U.S. court refuses to hold Occidental liable in Colombia bombing

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. court refuses to hold Occidental liable in Colombia bombing
Source: Reuters - Wed, 12 Nov 2014 18:05 GMT

By Jonathan Stempel

Nov 12 (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to hold Occidental Petroleum Corp and a security contractor legally responsible for alleged complicity in a 1998 military bombing of a Colombian village that killed 17 people, including six children.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California said victims' families could not pursue claims against Occidental and Florida-based AirScan Inc under two U.S. human rights laws, the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and Torture Victims Protection Act.

Writing for a 2-1 majority, Circuit Judge Jay Bybee cited a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co, in finding that the ATS did not apply because the underlying conduct occurred "exclusively" in Colombia. He also said the torture victim law does not apply to corporate defendants.

In addition, Bybee said "international comity" justified dismissal, citing a 2004 State Department memo that said letting Colombian courts handle the matter advanced U.S. foreign policy. "The crimes plaintiffs allege are abominable, but the facts of this case nonetheless favor applying adjudicatory comity," Bybee wrote.

Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta joined Bybee's 65-page decision, which upheld a 2010 lower court ruling. Both judges were appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush.

More:
http://www.trust.org/item/20141112180425-tq2sk/

[justhanginon]

1. That last sentence was probably unnecessary. Corporations

seem to have nothing to fear from republican appointed judges in any court up to and including what is now often laughingly referred to as the "U. S. Supreme Court"