Rio Tinto accused over Bougainville 'war crimes'

Australian Broadcasting Corporation ^ | 10/26/2011 | staff

[B.Lyle]

A US federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit seeking to hold Rio Tinto responsible for human rights violations and thousands of deaths linked to a Bougainville copper and gold mine it once ran.

The appeals court has returned the case to US District Judge Margaret Morrow in Los Angeles for further proceedings.

But some dissenting judges protested against allowing a lawsuit to proceed in federal courts brought by non-US residents against non-US companies such as Rio Tinto, which has corporate offices in the UK and Australia.

The case is one of several in which non-US residents seek to hold companies responsible in US courts for alleged human rights violations on foreign soil, under a 1789 US law known as the Alien Tort Statute.

[B.Lyle]

Was the US the original one world government? How many US citizens are keen to move from being the world's policeman to the world's court as well?

[cake_crumb]

Now we’re acting like Pakiisatan or the PA territories or something.

[driftdiver]

So Americans don’t have standing to question the credentials of their President. However, non-Americans have standing to use our courts to prosecute non-american companies for actions taken outside of America.

Is that basically what this story says?

[Scotsman will be Free]

Yup.