• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

No. 03-339 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States JOSE FRANCISCO SOSA, Petitioner, v. HUMBERTO ALVAREZ-MACHAIN, Respondent. _______________________________ ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE CAREER FOREIGN SERVICE DIPLOMATS IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT DOUGLASS W. CASSEL THOMAS E. BISHOP Director Counsel of Record CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP HUMAN RIGHTS 50 North Laura Street NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Suite 3900 SCHOOL OF LAW Jacksonville, Florida 32202 357 East Chicago Avenue (904) 353-2000 Chicago, Illinois 60611 (312) 503-2224 Counsel for Amici Curiae 186050 A ((800) 274-3321 • (800) 359-6859 i TABLECited OF Authorities CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES . iii INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE . 1 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT . 9 ARGUMENT . 11 I. ATCA IS CONSISTENT WITH THE U.S. FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITY OF PROMOTING RESPECT FOR INTER- NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS. 11 II. POTENTIAL CONFLICTS WITH OTHER ASPECTS OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY DO NOT JUSTIFY DRASTICALLY CURTAILING ATCA. 14 III. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH HAS SUPPORTED IMPORTANT ATCA CASES. 15 IV. DRASTIC CURTAILMENT OF ATCA IS NOT JUSTIFIED BECAUSE WELL- ESTABLISHED DOCTRINES ALLOW DISMISSAL OF CASES WHICH WOULD HARM U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS . 17 V. ATCA CLAIMS NEED NOT INTERFERE WITH THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM . 19 ii CitedContents Authorities Page VI. ALLOWING USE OF ATCA AGAINST CORPORATIONS ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN THE COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS FURTHERS U.S. FOREIGN POLICY . 20 CONCLUSON . 24 iii TABLE OFCited CITED Authorities AUTHORITIES Page Cases Abebe-Jira v. Negewo, 72 F.3d 844 (11th Cir. 1996) . 13 Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino, 376 U.S. 398 (1964). 17 Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, 630 F.2d 876 (2d Cir. 1980) . 14, 15, 16 In re Estate of Marcos;, Human Rights Litigation, 25 F.3d 1467 (9th Cir. 1993) . 13 Kadic v. Karadzic, 70 F.3d 232 (2d Cir. 1995) . 13, 16, 17 Presbyterian Church of Sudan v. Talisman Energy, Inc., 244 F. Supp. 2d 289 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) . 6, 22 Saltany v. Reagan, 702 F. Supp. 319 (D.D.C. 1988) . 13, 18 Sarei v. Rio Tinto PLC, 221 F. Supp.2d 1204 (C.D. Cal. 2002) . 18 Xuncax v. Gramajo, 886 F. Supp. 162 (D. Mass. 1995) . 13 iv Cited Authorities Page Statutes 7 U.S.C.A. § 1733(j)(1) . 12 12 U.S.C.A. § 635(6)(D)(1) . 12 15 U.S.C. § 78a et seq. 23 19 U.S.C.A. § 2434 . 12 19 U.S.C.A. § 3901 . 12 22 U.S.C. § 2304(a)(1) . 12 28 U.S.C. § 1350 . passim 1 INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE1 The purpose of this brief is to bring to this Court’s attention the views and experience of career United States diplomats relevant to the arguments made by petitioners and their amici about the impact of the Alien Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 (“ATCA”) on U.S. foreign policy. Each of the amici curiae has served in the U.S. Foreign Service. Most have served as ambassadors. Hon. James Akins served in the Foreign Service for 22 years, primarily in the Middle East, including as the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Nixon Administration (1973-75) and as an attache in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad (1963-65). He is a respected and highly sought speaker and analyst on the Middle East peace process as well as Arab politics in general. Hon. Jack R. Binns served in a variety of posts in his 25 years in the Foreign Service, including Director, Northern European Affairs, Political Counselor in the United Kingdom, Deputy Chief of Mission in Costa Rica and Spain, and Ambassador to Honduras. He now resides in Arizona, and is president of the Tucson Committee on Foreign Relations and a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona. Eugene Bird served in the Foreign Service for 22 years (1952-75), including in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and India. He worked extensively with chambers 1. No counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in part and no person or entity other than the amici curiae or their counsel made any monetary contribution to the preparation or submission of this brief. The parties have consented to the filing of the brief of amici curiae and their letters of consent have been lodged with the Court. 2 of commerce in each of those countries. He was the co- founder of the Indo-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Trade Adviser to the Northwestern Governors (1975-78), and Vice-President of General Electric overseas, based in the Middle East (1978-82). Harry C. Blaney III served in the Foreign Service for 25 years, including as a Member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and as Director of the Office of Asian Refugee Assistance at the Department of State. He also was a Visiting Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and at the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He served abroad at the U.S. Mission to the European Communities and at the U.S. Mission to NATO. Larry G. Butcher was a member of the Foreign Service from 1970 until his retirement in 1998 as a Senior Foreign Service officer. He served as a commercial officer in Venezuela and an economic officer in Poland and Portugal. In the Office of Regional Economic Policy in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs and in five years as Deputy Director (1989-1991) and Director (1993- 1997) of the Office of Development Finance, he dealt with issues including human rights concerns and U.S. policy on loans to developing countries. Suzanne S. Butcher was a member of the Foreign Service for 29 years, serving in Mexico, Venezuela, Poland and Canada. In the Office of Policy and Planning of the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs (1984-86), as Deputy Director of the Office of UN Political Affairs (1989-91), as a member of the Secretary’s Policy Planning Council (1993-96), and as Director of the Office of Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs (1996-98), she dealt with the interplay of multiple U.S. 3 interests. She retired in 1998 as a member of the Senior Foreign Service. Christian Chapman served in the Foreign Service for 33 years (1950-83), including in Morocco, Lebanon, Iran and Vietnam. He served as chargé d’affaires in Laos and France, and worked for NATO in Washington and Brussels. Elizabeth Spiro Clark served in the Foreign Service in a variety of capacities including director of the office of democracy promotion in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor from 1995-1998, and the counselor for political affairs in the U.S. embassies in Iceland and Norway. She was a political officer in South Africa in the mid-1980s analyzing internal political developments for the U.S. government and assisting anti- apartheid movements through a congressionally mandated human rights fund. She held assignments in legislative affairs and as a special assistant for Europe and Africa to the Undersecretary for Political Affairs. She has received a number of reporting and other awards. She is currently an associate at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Hon. Goodwin Cooke served for 25 years in the Foreign Service, 1956-81, serving in embassies in Pakistan, Yugoslavia, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Ivory Coast, and the Central African Republic, where he was Ambassador. He is now a professor teaching International Relations in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Hon. Carleton S. Coon, Jr. served in the Foreign Service for 35 years, including as Ambassador to Nepal (1981-84). 4 Hon. John Gunther Dean served as Ambassador to Cambodia (1974), Denmark (1975-1978), Lebanon (1978), Thailand (1981), and India (1985-1988). He was also Deputy for Civil Operations for Rural Development Support in Military Region 1 in Vietnam with the assimilated rank of Major General, and presented credentials as Charge d’Affaires in Mali. He is currently a member of academic and corporate boards in the United States, Europe and Asia. Hon. Willard Ames De Pree served in the Foreign Service from 1956 to 1993. His overseas assignments included tours as Ambassador to Mozambique (1976- 1980) and Bangladesh (1987-1990). In the State Department he served as Director of Management Operations, a member of the Policy Planning Staff and a Senior Inspector. Hon. John Ferch served in the Foreign Service for 31 years. He entered the Foreign Service in 1958, serving in a variety of postings including economics officer in Colombia (1964-67), principal officer in Dominican Republic (1967-69), chief of the economic sections in El Salvador (1969-71) and Guatemala (1971-75), director, Office of Food Policies and Programs (1975- 78), Chief of the U.S. Interest Section in Cuba (1982- 1985) and Ambassador to Honduras (1985-86). In previous assignments he specialized in economic and American business matters. After the Foreign Service he was National Intelligence Officer for Economics at the Central Intelligence Agency and then Director of the Office of Foreign Relations at the Department of Labor. F. Allen “Tex” Harris served for 35 years as a career Foreign Service Officer in a variety of postings including Political Officer in Caracas, Venezuela and Buenos Aires, 5 Argentina, Special Assistant to the Legal Advisor, Deputy Director of Southern Africa, Director of the SALT Working Group, Director of Public Programs, Director of Emergency Operations, Director of African Regional Affairs, Consul General in Durban, South Africa and Melbourne, Australia, Associate Administrator of the EPA for International Activities, and twice President of the American Foreign Service Association.

Load more

  29

Copy Link