Transnational Human Rights Litigation
| Author | François Larocque |
| Profession | University of Ottawa Faculty of Law |
| Pages | 3-16 |
CHAPTER
ONE
Transnational
Human
Rights
Litigation
“
It
is
the
object
of
definition
to
determine
the
nature
or
meaning
or
signification
of
a
thing;
in
other
words,
definition
is
the
formal
attempt
to
answer
the
question,
‘
What
is
it?
”
’
—
W.L.
Davidson
1
A
Paraguayan
family
sues
the
Asuncion
chief
of
police
in
US
federal
courts
for
torturing
and
killing
their
son
in
Paraguay.
2
A
group
of
Israeli
nationals
sues
Libya
and
the
Palestine
Liberation
Organization
in
Wash
ington
DC
for
the
bombing
of
a
civilian
bus
in
Israel.
3
Residents
from
the
Indian
city
of
Bhopal
sue
a
US
corporation
in
New
York
after
a
toxic
cloud
escapes
from
a
factory
killing
over
2,000
people.
4
In
Manhattan,
a
group
of
Croats
and
Muslims
from
Bosnia-Herzegovina
sues
the
self-pro
claimed
president
of
an
unrecognized
State
for
masterminding
a
cam
paign
of
forced
impregnation,
torture,
and
genocide
carried
out
by
Serb
military
forces.
5
A
Kuwaiti
pilot
sues
his
government
in
London
alleging
that
he
was
tortured
by
Kuwaiti
State
officials
at
the
behest
of
a
relative
of
the
Emir
of
Kuwait.
6
A
US
national
sues
the
Islamic
Republic
of
Iran
1
William
Leslie
Davidson,
The
Logic
of
Definition
Explained
and
Applied
(London:
Longmans,
Green
&
Co.
1885)
at
32.
2
Filártiga
v.
Peña-Irala,
630
F.2d
876
(2d
Cir.
1980).
3
Tel-Oren
v.
Libyan
Arab
Republic,
726
F.2d
774
(D.C.
Cir.
1984).
4
Re
Union
Carbide
Corp.
Gas
Plant
Disaster
at
Bhopal,
India
in
December
1984,634
F.
Supp.
842
(S.D.N.Y.
1986).
5
Kadic
v.
Karadzic,
70
F.3d
232
(2d
Cir.
1995).
6
Al-Adsani
v.
Kuwait
(1995),
103
I.L.R.
420
(Q.B.),
afFd
(1996),
107
I.L.R.
536
(C.A.)
[Al-
Adsani],
3
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