[Kapanda]

So how many of those filed suits actually got convictions?

[ingliz]

Survivors of nine victims who disappeared and eight who say they were kidnapped and tortured by the Argentine government in the late 1970s filed suit in federal court, alleging Mercedes-Benz was complicit in the killing, torture or kidnapping by the military of unionized auto workers.
The group, all living in Argentina, are invoking the Alien Tort Claims Act, an obscure 1789 statute their attorneys say grants overseas victims of atrocities access to American courts to sue for damages.
Several other cases brought under the act alleging corporate human rights abuses overseas are making their way through federal courts, in the face of criticism from the Bush administration.
The plaintiffs could sue in their own country, but one of their U.S. lawyers said they believe that the courts in the United States, not Argentina, would be more likely to provide them justice.
"The plaintiffs don't think they can get a fair hearing in Argentina," said Daniel Kovalik, one of the group's lawyers based in Pittsburgh.
Mercedes-Benz's parent, DaimlerChrysler Corp. of Stuttgart, Germany, denied the allegations.
Several Alien Tort Claims Act cases, including one against UNOCAL Corp. for alleged rights abuses in Myanmar, are pending across the country as judges and appeals courts weigh whether they can go to trial. One targets ChevronTexaco Corp. for alleged human rights violations in Nigeria, and another is against ExxonMobil Corp. for rights abuse allegations in Indonesia.
No corporation has ever gone to trial under the law. But last year, in a lawsuit filed under the act, dozens of garment manufacturers and retailers agreed to a $20 million settlement for alleged abuses of clothing workers in Saipan.

All cases still going through the courts

Alien Tort Claims Act
The Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) of 1789 grants jurisdiction to US Federal Courts over "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." In 1980 a Paraguayan man successfully used ATCA to sue the policeman who had tortured his son to death in Paraguay. Others have since filed civil suits against individuals, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, seeking compensation for damages resulting from breaches of international law. On the rare occassion that a suit is successful, however, the defendant rarely has sufficient assets in the US to satisfy the final judgment.
An interesting development has been the recent efforts to use ATCA to sue transnational corporations for violations of international law in countries outside the US. If these suits are allowed to proceed, then ATCA could become a powerful tool to increase corporate accountability.

Using the Alien Tort Claims Act to IntroduceThe Rule of Law to the Global Economy
.

[Kapanda]

Until at least one of them is successful, you only have allegations to base this argument by.

Still, I never thought problems with sweatshops were as bad as I have learned they are through your link.

[ingliz]

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/colombia0106/

If you want to learn more about the Coca Cola controversy you can watch this documentary by PBS and make up your own mind.

[Koga]

The conditions in third world factories are appalling and approving of it is shameful. Does lack of empathy always have to follow Libertarianism?

Hey, I agree with libertarians. Sure I feel bad for what basically are slaves.


But it quickly passes when I realize they can end that suffering at anytime. Christ, twelve people in a room? Those guards wouldn't stand a chance if they all assaulted the guards, took their guns, and killed the everyone in the building who wasn't part of the resistance.


If someone oppresses you, kill them. If you can't, then too bad. Be a slave. You have the power to change your position and don't. It's not my or anybody else's job to change it for you.


I have no sympathy for cowards or people with no imagination. Which could be the only reason they would not fight back.

[pikachu]

Those guards wouldn't stand a chance if they all assaulted the guards, took their guns, and killed the everyone in the building who wasn't part of the resistance.

This is the best "Direct Action" post I've read in a while.

You have the power to change your position and don't.

It's not a power to change your status positively, it's a power to commit massacare and immidiately get yourself jailed/killed by the arriving police/SWAT reinforcements. Not a very nice alternative for most people.