Human Rights Group Suing Yahoo Over Role in Chinese Torture Case
Washington Post: Advocates Sue Yahoo In Chinese Torture Case
By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Sam Diaz
23 April 2007 | Printer Friendly

The World Organization for Human Rights is attempting to sue Yahoo on behalf of Chinese internet activist Wang Xiaoning for “abetting the torture of pro-democracy writers by releasing data that allowed China’s government to identify them.”  Wang is current imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp “on charges that he incited subversion with online treatises criticizing the government.” 

The suit has been filed in a U.S. District Court in San Francisco under the 1789 Alien Tort Claims Act, “which the activists say grants jurisdiction to American courts over acts abroad that violate international norms.”  The article also indicates that this law was written “for a different purpose.” 

The Bush administration opposes using the Act in the manner in which the World Organization for Human Rights seeks.  Other critics say that it will hurt economic relations with other countries.  According to the article, companies must comply with the laws of the country they are doing business in, “or their employees could be subject to penalties.” 

A standard on “how involved in abuses a corporation has to be before it can be found liable” has not been set by the courts, and the Yahoo-Wang suit “could become an important test case.”