“Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that the company can’t be sued by Nigerians seeking damages for torture and murders committed by their government in the early 1990s.
The high court in Washington is considering whether companies are exempt from two statutes imposing liability for human-rights violations. Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, argued today that the Alien Tort Statute, which dates to 1789, can’t be used to sue corporations. The Nigerian plaintiffs claim there’s nothing in the law that limits liability to individuals.
“We do not urge a rule of corporate impunity here,” said Kathleen Sullivan, a lawyer for Shell. “Corporate officers are liable for human-rights violations and for those they direct among their employees. There can also be suits under state law or the domestic laws of nations. But there may not be ATS federal common-law causes of action against corporations.”
The case, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., was filed in 2002 by 12 Nigerians claiming they were harmed by “widespread and systematic human rights violations” committed by the regime of the former military dictator Sani Abacha, including torture, executions, illegal detentions and indiscriminate killings in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta.
‘No Claim’
Paul Hoffman, who represents the Nigerian plaintiffs, criticized Shell’s position, arguing that “even if these corporations had jointly operated torture centers with the military dictatorship inNigeria to detain, torture, and kill all opponents of Shell’s operations in Ogoni, the victims would have no claim.”
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They are people when it comes to contributing their “speech” to the political process, just not for all the crimes they commit.
Certainly your law must be the envy of the world.
envy sucks
I don’t understand the premise of the suit.
How is Royal Dutch Shell responsible for a wackjob dictator’s homicidal actions? Was he a shareholder?
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They tried this with a Firestone rubber tree plantation a while back, but it never held up. How could it? Upholding this law would open up a huge can of worms.
Have you been wronged by a corporation anywhere in the world? Come to America and sue them.