Name: Obadah Ghizawi
Prompt: In your opinion, do you believe that private corporations should be held
liable in United Stated Courts for human rights violations committed overseas? Why
or why not? Would or should it make a difference if the corporation was located/did
substantial business in the United States? Provide current event(s) to illustrate your
opinion.
When corporations engage in illegal conduct that results in serious human
rights abuse, they rarely, if ever, are held to account. As long as the private
corporations conduct business within United States borders, I believe they should
be held liable for human rights violations committed overseas. The Alien Tort
Statute (ATS), states that the “district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any
civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or
a treaty of the United States”. Despite the fact that the ATS covers only civil actions,
I believe that corporations should also be held liable in US courts as long as they
conduct any business within US borders. In my opinion, regardless of whether an
individual or a business is complicit with human rights violations overseas, they
should both be held liable.
In the case of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, the plaintiffs, who were
citizens of Nigeria, claimed that they were tortured and killed by a military
dictatorship in Nigeria in 1995, in which Shell was complicit. It’s companion case,
