PLAINTIFFS WIN DECISION IN MAJOR SO. AFRICAN APARTHEID REGIME LAWSUIT

Case Tested Alien Torts Claims Act Statutes

Washington, DC (October 12, 2007) 

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit  held that corporations can be held liable for aiding and abetting human rights violations  in the South African Apartheid case, Khulumani et al v. Barclays et al.  The Court found for the plaintiffs and remanded the case back to the District Court for further proceedings.  The lawsuit is predicated on the Alien Torts Claims Act which grants U.S. courts jurisdiction over certain violations of international law.

The lawsuit seeks to hold those businesses that aided and abetted human rights violations by the apartheid regime responsible for the wrongs they made possible.  For example: IBM and ICL provided the computers that enabled South Africa to create the hated passbook system and to control the black South African population.  Daimler Chrysler Corporation and other manufacturers  provided the armored vehicles that were used to patrol the townships. Arms manufacturers violated the embargoes on sales to South Africa as did the oil companies.

Extrajudicial killings, torture, and arbitrary detention are recognized violations of international law and all of these were practiced by the Apartheid regime in South Africa between 1960 and 1993.  Apartheid itself was recognized as a crime against humanity and a violation of international law by the world community, as evidenced by decades of  U.N. resolutions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Michael D. Hausfeld, (Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll), the lead counsel, said “Today’s Appeals Court decision is a major victory. It enables victims of terrible human rights abuses to hold those who aided and abetted those abuses accountable.  Apartheid was an institutionalized system of racial disenfranchisement, forced labor, and criminal domination.  It sought to and did exploit and degrade the black South African population for a criminal purpose, through criminal means.”

Mr. Hausfeld is available to comment on the importance of this decision and next steps in the case. A copy of the court's decision is available upon request.

Related Links:

Opinion - United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit - October 12, 2007 [PDF]

Apartheid Litigation Case Page

U.S. Court Reinstates Some Claims by South African Apartheid Victims 
Associated Press - October 14, 2007