INTRODUCTION In 1980 a U.S. Appeals Court breathed new life into an ancient statute, the Alien Tort Statute, originally adopted in 1789. According to the Court, the Statute authorized private lawsuits by victims of human rights abuses under customary international law, such as torture, when directed against defendants who were not United States citizens. The Statute had been almost forgotten when it was invoked by the family of a torture victim to sue the torturer in New York. The case opened the court house door to many human rights victims who found the perpetrators of their abuse living in or visiting the United States. It was subsequently followed by other federal courts in cases against those who committed genocide or crimes against humanity in Rwanda, Ethiopia, Argentina, and parts of the former Yugoslavia.

Dolly M. E. FILARTIGA and Joel Filartiga,...