La CS Estadounidense afirmó en este caso que en la Convención contra la tortura, el término "individuo" comprende solo a las personas fisicas y no a las organizaciones.
Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority (Apr. 18, 2012)
Ver decisión (approximately 12 pages)
Relying on the plain meaning of the term “individual” provided in the Torture Victim Protection Act (“TVPA), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the statute imposes liability on natural persons only and does not impose liability on organizations.
The petitioners sued the Palestinian Authority under the TVPA for the death of their relative, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was arrested, tortured, and killed by Palestinian Authority intelligence officers on his visit to the West Bank. The district court dismissed the case relying on the language of the TVPA, which provides a cause of action against “[a]n individual” for acts of torture and extrajudicial killing committed under authority or color of law of any foreign nation. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the district court’s findings. The petitioners then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari.
The Supreme Court declined the petitioners’ invitation to read the term “individual” broadly, concluding instead: “The text of the TVPA convinces us that Congress did not extend liability to organizations, sovereign or not. There are no doubt valid arguments for such an extension. But Congress has seen fit to proceed in more modest steps in the Act, and it is not the province of this Branch to do otherwise.”
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario