EXPATICA.COM
General Motors and IBM are among the latest in the firing line after a federal court ruled that apartheid victims can sue the corporate giants for aiding the former white South African regime.
11/04/2009
New York — A spate of US court cases is lighting a fire under the feet of powerful corporations doing business in countries that commit human rights abuses, analysts said Thursday.
General Motors and IBM are among the latest in the firing line after a federal court ruled Wednesday that apartheid victims can sue the corporate giants for aiding the former white South African regime.
Next month Royal Dutch/Shell will be in court, defending itself against charges of complicity in horrific government abuses against Nigeria’s Ogoni people, including the 1995 execution of renowned activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.
Other cases include claims from Iraqis against controversial US-based contractors like Blackwater (now known as Xe), accused of aiding and abetting abuses during the conflict in Iraq.
In each instance, victims are taking advantage of a US law known as the Alien Tort Claims Act that requires companies with a substantial presence in the United States to obey US law — everywhere in the world.
Little used to date, the law has put on notice companies operating in the rougher corners of the globe.
“There is a progression,” said Jennie Green at the Center for Constitutional Rights. “It is changing the landscape … It’s adding to the list of legal restrictions that they have to obey.”
In Wednesday’s ruling, Judge Shira Scheindlin said that the South African plaintiffs could pursue claims against Daimler, GM and Ford “for aiding and abetting torture … extrajudicial killing, and apartheid.”
Scheindlin also cleared the way for lawsuits against IBM for “aiding and abetting arbitrary denationalization and apartheid,” and against Rheinmetall — the German parent company of Swiss-based arms manufacturer Oerlikon — for “aiding and abetting extrajudicial killing and apartheid.”
Michael Hausfeld, one of the attorneys representing the apartheid victims, hailed “a major advancement in international law.”
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