"Press Release: Eleventh Circuit decision in Chiquita Alien Tort Status Litigation", 25 Jul 2014

On July 24...in a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit dismissed the cases against Chiquita...for human rights violations in Colombia...In mechanically applying Kiobel to Plaintiffs´ ATS claims...the Eleventh Circuit panel ignored the major distinctions between the two cases...Chiquita is a U.S. company that pled guilty in U.S. criminal court for funding a terrorist paramilitary organization in Colombia, and the decisions made by Chiquita...were made in the U.S. and funded from the U.S....The Eleventh Circuit...failed to address two...claims...that are not dependent upon the ATS...[T]he Plaintiffs made claims under state law and the law of Colombia..[and] they made claims against individual Chiquita officers who were involved in funding the Colombian terrorist organization undder...the Torture Victim Protection Act, which remain viable...