The Center for Constitutional Rights [CCR] and the International Federation for Human Rights [FIDH] submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in Jesner v. Arab Bank in defense of the Alien Tort Statue (ATS) as a critical legal tool to hold corporations accountable for egregious human rights violations…the [ATS]…allows non-U.S. citizens to sue…when their cases “touch and concern” the U.S….CCR and FIDH made the following statement:

["]The [CCR] and the [FIDH] submit that the unequivocal answer to the question of whether corporations may be held accountable for human rights abuses under the [ATS] is yes...

[b]ut we…express concern that the framing of [this] case…risks limiting the application of the ATS to cases with sounding in “terrorism” or “national security,”…rather than maintaining it as a broad, essential legal tool for defending human rights…

Jesner is an opportunity for the Supreme Court to affirm to the lower courts that the ATS must be applied in a way consistent with international human rights law…["]