The Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA), which permits victims of international human rights abuses to sue in U.S. courts, is now under attack from organizations representing powerful multinational companies. In recent years, victims have sued multinational corporations for complicity in human rights violations, including torture, extrajudicial killing, forced labor, and genocide. Believing that such companies should be immune from suit, the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) are seeking to repeal or sharply limit the law.

Human rights organizations, religious groups, environment NGOs, and labor unions are defending ATCA as a critical instrument for upholding the basic standards of international law. These cases should be decided on their individual merits, not by repealing a law that was passed in 1789 by the First Congress.

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