The power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment
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Defend ATCA

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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Features
2008-12-03 23:41:06
Joseph Stiglitz Speaks Out in Defense of the Alien Tort Claims Act

At the recent 101st Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel Prize winning economist and former Vice President of the World Bank) delivered the keynote lecture on the topic of multinational corporations and their abuse of limited liability. Stiglitz said the power of multinationals is enormous and "they use that power to get special treatment; they try sometimes to make sure that environmental and health regulations are not enforced." He went on to call for the creation of an International Court of Commercial Claims and the extension of the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA.) “The current system is unfair to developing countries in the short run, but it is worse in the long run – because it undermines the rule of law. Click here to view a PowerPoint of his presentation.

| Read about ERI's efforts to Defend ATCA |

Faces Behind the Cases

ATCA stands for the Alien Tort Claims Act, a 1789 law that allows citizens of other countries to sue in US courts for human rights violations that take place overseas.

Some of the first ATCA human rights claims were brought against foreign government officials including Ferdinand Marcos, the former dictator of the Philippines, and Radovan Karadzic, the former leader of the Bosnian-Serb Republic. More recently, victims have used ATCA to file suit against corporations that have been involved in egregious abuses of human rights.

Senator Feinstein Puts Breaks on Anti-ATCA Bill S. 1874

Citing the concerns of human rights advocates, Senator Dianne Feinstein sent the following letter to Senator Arlen Spector, Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.