Human Rights
FOIA Case Seeking the Trump Administration’s Legal Justification for Deadly Boat Strikes
The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) authored a legal opinion that reportedly claims to justify the Trump administration’s illegal lethal strikes on civilians in boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. Media reports indicate that, in addition to claiming that the strikes are lawful acts in an alleged “armed conflict” with unspecified drug cartels, the OLC opinion also purports to immunize personnel who authorized or took part in the strikes from future criminal prosecution. Because the public deserves to know how our government is justifying these illegal strikes, and why they think the people who carried them out should not be held accountable, the ACLU is seeking immediate release of the OLC legal opinion and related documents pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.
Status: Ongoing
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Washington, D.C.
Jun 2019
Human Rights
Weir v. U.S.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in June 2019 against the United States and the head of the U.S. Coast Guard on behalf of four Jamaican fishermen, who were forcibly removed from their fishing boat and detained for over a month at sea on four U.S. Coast Guard ships in patently inhumane conditions.
All Cases
27 Human Rights Cases
Court Case
Jul 2012
Human Rights
Case Profile - Petition Alleging Violations of the Human Rights of Undocumented Workers by the United States of America
In 2002, the Supreme Court decided Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc vs. NLRB, which found that an undocumented worker who was unlawfully fired for engaging in union organizing activities was not entitled to the back-pay that another "documented" worker would receive.
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Court Case
Jul 2012
Human Rights
Case Profile - Petition Alleging Violations of the Human Rights of Undocumented Workers by the United States of America
In 2002, the Supreme Court decided Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc vs. NLRB, which found that an undocumented worker who was unlawfully fired for engaging in union organizing activities was not entitled to the back-pay that another "documented" worker would receive.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2012
Human Rights
Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.
Whether aliens who suffered severe human rights abuses abroad can sue those responsible for the abuses in federal court under the Alien Tort Statute.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2012
Human Rights
Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.
Whether aliens who suffered severe human rights abuses abroad can sue those responsible for the abuses in federal court under the Alien Tort Statute.
Court Case
Mar 2012
Human Rights
National Security
Petition to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Regarding Torture and Abuse of Prisoners by U.S. Military in Afghanistan and Iraq
In March 2012 the ACLU filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) against the U.S. on behalf of three Afghanis and three Iraqis who were tortured while held by the American military at detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2004. They were part of a group of men that in 2005 sued then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and three senior military officials in federal court for their torture and abuse. That case was summarily dismissed on immunity grounds before reaching the merits.
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Court Case
Mar 2012
Human Rights
National Security
Petition to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Regarding Torture and Abuse of Prisoners by U.S. Military in Afghanistan and Iraq
In March 2012 the ACLU filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) against the U.S. on behalf of three Afghanis and three Iraqis who were tortured while held by the American military at detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2004. They were part of a group of men that in 2005 sued then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and three senior military officials in federal court for their torture and abuse. That case was summarily dismissed on immunity grounds before reaching the merits.
Court Case
Feb 2012
Human Rights
Women's Rights
Case Profile - Sabbithi, et al. v. Al Saleh, et al.
The suit charges the country of Kuwait and a Kuwaiti diplomat and his wife with trafficking three women and forcing them to work as domestic employees and childcare workers against their will under slavery-like conditions.
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Court Case
Feb 2012
Human Rights
Women's Rights
Case Profile - Sabbithi, et al. v. Al Saleh, et al.
The suit charges the country of Kuwait and a Kuwaiti diplomat and his wife with trafficking three women and forcing them to work as domestic employees and childcare workers against their will under slavery-like conditions.
Court Case
Nov 2010
Human Rights
Women's Rights
CEDAW: The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
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Court Case
Nov 2010
Human Rights
Women's Rights