As citizens of an increasingly interconnected world, it is critical that all nations, the United States especially, recognize and incorporate the norms of international law into their systems of justice. CCR pioneered the use of the Alien Tort Statute to prosecute human rights abuses committed abroad in U.S. courts and has created a body of law that helps to hold foreign officials and corporations accountable to the public. We have also brought cases against U.S. officials in foreign courts under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction, which is based in the belief that some crimes are so heinous that they defy national boundaries.
Last week, President Obama released four torture authorization memos written by the Office of Legal Counsel…