In US and Ecuadorian courts, farmers have sued DynCorp (a private contractor the US and Colombian government authorised under a plan to eradicate drug production) for its widespread use of toxic anti-drug sprays which caused local farmers severe physical and property damage.
In US courts, Jordanian-based Arab Bank were found liable for providing financial services to terrorist organisations and ordered to compensate victims.
In US courts, Indian farmers are currently bringing an action against IFC, an international financial institution, for its investment in a coal mine which caused severe environmental damage to their lands.
In Brazil, prosecutors have filed homicide charges against top executives of BHP Billiton, a mining giant, for the collapse of one of their dams which destroyed communities and killed 19 people.
After being subjected to forced labour by a multinational ship repair company, 3 exploited Cuban workers brought a civil case against the company before a US court and were awarded $80 million in compensation for their severe physical and psychological injuries.
In Kenya, a local community group came together and created a group called “Save Lamu” in response to environmental threats to their local area by a coal mine. They successfully challenged the licensing of a coal-fired power plant on the basis it was granted without a proper environmental impact assessment was conducted.
Families of victims who had been killed by the Peruvian army took a case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights complaining that an amnesty law, that prevented investigations of the killings, violated the right to life. The IACtHR held that the right to life required the Peruvian government to investigate killings by the state […]
Two civil society organisations, the IHRDA and WARDC, brought a case to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice on behalf of Mary Sunday. Mary Sunday was a Nigerian woman who was subjected to domestic violence by her husband, a policeman. She complained to local law enforcement authorities in Nigeria but they were unwilling to investigate […]
A Chinese environmental protection NGO was granted standing to bring a claim against a shipping company. They claimed the company was creating pollution during the process of unloading, washing and transporting iron ore. The case was resolved through mediation and the defendant was required to correct its environmental violations. This was the first public interest […]
In Bolivia and Ecuador, the constitution grants the environment (“Pachamama”) rights under Bolivian and Ecuadorian law. Similarly, national laws in New Zealand give similar rights to specific rivers and national parks. Whereas in the Philippines, “future generations” have been recognised as having the right to a healthy environment.
