Don’t like a law that gives people the right to sue their abusers for human rights violations? Well, then just change it. This is the view of the Bush administration, which is seeking to reverse 23 years of well-established legal precedent allowing foreign victims to sue human rights abusers in US courts.

For over two decades, the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) has offered a remedy for victims of serious human rights abuses in US courts, many of whom would have no other recourse anywhere else in the world. During this entire 23-year period, successive US administrations have been either fully supportive or studiedly impartial on the use of ATCA for human rights cases. In an outrageous reversal, the Bush administration has launched an all-out offensive on this important human rights tool.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ), seeking to shield human rights abusers, especially corporations and “friendly” foreign officials, from liability for their brutal acts, claims that ATCA has far exceeded its originally-intended reach. In a recent legal brief submitted to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Unocal case, the DOJ argues that ATCA should not be used as a vehicle for human rights suits brought by foreigners because “often [the disputes have] no connection whatsoever with the United States.” This argument is clearly a poor pretext for a different agenda—limiting the liability of abusers. A US court can’t hear a case unless it has personal jurisdiction over a defendant, meaning the defendant has to have a connection to the US in the first place. Besides, does the US government’s oratory about peace, democracy, and human rights for all peoples stop short of our own courts?

The DOJ also argues that ATCA threatens the “war on terrorism”, in that our allies may become subject to suit, thereby thwarting US foreign policy objectives. This argument is a cynical and pusillanimous cover for one of their real concerns: that the US itself will be subject to suit for human rights violations. Human rights abuses are brutal and deadly, as is terrorism; shouldn’t the US government be concerned about eliminating both?

EarthRights International and many other groups abhor the US government’s efforts to wipe out 23 years of legal precedent and eviscerate this critical tool to eradicate human rights abuses. We call upon the Administration to demonstrate its stated commitment to human rights and democracy by continuing to allow victims a forum for seeking justice. After all, it’s not ATCA that abuses victims; it’s the abusers. The Administration should focus its efforts on eliminating them, not the law that seeks to hold them in check.