[DEBATE] : (Fwd) Reparations battle continues - to US supreme ct?

[Patrick Bond]

sunday independent

Apartheid victims' US legal battle rages on

November 18, 2007 Edition 1

Peter Fabricius

The 36 foreign corporations being sued in the United States for 
reparations by victims of apartheid are again trying to take the case to 
America's supreme court, its highest court, for a final ruling.

In November 2004, a New York district court dismissed the case, largely 
because of the objections by the South African and US governments.

But last month a New York appeals court overturned the district court's 
judgment and referred the case back to the district court, on several 
grounds. One of them was that, because of the separation of powers, the 
courts did not have to bow to the opinions of governments, though they 
had to consider them.

But the corporations felt that the five-year-old case had been dragging 
on long enough and that they should ask the US supreme court to rule on 
it. They asked the New York appeal court not to hand the case back to 
the district court until the supreme court had decided if it would hear 
the case.

But last week the appeal court rejected this and confirmed that the case 
would go back to the district court.

The corporations are now expected to ask the district court judge not to 
restart the case until the supreme court has decided whether or not it 
would rule on the issue.

The corporations believe that their case deserves prompt attention 
because similar cases against US corporations are proliferating around 
the world and so the country's highest court needs to set a precedent.

They believe these cases are discouraging US and foreign companies from 
investing in developing countries for fear that they will be held liable 
for any human rights offences that are committed by the governments of 
those countries in which they are operating.