Taking on the Titans
Appeared in Connect, AIUSA’s Monthly Mailing, September 2004Before last spring most Americans had probably never heard of Titan Corporation, or if they had heard the name they may have assumed it was a Hollywood production company or perhaps the corporate headquarters of a string of upscale health clubs.
But the name gained notoriety in April when news reports emerged alleging possible Titan employee involvement in the prisoner abuse scandal currently engulfing the U.S. Government in Iraq. Titan it turns out is a security corporation “servicing the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and other government customers” and has agents currently in Iraq. Another U.S. corporation, CACI International, has also been implicated in the scandal. In June, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed suit (Al Rawi et.al. v. Titan Corp. et. al.) in federal district court charging that Titan and CACI had conspired to torture Iraqi detainees in order to generate business with the Defense Department.
As far as Mila Rosenthal, Director of AIUSA’s new Business and Human Rights Program, is concerned, this is one glaring example of why the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) under which this suit was filed, is vital human rights law. And that’s why Amnesty International is determined to defend it against possible legislative mischief.
The Supreme Court recently affirmed that the Act allows claims for the most serious human rights violations, which include war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, extra judicial execution, prolonged arbitrary detention and slavery-like conditions. It is expected lower courts will soon start hearing more of these cases.
“U.S. companies, or multinationals with U.S. operations, should never be involved in the commission of such atrocities, anywhere in the world. And if they are, they should answer to victims in U.S. courts. We want to preserve this right,” Rosenthal explains. Thousands of Amnesty International activists have been writing to Titan as part of a Business and Human Rights Program action asking the company to clarify its human rights policies and practices and calling on the firm to support and facilitate public investigations and bring employees found responsible to justice. While both companies have denied any wrongdoing, the ATCA suit contends that both Titan and CACI promoted an atmosphere of impunity in Iraqi prisons that in turn led to serious human rights abuses. “Amnesty International has been very concerned about prison abuse in Iraq,” says Rosenthal. “We take no position on the merits of this case, however we believe that victims should have the right to seek justice.”
But the Alien Tort Claims Act itself could come under attack in the next legislative session as major corporations flex their considerable lobbying muscle in Congress to weaken or circumvent it entirely. So AIUSA is formulating a campaign to ensure the voices of concerned citizens are heard. The Business and Human Rights Program hopes to mobilize its newly created Corporate Action Network to carry the message in the event of a legislative battle over the Act. Explains Rosenthal: “They could try to get a new law passed exempting corporations from liability under ATCA, for example. They could lobby the State Department for briefs in support of their cases, arguing the cases interfere with foreign policy. We think the courts should be able to decide. That’s how the rule of law works.”
This action is one of the first initiatives carried out by the new Business and Human Rights Program, which is actually an amalgamation of two earlier AIUSA programs, the Just Earth! Program and the former Business Program. “We want to make sure that Americans understand this is a fundamental human rights law that offers the potential for justice and fairness to victims of abuses,” says Rosenthal. “Congress and the Administration will need to hear from concerned constituents that businesses should not be able to exempt themselves from the rule of law.” Titan may provide the most obvious example of how private corporations can directly adversely impact human rights.
Amnesty International’s decision to move more forcefully into the corporate accountability sphere is a natural extension of the organization’s work. It’s a reflection of the fact that many corporations now wield more economic might than some governments and the decisions they make can often have dramatic impact, for better and for worse.
Aside from the Iraqi torture scandal, AIUSA’s new Human Rights and Business program is continuing to push for corporate accountability in environmental defenders cases inherited from the Just Earth! Program, including pressing ChevronTexaco (CVX) on its oil spills in Ecuador and ExxonMobil (XOM) and the World Bank for their involvement in the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, as well as continuing AI’s commitment to safeguarding the rights of environmental activists and endangered communities worldwide. In fact, much of AIUSA’s corporate work has a distinct environmental angle. That does not surprise Rosenthal.
“Violations of environmental integrity often converge with violations of human rights. Environmental defenders are one priority of the program and we are taking action on new cases, but these are linked to corporate activity and economic development. In other words, they are part of business and human rights.”
