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19 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 169 (2005)
Holding Human Rights Violators Accountable by Using International Law in U.S. Courts: Advocacy Efforts and Complementary Strategies

handle is hein.journals/emint19 and id is 183 raw text is: HOLDING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS ACCOUNTABLE BY USING INTERNATIONAL LAW IN U.S. COURTS: ADVOCACY EFFORTS AND COMPLEMENTARY STRATEGIES Sandra Coliver* Jennie Green** Paul Hoffman*** INTRODUCTION In the last twenty-five years, U.S. human rights advocates have increasingly turned to international law to hold human rights violators accountable in U.S. courts. In particular, civil suits based on the Alien Tort Statute (ATS)1 and the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA)2 against human rights violators who live in, visit, or, in the case of corporations, do business in, the United States, have been one of the most effective means of enforcing international law in U.S. courts. This Article is designed as a broad survey of the variety of ways in which advocates in the United States have attempted to employ international law arguments. It begins with an overview of the ATS, the TVPA, and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain.3 Executive Director of the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA). Senior Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). Partner, Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman, LLP, Venice, California. The authors have been engaged in the types of litigation discussed in this Article for many years. Additional information about these cases and issues may be found at www.cja.org, www.ccr-ny.org, and www.sdshh.com. The ACLU also publishes an annual International Civil Liberties Report, which may be found on its website: www.aclu.org. The authors express their appreciation to the JEHT Foundation for its early support of this writing project, and would also like to thank CJA Litigation Director Matthew Eisenbrandt, CCR President Michael Ratner and law students Collin Seals, UCLA, Elizabeth Wheeler, Santa Clara, Kelly McAnnay, Northeastern, and Andre Segura, NYU, for their assistance. 1 The ATS has often been called the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA). We use the term Alien Tort Statute in this Article because the Supreme Court referred to the statute as such in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 124 S. Ct. 2739 (2004). 2 28 U.S.C. § 1350. 3 Sosa, 124 S. Ct. at 2739.

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