Families of Victims Petition U.S. Supreme Court to Hold Chiquita Accountable
…EarthRights International (ERI) and…co-counsel filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of…[Colombian]…families, urging the Court to consider the case against… Chiquita for financing paramilitary death squads in Colombia. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that, despite the fact that Chiquita is a U.S. company that made decisions in the U.S. to finance the paramilitaries…the victims’ claims under the…Alien Tort Statute…lacked sufficient connection to the U.S…The petition to the...Supreme Court seeks to reverse that decision. From 1997-2004, the AUC used Chiquita’s financial support to spread terror in the banana-growing region of Urabá… it killed thousands of villagers, labor leaders, and community organizers, who were suspected of favoring leftist guerrillas or making trouble for…plantation owners…ERI Legal Director…[says:] “…local authorities no longer have the power to hold Chiquita accountable because the company has sold all its interests and assets in Colombia. Where else should…victims go for justice?”...