Africa: Taking Multinationals to Court

The idea of litigation against companies allegedly complicit in abuses committed by repressive regimes is beginning to shape the international human rights agenda. In recent years, a coalition of rights advocates in the developed world and plaintiffs from the developing world have begun using a litigation-based strategy to enforce global human rights. The litigation tests whether a U.S. corporation can be penalized for knowingly standing by while its overseas commit abuses, even if the company did not actually direct the abuses itself.