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April 18, 2013

Supreme Court Rejects Human Rights Cases Against Foreign Corporations 
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The Supreme Court has ruled foreign multinationals cannot be sued in
U.S. courts for human rights abuses committed abroad. The landmark case
centered on a lawsuit that accuses the oil giant Shell’s parent
company, Royal Dutch Petroleum, of complicity in the murder and torture
of Nigerian activists two decades ago. In 1995, nine Nigerian activists,
including Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed by the Nigerian military
government for protesting Shell’s exploration and development in the
Niger Delta. The families of the Nigerians killed were seeking to hold
Shell liable under a 1789 U.S. law called the Alien Tort Statute. In a
unanimous decision, justices ruled Wednesday that a New York federal
court does not have jurisdiction to hear the case. The ruling will
effectively keep lawsuits against foreign corporations for human rights
abuses out of federal courts, although analysts say legal mechanisms may
still exist for such suits to be brought in state courts. In a
statement, the Center for Justice and Accountability said: "Today’s
opinion was a missed opportunity to send a crystal clear message: the
world’s torturers and war criminals are not above the law — and
neither are their accomplices."

 

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