humanity deutsche_bank exxon_mobil ford fujitsu general_motors ibm jp_morgan_chase khulumani khulumani_support_group rio_tinto shell southafrica ubs § €

shared by Dripa B on 29 Feb 08 - Cached
  • In tossing out the case in 2004, a US District Court judge John E Sprizzo noted that the US Congress had supported and encouraged business investment in South Africa as a way to achieve greater respect for human rights and a reduction in poverty.
  • The US government has said the litigation would cause "significant tension between the United States and South Africa". Citi is considering its legal alternatives in the case, said Donna Oosthuyse, the global banking giant's chief operating officer in South Africa. She said the company had contributed more than R25m since 1999 in programmes focused on education, literacy and community development for historically disadvantaged South Africans. She said the projects were not reparations, but part of a business model that Citi practices everywhere.
  • Denise van Huyssteen, a spokesperson for another of the companies in the suit, General Motors South Africa, said the company early on adopted the 1977 Sullivan Principles which encouraged more than 100 foreign companies to leave South Africa, a move that helped end apartheid. The company's website says that in 1987 "growing internal pressure in the US on GM to leave South Africa finally forced the company to pull out".
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Companies should be punished for their unethical behaviour, said Jody Kollapen, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission. "I think it is clear that the principle of holding both state and non-state actors accountable for human rights violations has become part of international law," he said. Lawrence Schlemmer of the Institute for Race Relations said he was "very cynical" about it. "How far back do we go in history?" he asked. Would there be an Aborigine reparations trial in the United States, and one because northern Indians of Persian extraction mistreated southern Indians? And what about the way the British treated the Irish?
  • He did not think the case would hurt South Africa's economy but said there was a "bigger risk" for the rest of the continent. "There are many governments which may yet blot their copy book ... and if one wants to get investment flowing into these countries people will say 'hang on. What if this chap does something alarming and there's a reparations trial and I as an American investor am held responsible?'" That's as it should be, said Stephen Gelb, director of the Edge Institute for economic research. He said: "I think if there are more cases like this then it will become a consideration, in effect a future contingency that they would have to take into account."
Dripa B

Victims claiming reparations from 23 foreign corporations charged with aiding and abett... - 0 views

www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx

alien_tort_claims_act anglo_american_mining apartheid barclays british_petrol citigroup crimes_against_humanity deutsche_bank dresdner_bank exxon ford fujitsu general_motors ibm jp_morgan_chase khulumani southafrica ubs § €

shared by Dripa B on 29 Feb 08 - Cached
  • "The story of economic development of this country [South Africa] is intimately bound up with foreign capital, technology and expertise," read the appellant's papers, quoting former South African finance minister Owen Horwood.
  • "We have obtained some of the top business leaders in South Africa to serve on the Defence Advisory Board in order to advise me from the inside, not only about the armaments industry, but also about the best methods to be applied within the Defence Force," Botha is quoted as having told Parliament's House of Assembly.
  • The lawsuit was based on common law principles of liability and on the Alien Tort Claims Act, which grants US courts jurisdiction over certain violations of international law, regardless of where they occur.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • adjudication would offend the sovereignty of the Republic of South Africa
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