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International Campaign against Impunity: A campaign committed to assisting the prosecution of high ranking public officials and companies accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and torture

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Occidental Sued in Human Rights Case - The oil firm, accused of aiding a deadly military assault in Colombia, joins list of U.S. firms charged in overseas incidents. - The list of corporations sued in American courts for their alleged involvement in human rights violations in foreign countries grew longer Thursday, when Occidental Petroleum Corp. was accused of aiding a deadly military assault on a Colombian village. (Lisa Girion, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2003)

Human rights groups sue Occidental over 1998 Colombia bombing - International human rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Occidental Petroleum and one of its security contractors over a 1998 bombing that killed 17 civilians in a Colombian village...The lawsuit names Los Angeles-based Occidental and Rockledge, Fla.-based Airscan Inc., an aviation security firm, as defendants and accuses the companies of aiding the raid with the Colombian military. (Paul Chavez, Associated Press, 24 Apr. 2003)

Human rights, salary at issue for Coca-Cola - Coca-Cola should...use its influence in Colombia to encourage greater protections of human rights. These were just a few of the more controversial proposals members of the Atlanta company's board of directors fielded from some of the 400 shareholders gathered here Wednesday for Coke's annual meeting...Perhaps the most controversial proposal concerned allegations that the company's plant managers used paramilitary groups to intimidate and kill eight union organizers at a bottling plant in Barrancabermeja, Colombia...Coke denies that it is in any way responsible...Richard Shaw of the AFL-CIO implored the company to take a more active role in helping protect the union organizers. Deval Partrick, Coke's general counsel, said the company has gone as far as providing security for Colombian individuals being threatened. (David Kaplan, Houston Chronicle, 17 Apr. 2003)

US firm faces $1bn claim for complicity [South Africa] - Fluor, the biggest US publicly traded engineering and construction company, faces a $1 billion claim by black former workers who allege they were discriminated against under apartheid. Anglo American, the world's second-biggest mining company, and diamond producer De Beers also face a lawsuit by former employees who say they were enslaved, beaten and tortured under apartheid. Lawyer Ed Fagan said a lawsuit would be filed today in California federal courts. The suit will argue that Fluor paid blacks less than whites and that the company helped repress workers during a 1987 strike in which two were killed. (Jonathan Rosenthal and Antony Sguazzin, Business Report [South Africa], 7 Apr. 2003)

Coke bottler faces death suit - A US court has ruled that Coca-Cola's main Latin American bottler can stand trial for allegedly hiring right-wing paramilitaries to kill and intimidate union leaders in Colombia...Panamerican Beverages (Panamco), Coca-Cola's main bottler in Latin America of which it owns about 25%, and Colombian bottler Bebidas y Alimentos now face a trial. But District Judge Jose E Martinez in Miami excluded the Atlanta-based drinks giant Coca-Cola and its Colombian unit because its bottling agreement did not give it "explicit control" over labour issues in Colombia. (Stefan Armbruster, BBC News, 2 Apr. 2003)

Keller Rohrback Announces International Law Suit Filed on Behalf of Apartheid Victims--Makhetha, et al. v. Credit Commercial De France, et al. - The law firm of Keller Rohrback, L.L.P. and other firms in the United States, filed a complaint that seeks to hold French and Swiss banks and other financial institutions responsible for allegedly aiding and abetting the apartheid regime in South Africa...The suit alleges that these banks provided the funding that enabled South Africa to expand its police and security apparatus. (Keller Rohrback L.L.P., 30 Mar. 2003)

Suit Alleging Firm Aided Genocide Proceeds - A Southern District of New York federal judge has refused to dismiss claims that a Canadian oil company abetted genocide by the government of Sudan against its own people. Talisman Energy Inc. had asked Judge Allen G. Schwartz to dismiss the case brought by plaintiffs who said the company was complicit in a campaign of kidnapping, rape, murder and land confiscation conducted by the government against non-Muslim residents who lived within a 50-mile radius of oil fields and transport systems. (Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal, in New York Lawyer, 20 Mar. 2003)

Rights case against Talisman allowed to proceed - A federal [U.S.] judge Wednesday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Talisman Energy Inc., one of Canada's biggest oil companies, alleging it participated in human rights abuses against non-Muslim residents of southern Sudan. (Reuters, 19 Mar. 2003)

NAMIBIA: Herero claims could go to court in US in March or April - The Hereros accuse Germany and two companies [Deutsche Bank and Woermann Line (now known as SAFmarine)] of forming a "brutal alliance" to exterminate over 65 000 Hereros between 1904 and 1907. (Southern Africa Documentation and Cooperation Centre, 22 Jan. 2003)

Shell faces litigation - Fourteen individual plaintiffs filed a class action suit [in a U.S. court] against Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport, plc, on September 20 for alleged human rights abuses in Ogoniland, Nigeria...the complaint alleges that Shell knowingly instigated, planned and facilitated in unprovoked attacks by the former Nigerian military government against the unarmed residents of Ogoniland, resulting in murder and gross human rights abuses. (Tomorrow: Your sustainable business toolkit, 26 Sep. 2002)

Recent court decision could further isolate Burma -...On September 18, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the California-based oil giant UNOCAL could be sued for egregious abuses of Burmese villagers committed by government soldiers in charge of security for a pipeline construction project. (Robert Lebowitz, Digital Freedom Network, 26 Sep. 2002)

Court Tells Unocal to Face Rights Charges - An appellate court said today that the Unocal Corporation must face a trial in the United States over claims of human-rights abuses involving villagers in Myanmar who worked on the company's $1.2 billion pipeline there. (Bloomberg News, in New York Times, 18 Sep. 2002)

Colombia's War on Unions: The Coca-Cola Killings - The Coca-Cola killings in Colombia continue. Last week union activist Adolfo de Jesus Munera was murdered shortly after he received notice that a law suit filed by him against Coca-Cola was accepted by Colombia's Constitutional Court. (Maria Engqvist, CounterPunch, 6 Sep. 2002)

'Angolans should sue multinationals and banks' - Angolans must institute legal action against a host of western multinational companies and banking institutions which enabled that country's government to commit crimes of humanity against its people, a Namibian rights group said on Tuesday. (Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 3 Sep. 2002)

Powell's Awkward Position [USA/Aceh-Indonesia] -...A State Department ruling this month sent a shudder through the human rights community. Legal counsel William H. Taft IV asked U.S. District Judge Louis Oberdorfer to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Exxon Mobil of terrorizing Indonesian villagers who somehow thwart the world's biggest oil company. The suit, brought by the International Labor Rights Fund, cited murder, torture and rape. (Mary McGrory, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2002)

Letter to Secretary Powell [U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell] Regarding Aceh Lawsuit [Indonesia] - We are writing to express our extreme concern with the July 29th opinion issued by the Office of the Legal Advisor of the US Department of State to the Honorable Louis F. Oberdorfer, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in response to his request for the Department’s views in connection with the case Doe et.al. v. ExxonMobil...We view such a response from the State Department as an act that clearly subordinates human rights concerns to commercial interests. (letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell from 13 public interest groups, 26 Aug. 2002)

Woman sacked for revealing UN links with sex trade: How a [UK] tribunal vindicated an investigator who blew whistle on workers in Bosnia -...After a two-year battle, an employment tribunal ruled yesterday that Ms Bolkovac was unfairly dismissed by DynCorp, an American company (Daniel McGrory, Times [UK], 7 Aug. 2002)

Families file $100 trillion suit against Sudan, Saudis, claiming they financed Sept. 11 attack - The suit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., on behalf of some 600 families. It seeks "an amount in excess of $100 trillion" and charges the defendants with racketeering, wrongful death, negligence and conspiracy...The complaint names more than seven dozen defendants, including the government of Sudan, seven banks, eight Islamic foundations and three Saudi princes. Those listed include... Khalid bin Salim bin Mahfouz of the National Commercial Bank and the Faisal Islamic Bank. (Laurie Kellman, Associated Press, 16 Aug. 2002)

U.S. Government Tries to Kill Human-Rights Case against ExxonMobil - Government says case over Indonesian abuses could endanger U.S. business and anti-terrorism interests (Ethics Newsline, Institute for Global Ethics, 12 Aug. 2002)

Groups Shocked as Officials Urge Judge to Back ExxonMobil - News that the [U.S.] State Department urged a federal court judge to dismiss the case after he asked about claims by ExxonMobil's lawyers that the lawsuit could compromise U.S. interests, particularly the 'war on terrorism', has shocked the human rights community. (Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, 8 Aug. 2002)

ExxonMobil welcomes US backing on Aceh human rights lawsuit - Exxon Mobil Corp rejected suggestions that the US government had acted inappropriately in urging the dismissal of a lawsuit against the oil company over its operations in Indonesia. (AFX News, 8 Aug. 2002)

Text of the Lawsuit Against ExxonMobil: I [part 1 of 2] [lawsuit in U.S. court concerning the company's alleged conduct in Aceh]: The complete text of the disputed lawsuit against ExxonMobil for its alleged complicity in human rights abuses in Aceh province (Laksamana.Net [Indonesia], 8 Aug. 2002)

U.S. Backs Oil Giant on Lawsuit in Indonesia - The State Department is urging a United States court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a human rights group against Exxon Mobil over its operations in a war-torn province of Indonesia. In response to a request by the corporation for an opinion, the department declared that pursuit of the case would harm Washington's campaign against terrorism. (Jane Perlez, New York Times, 8 Aug. 2002)

U.S./Indonesia: Bush Backtracks on Corporate Responsibility - The U.S. State Department has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit against the Exxon Mobil Corporation for its alleged complicity in human rights violations in Indonesia, raising questions about the Bush administration's commitment to corporate responsibility, Human Rights Watch said today..."It is the height of hypocrisy for the State Department to publicly promote human rights principles for the oil and gas industry and then tell a judge that scrutiny of an oil company's human rights record runs counter to foreign policy," said Roth [Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch] (Human Rights Watch, 7 Aug. 2002)

State Department Adopts “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” Stance in Case that Pits Indonesian Villagers Against Exxon Mobil - The U.S. Department of State has warned a U.S. District Court that opening proceedings in the lawsuit Doe vs. Exxon Mobil Corporation could harm the Indonesian economy and U.S. interests...The Lawyers Committee deplores the position of the State Department...While concerns about Indonesia’s economy and U.S. investment there are understandable, LCHR rejects the implication that this investment can come at the cost of human rights protection. Companies should not be immune from prosecution for human rights violations in their operations at home or abroad (Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, 2 Aug. 2002)

Exxon Under Fire in Indonesia -...Exxon Mobil is also the object of a lawsuit filed on behalf of villagers who accuse the company of turning a blind eye to brutality by Indonesian soldiers, who have a long history of human rights abuses and have been paid to ensure the plant's security. The company denies the charges. But the suit and Exxon Mobil's travails in Indonesia encapsulate the problems faced by big companies that do business under the protection of ill-trained foreign armies, in places where the United States has strategic interests. (Jane Perlez, Moscow Times, 16 July 2002)

Corporate Human Rights -...For several years, a small group of lawyers and labor advocates has been trying to hold transnational companies responsible for their actions by suing them in the United States for abetting and/or benefiting from human rights abuses overseas. Finally, these corporation-chasers are beginning to see signs of possible success. [refers to lawsuits against Unocal, Shell, Texaco, Rio Tinto, Coca-Cola, Del Monte, DynCorp, Drummond Company, ExxonMobil] (David Corn, The Nation, 15 July 2002)

Indonesia's Guerrilla War Puts Exxon Under Siege -...Exxon Mobil is also the object of a lawsuit filed on behalf of villagers who accuse the company of turning a blind eye to brutality by Indonesian soldiers, who have a long history of human rights abuses and have been paid to provide the plant's security. (Jane Perlez, New York Times, 14 July 2002)

A Long Way to Find Justice: What Are Burmese Villagers Doing in a California Court? -...American judges have embraced the opportunity to hold multinational corporations responsible for perceived abuses that result from international trade and investment [includes reference to cases against Unocal, Gap Inc., J.C. Penney, Levi Strauss, the Limited]...Companies need to scrutinize the practices of their business partners -- how they treat workers and the environment, how they interact with local military and political authorities -- to determine whether they violate international standards or offend the conscience of U.S. courts. (Elliot Schrage, former Senior Vice President of Global Affairs at Gap Inc., in Washington Post, 14 July 2002)

Investment and Human Rights: The Era of Responsibility - As an American oil company [Unocal] heads to court [in USA] for alleged human-rights abuses in Burma, a new era of foreign investment begins in which firms must carefully consider the behaviour of their partners [also refers to lawsuits against Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil] (Murray Hiebert, Far Eastern Economic Review, 11 July 2002)

Corporate Human Rights -...For several years, a small group of lawyers and labor advocates has been trying to hold transnational companies responsible for their actions by suing them in the United States for abetting and/or benefiting from human rights abuses overseas. [refers to lawsuits against Unocal, Shell, Texaco, Rio Tinto, Coca-Cola, Del Monte, DynCorp, Drummond Company, ExxonMobil] (David Corn, The Nation, 27 June 2002)

Bad business in Burma - In a boon for human rights and corporate responsibility, a Superior Court judge in California last week refused to dismiss a suit charging that the energy company Unocal is liable for human rights abuses perpetrated by the military junta in Burma while the regime was under contract to provide security for Unocal and its partners in a natural gas pipeline project. (editorial, Boston Globe, 16 June 2002)

ExxonMobil-Sponsored Terrorism? Why are villagers in the Aceh province of Indonesia--or their lawyers--worrying about contributions from Exxon Mobil to George W. Bush and the Republicans? - A year ago, the Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund filed a lawsuit against the energy behemoth, claiming the Mobil half of the conglomerate in the 1990s paid and supported Indonesian military troops that committed human rights abuses in the war-torn province. (David Corn, The Nation, 14 June 2002)

Unocal Faces Trial For Rights Abuses -...Yesterday in California, a judge asserted international jurisdiction in a way that some U.S. companies may not be so happy about. A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles ordered Unocal to stand trial for human rights abuses allegedly committed in association with a pipeline project in Myanmar. Judge Victoria Chaney denied a Unocal motion for summary judgment (Dan Ackman, Forbes, 12 June 2002)

Coke, Colombia bottler fight lawsuit [USA] - Attorneys for Coca-Cola and its bottlers in Colombia argued Thursday that a federal judge in Miami should dismiss a $500 million lawsuit claiming the companies were indirectly responsible for anti-union violence in the war-torn nation. (Scott Leith, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 7 June 2002)

ExxonMobil Fights Indonesia Rights Suit - ExxonMobil Corp is trying to persuade a [U.S.] federal court to dismiss a year-old lawsuit against it that alleges complicity in atrocities in Indonesia, court documents showed. (Agence France Presse, 30 May 2002)

Ecuador Border Tainted by U.S.-Made Coca Killer - Collateral Damage from Colombia's Drug War -...In an attempt to kill coca leaf -- the raw material for cocaine -- Colombian planes are using a U.S.-manufactured herbicide near the border with Ecuador...But residents of San Francisco 2 want the spraying stopped. In February, they filed a class action lawsuit for unspecified damages in Washington against the Dyn Corp., a Virginia firm responsible for the spraying. (Reese Ehrlich, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 May 2002)

TotalFinaElf faces lawsuit by Myanmar refugees over govt human rights abuses - Four refugees from Myanmar are seeking to take legal action in Belgium against TotalFinaElf for alleged complicity with Myanmar's military regime, human rights advocates said (AFX News, 8 May 2002)

Drummond says assassination suit effort to destroy Colombian jobs: Drummond Co., accused in a [U.S.] federal lawsuit of encouraging the assassination of three union leaders in Colombia, said the accusations are part of an effort to destroy jobs in that country...Drummond, in its statement, says it vehemently denies the allegations (Val Walton, Birmingham News [USA], 27 Mar. 2002)

Talisman questions memo on Sudan ethnic cleansing: Talisman Energy Inc. said on Monday it does not know the origin of a memo that human rights groups say shows the Canadian oil producer asked Sudan's army in 1999 to remove villages near its oil facilities in the war-torn African country...Human rights groups have filed the document as evidence in U.S. federal court in a lawsuit alleging Talisman has conspired with the Sudanese government in ethnic cleansing that killed or removed non-Muslim civilians living in proximity to Sudan's oil production regions. (Reuters, 25 Mar. 2002)

Alabama coal giant is sued over 3 killings in Colombia:...Now the state's largest mining business, the Drummond Company, has been accused of encouraging the assassination of three union leaders at its giant coal mine in Colombia. (Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2002)

Shell to Stand Trial for 1990s Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria: A U.S. Federal Court rejected Shell's plea to dismiss a case charging the company with human rights abuses in Nigeria dating back to 1995. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 8 Mar. 2002)

Lawsuit Against Shell for Human Rights Violations in Nigeria to Proceed: A U.S. Federal Court has ruled that a civil lawsuit [Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.] charging multinational oil giant Shell with complicity in human rights violations will go forward. The ruling in Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (EarthRights International, 5 Mar. 2002)

human rights attorneys... announced the filing of an amended complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Talisman Energy Inc., adding the Islamic Government of Sudan as a co-defendant. The complaint alleges that Talisman and the government are violating the human rights of Christian and other non-Muslim minorities in Southern Sudan by conducting a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing to clear the land for oil exploitation. (Carey R. D'Avino and Stephen A. Whinston of Berger & Montague, PC, 25 Feb. 2002)

Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes updates on lawsuits against Coca-Cola and Talisman Energy] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

It's the real thing—murders at Coke [Colombia: regarding the case brought in U.S. court alleging Coca Cola, Panamerican Beverages & Bebidas y Alimentos were complicit in the assassination of Colombian union leaders] (David Bacon, Labor Advocate Online, 24 Nov. 2001)

SUDAN: Special Rapporteur queries use of oil revenues - Gerhart Baum, the [United Nations] Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Sudan, called for documentation to verify how the Sudanese government uses its oil revenues in a report discussed yesterday at the UN General Assembly. "Oil exploitation has continued to have a negative impact on the human rights situation," Baum told delegates in New York yesterday. "There is no concrete evidence of oil revenues being spent for the development of the south, in spite of the fact that 40% of the national budget comes from oil." (U.N. Integrated Regional Information Network, 9 Nov. 2001)

RIGHTS: Canadian Oil Firm Sued In U.S. Court Over Sudan Dealings - An anti-slavery group has filed suit in U.S. court against the largest foreign investor in Sudan's oil sector. The move follows years of campaigning to force Western oil companies out of the country. The target of the litigation is Canada-based Talisman Energy Co., Inc. The company strongly denied all charges. (InterPress Service, 9 Nov. 2001)

Talisman disputes charges of 'ethnic cleansing' in Sudan U.S. lawsuit launched: Talisman Energy Inc. said it "strongly disputes" allegations made in a class-action lawsuit filed yesterday in the United States that seeks substantial compensation for victims of the Sudan civil war. (Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post [Canada], 9 Nov. 2001)

Talisman faces suit over Sudan: A US anti-slavery group yesterday filed a Dollars 1bn (Pounds 600m) lawsuit against Talisman, the Canadian oil company, alleging its operations in Sudan have contributed to an ethnic cleansing campaign against civilians in the country's south. The class action suit, led by a southern Sudanese church leader, also seeks an injunction to prevent Talisman from continuing to co-operate with the Sudanese government, which has been involved in a 20-year war with southern rebels. (Edward Alden & Ken Warn, Financial Times, 9 Nov. 2001)

Suit filed in U.S. against Talisman - Sudan class action disappoints firm - Talisman Energy Inc. is "disappointed" about a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States against the company yesterday alleging complicity in human rights abuses in Sudan, a spokesman for the company said. "Obviously, Talisman believes in and respects human rights of all individuals around the world, so we're disappointed to learn of this action," said David Mann, the company's manager of investor relations. "We believe we have actively promoted transparency, respect for human rights and an end to the civil war in Sudan." (Lily Nguyen, Globe & Mail [Canada], 9 Nov. 2001) 

Antislavery group to sue Talisman oil for $1 bln: A director of a U.S. antislavery group plans to file a $1-billion class action lawsuit against Talisman Energy Inc., alleging the Canadian oil company participated in human rights abuses in Sudan...The American Anti-Slavery Group said in a statement the suit, scheduled to be filed on Thursday, charges Talisman "with violations of international law for participating in the ethnic cleansing of black and non-Muslim minorities in southern Sudan."...The suit charges that: "Talisman, in an effort to protect its oil fields in Sudan, aided and abetted the fundamentalist Islamic government in its ongoing and self-proclaimed 'jihad' -- a campaign that has resulted in massive civilian displacement; the burning of villages, churches and crops; and the murder and enslavement of innocent civilians" (Reuters, 7 Nov. 2001)

{···français} Elf est poursuivie pour son soutien au président congolais Sassou Nguesso [Republic of Congo]: Une plainte a été déposée à Bruxelles pour complicité de crimes - La société TotalFinaElf est citée au côté de l'ancien président du Congo-Brazzaville Denis Sassou Nguesso dans une plainte pour "crimes contre l'humanité" commis pendant la guerre civile de 1997 [download under heading Total Fina Elf (II)] (Le Monde, 18 Oct. 2001)

Mercedes Benz: Industry and Human Rights -...During the Argentinian dictatorship at least 13 members of the union Internal Commission at Mercedes Benz disappeared...While the criminal prosecution was not allowed in Germany against Daimler Chrysler, German justice did allow proceedings against the company branch in González Catán and the current director of the firm, Tasselkraut...In November 2000 Juan Carlos Capurro, lawyer for the Legal Action Committee of the Argentinian workers’ union CTA (Central de Trabajadores Argentinos), lodged the Mercedes case with the Secretariat of Human Rights in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Gaby Weber, Le Monde Diplomatique, Southern Cone edition, Dec. 2000)

Coca-Cola: case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Colombia:

DynCorp: Case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Ecuador & Colombia:

ExxonMobil: Case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Aceh, Indonesia:

Hereros: Case in U.S. court against Germany & German companies for killings of over 65,000 Hereros in South West Africa (modern-day Namibia) between 1904 and 1907:

Nigeria: Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission:

Shell: case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Nigeria:

Unocal: case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Burma: