HUMAN RIGHTS /
ANTI-TERRORISM
HUMAN RIGHTS LAWSUITS
In 1986, Kohn Swift filed the first human rights class action in United States and world history. The lawsuit against Ferdinand Marcos alleged the torture, summary execution, and engineered disappearance of almost 10,000 Filipinos under Marcos’s command. The case resulted in a $2 billion judgment affirmed on appeal, providing compensation for torture victims and the families of executed and disappeared citizens.
The jurisprudence that grew out of the Marcos case gave rise to class action lawsuits the firm brought on behalf of Holocaust victims. The cases resulted in the liability of Swiss, German, and Austrian companies for complicity in financial abuses against the victims— and in Holocaust case settlements totaling $7.5 billion. The firm was a principal negotiator in those settlements.
Additional Kohn Swift human rights lawsuits include actions against:
- 69 Japanese corporations on behalf of more than 1,000 Korean forced laborers from World War II
- human rights abusers in Cuba and Ecuador
ANTI-TERRORISM FINANCE
Suing terrorists, although symbolic, is largely a fruitless exercise. Instead, Kohn Swift and the firms it works with have focused on actions against banks and others who provide funding to the terrorists thus providing a real chance at recovery for the victims.
For example, Linde v. Arab Bank, PLC, sought damages for American terrorism attack victims and their families due to Arab Bank’s channeling of financial support to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations through payments to so-called charitable organization affiliates, and to families of suicide bombers.
Since Linde, Kohn Swift has continued to file cases on behalf of American victims and their families who were harmed in Israel. In addition, Kohn Swift sued Chiquita Brands International, Inc., for payments to the Colombian terrorist organization FARC on behalf of the families of five missionaries who were kidnapped and eventually killed by FARC in Colombia.
REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS AND ANTI-TERRORISM MATTERS
FIRST VERDICT
AGAINST BANK
FOR AIDING
TERRORISM
LINDE v. ARAB BANK, PLC In July 2004, Arab Bank, PLC was sued on behalf of American terror victims in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The lawsuit was the first civil lawsuit brought against Arab Bank under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The Plaintiffs sought to hold Arab Bank liable for deaths and severe injuries resulting from acts of international terrorism that Palestinian terrorist groups perpetrated between 2000 and 2004, during the Second Intifada…
HOLDING
COMPANIES
ACCOUNTABLE
FOR AIDING
TERRORISTS
JULIN, ET AL. V CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL, INC. In March 2008, Chiquita Brands International, Inc. was sued on behalf of American terror victims in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the families of five missionaries who were kidnapped and subsequently murdered in two separate incidents by the Colombian terrorist organization Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).
PURSUING
LIABILITY
FOR BANKS
THAT AID
TERRORISTS
MILLER, ET AL., V ARAB BANK In April 2018, Arab Bank, PLC was sued on behalf of American terror victims in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The lawsuit was brought against Arab Bank under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Like the first suit brought against Arab Bank, Linde v. Arab Bank (link), these Plaintiffs seek to hold Arab Bank liable for deaths and severe injuries resulting from acts of international terrorism that Palestinian terrorist groups, who are alleged to have received funds through Arab Bank…
FIGHTING FOR
VICTIMS OF
UNSPEAKABLE
BRUTALITY
First Human Rights
Class Action
in World History
IN RE FERDINAND E. MARCOS HUMAN RIGHTS LITIGATION, 25 F.3d 1467 (9th Cir. 1994) HILAO V. ESTATE OF FERDINAND MARCOS This case was the first class action human rights case in U.S. and world history. The class consisted of 10,000 victims (or heirs) of torture, summary execution, or disappearance. The defendant was the former President of the Philippines. The case was tried before a jury in Hawaii, resulting in a $2 billion judgment which was affirmed on appeal….
REPARATION
FOR HOLOCAUST
VICTIMS
$7.5 Billion Recovered
for More than
2 Million People
HOLOCAUST SWISS BANK LITIGATION, EUROPEAN INSURANCE HOLOCAUST LITIGATION, AUSTRIAN BANK HOLOCAUST LITIGATION In the late 1990’s, Robert Swift was lead counsel in multiple lawsuits brought on behalf of Holocaust victims, suing banks and insurance companies which profited from the fiscal exploitation of Jews and other groups. These groundbreaking cases sought compensation for classes of victims of financial abuses and forced and slave labor committed during World War II….
Kohn Swift’s human rights lawyers pioneered legal concepts to compensate human rights victims. Until the Marcos case, which began in 1986, human rights victims had never received court-awarded compensation. The firm continues to fight on behalf of people harmed by violations of their most basic rights and has won many victories for harms that occurred all over the world.
Kohn Swift’s lawyers have fought for the rights of clients injured by a wide variety of human rights violations and terrorist attacks across the globe. If you or a family member believe you may have a human rights or anti-terrorism claim, contact Kohn Swift today. We will evaluate your case without charge.
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