Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Can Egypt’s communication giants be sued in the US for the blackout early in the revolution?

Egyptians may be able to sue Vodafone and Mobinil in US courts under a law that allows foreign citizens to bring legal claims to redress violations of international human rights law

Ahram Online
Yasmine Gado, Tuesday 24 May 2011

"Beginning on 28 January 2011, on the orders of former president Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s telecommunications giants Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat cut services, phones and the Internet for five days. Mubarak took the action to inhibit Egyptians' freedom to associate and organise, part of an overall terror campaign to suppress the revolt against his regime which also included killing protesters and torturing them in the Egyptian Museum.

In April, the Egyptian Centre for Housing Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of other plaintiffs against the three telecommunications companies (and a number of current and former Egyptian officials) seeking compensation for the damages they suffered due to the shutdown of communications. The case is ongoing.

An interesting question is whether any of these companies could also be sued in US courts. Non-US citizens may sue a corporation for compensation in US courts under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) for aiding and abetting violations of international law, including human rights law, occurring anywhere in the world. Not all human rights violations can be remedied under this law however; only those that are based on international norms which are universal and well-defined....."

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