Pena irala established the idea that domestic tort suits might be brought under the alien tort claims act atca against those accused of violating human rights norms. Filartiga case brief filartiga v penairala1980 1 court a. In 1976, the father of a young man who had been tortured and killed in paraguay while in police custody witnessed one of his sons torturers walking the streets of manhattan. Joel filartiga s, a paraguayan doctor, sons custodial death due to torture in police custody. The filartigas brought this action in the eastern district of new york against americo norberto penairala pena, also a citizen of paraguay, for wrongfully causing the death of dr. The wellestablished universal prohibition of torture under international law, the court held, must be honoured in u.
Pena irala the facts of the case this case is related with dr. Shifting the lens on alien tort statute litigation. Get free access to the complete judgment in filartiga v. Filartigas legacy in an era of military privatization by. Troutman sanders and pepper hamilton have agreed to merge effective april 1, 2020. Springfield, clark county prosecutors office office of the. As with many landmark decisions, the importance of the opinion in the filartiga v. Fanny irala ac 19874 landau, mihalakos and freedman, js.
Penairala, the first successful case to invoke the statute, opened the. The suit was brought by an alien residing in the united states against a former official of paraguay then visiting the united states. In that case, 9,500 human rights victims filed suit against the marcos estate, citing a leading 1980 american case, filartiga v. Pena irala, 6 which reimagined the ats as a basis for federal courts to address human rights abuses occurring. The meaning and scope of the law of nations in the. The court of appeals was able to extend its jurisdiction under the alien tort claims acts of 1789, the 1980 decision of the second circuit in filartiga v. That is because the criminal courts of many nations combine civil and criminal proceedings. A new name will once again combine interstate law with the common law of. Filartiga held that a paraguayan police inspector who had come to the united states could be sued under the ats for torture he committed in paraguay. International law as the rule of decision richard a. Penairala, involved a paraguayan family that successfully used the. The complaint alleged torture of the plaintiffs brother see below leading to his death. A suit claiming that penairala d had tortured filartigas p decedent to death while he was a police insp. But what is the legacy of this case in an era of military privatization.
Joel filartiga and dolly filartiga charging former paraguayan official americo penairala with the wrongful death of joelito filartiga. Professor william aceves engaging new volume the anatomy of torture. Argued september 14, 2001officially released march 5, 2002 james a. Posts about filartiga v penalrala written by africlaw. In the supreme court of ohio state of ohio, appellee, case no. For example, in filartiga v penairala, a case concerning a claim for damages for alleged torture of a. To the contrary, this article exposes how filartiga and marcos recast as entirely foreign vio lence in which the us executive was deeply involved. Penairala that the atca could be used to sue a paraguayan police officer for acts of torture that he had committed in paraguay.
Eichman v attorney general of israel, supreme court decision case concerning the temple of preah vihear certain expenses of the united nations article 17, paragraph 2, of the charter. As the paradigm, the filartiga action must be succinctly defined. Enforcement of international human rights in the federal. Torture as tort available for download and read online in other formats. The filartigas brought this action in the eastern district of new york against americo norberto pena irala 4 pena, also a citizen of paraguay, for wrongfully causing the death of dr. Pena irala,2 the united states, pursuant to a request by the u. Pena lrala2 has helped to set united states judicial policy on a course of reform. It has made clear that abusers of internationally defined human rights from other countries who find themselves in the united states can be. Federal jurisdiction of alleged torturer under the alien tort.
The decision in filartiga led to a dramatic rise in. Are there available legal responses to what we might call the privatization of torture. Filartiga v pena irala pdf free download as pdf file. The growing importance of customary international human. Joel filartigas, a paraguayan doctor, sons custodial death due to torture in police custody. The government of paraguay, because of his efforts to help poor and. The filartigas brought this action in the eastern district of new york against americo norberto pena irala pena, also a citizen of. The landmark case pioneered the human rights application of a previously littleused 1789 federal statute, the alien tort claims act, which gives foreign nationals the right to sue for wrongful actions that violate international law. For a sister, court fight stirs memories of paraguay. It set the precedent for united states federal courts to punish nonamerican citizens for tortious acts committed outside the united states that were in violation of public international law the law of nations or any treaties to which the united states is a party. For purpose of the allen tort statute, torture may be considered to violate law of nations.
On appeal from the court of common pleas of clark county. Pdf civil liability of corporate and nonstate aiders and. District court for the eastern district of new york, filartiga v. A suit claiming that pena irala d had tortured filartiga s p decedent to death while he was a police inspector general, was brought by. Pena irala1 case has little to do with the parties involved. Pena irala is the paradigm for studying private torture claims against foreign officials in the united states. Federal jurisdiction over international human rights claims.
Pena irala opened the door for the use of the ats for aliens to assert jurisdiction in federal court for human rights violations and other. Unlike traditional casebooks, this book emphasizes the. Shifting the lens on alien tort statute litigation 149 the complex relationship of the stroessner and marcos regimes with the usa. Filartiga, arrived in the united states in 1978 under a visitors visa, and has since applied for permanent political asylum. Pena irala the united states court of appeals for the second circuit in filartiga v. Pena irala is related with the death of seventeen year old boy under due to the torturer of the police under custody. This will assist inquiries into its judicial jurisdiction and choice of law, and it will make filartiga type cases more understandable and therefore more.
Supreme court has granted certiorari in the alien tort statute ats 1 case of kiobel v. The center for justice and accountability cja is a us nonprofit international human rights organization based in san francisco, california. View homework help filartiga case brief from posc 4470 at clemson university. It set the precedent for united states federal courts to punish nonamerican citizens for tortious acts committed outside the united states that were in violation of public international law or any treaties to which the united states is a party. In 1980, however, the second circuitthe first court of appeals to expound on section 50held that a damages action could be brought under section 50 by paraguayan citizens against a paraguayan official for the alleged torture and killing of a family member in paraguay. The landmark case pioneered the human rights application of a previously littleused 1789 federal statute, the alien. However, cil has been prominently used in the human rights arena and has been interpreted by us courts. The supreme court seems to have settled on the last term, as does this article. Civil liability of corporate and nonstate aiders and abettors of international terrorism as an evolving notion under international law. Supreme court has granted certiorari in the alien tort statute. It thus extends the jurisdiction of united states courts to tortious acts committed around the world. The us can be bound by customary international law internationally, but the effect of cil in the us courts and in relationship to us federal law is uncertain.
The first case brought under the ats for human rights abuses was filartiga v. Joel filartiga, a physician, describes himself as a longstanding opponent of the government of president alfredo stroessner, which has held power in paraguay since 1954. Pena irala, which paved the way for a new conceptualization of the ats. Court of appeals for the second circuit at the end of oral argument, submitted an important amicus curiae brief further explaining its views on the customary international law of human rights. Pdf torture as tort download full pdf book download. Founded in 1998, cja represents survivors of torture and other grave human rights abuses in cases against individual rights violators before u. Court of appeals for the second circuit decided filartiga v. Pena irala, one of the most significant examples of human rights litigation in the u. Beyond the alien tort claims act northwestern pritzker school of. At the same time, the court also granted certiorari in mohamad v. A suit against penairala d on the premise that he had tortured to death the decedent of filartiga p, was filed by filartiga p. Pena irala1 held that a deliberate act of torture committed in paraguay by a paraguayan official against a paraguayan citizen violated the international law of human rights. Alien tort claims act united states 1789 britannica. Universal civil jurisdiction under international law ejil.
Federal jurisdiction of alleged torturer under the alien tort statute filartiga v. Pena irala, wherein us courts were allowed to try human rights violations committed abroad even when both the torturer and the victim were foreigners or in legalese, without any jurisdictional link to the forum. United states court of appeals for the second circuit 630 f. Federal jurisdiction, human rights, and the law of nations. His daughter, dolly filartiga, arrived in the united states in 1978 under a visitors visa, and has since applied for permanent political asylum. The court of appeals held that deliberate torture perpetrated under color of official authority violates universally accepted norms of the international law of human rights, regardless of the nationality of the parties, and that 28 u. Pena irala which recognized jurisdiction under atca and held that torture comes under the umbrella of the law of nations, andthe torture victim protection act, which codified the filartiga. Rise and fall of universal civil jurisdiction project muse johns. Dolly filartiga has never forgotten the words barked at her early one morning 28 years ago. Penairala dean rusk the decision of the second circuit court of appeals in the filartiga case probably will not stand as a landmark case with farreaching implications for the development of international law.