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News & Updates

11th Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Favorable Opinion in our case against Drummond

On September 27, 2016, in Melo et al. v. Drummond Company Inc. et al., Case No 16-10921, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed in part and affirmed in part the District Court’s dismissal of claims brought by the heirs of 34 decedents they allege were murdered by members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (“AUC”) who were collaborating with Drummond. The case alleges that Drummond aided and abetted the AUC by providing it with significant financial support, logistical assistance, supplies and a safe haven so that the AUC would defeat FARC guerillas operating around Drummond’s coal mine and railroad line in Cesar Province, Colombia. The complaint alleges that Drummond in effect sided with the AUC in its violent war against the FARC and joined in the AUC’s war crimes and extrajudicial killings. The Colombian Plaintiffs welcome the renewed prospect of holding the Drummond Defendants accountable for their role in the brutal murders of Plaintiffs’ loved ones.

Case Update 09/27/2016

Coca Cola facing terrorism support charges in Colombia

Coca Cola is one of more than 50 companies facing terrorism support charges in Colombia. Among those companies are Chiquita and Drummond, both of which International Rights Advocates are actively litigating in US courts for their involvement in human rights violations in Colombia.

News 09/06/2016

Your Love for Bananas Could Have Supported Terrorism in Colombia

After it was determined in June 2016 that the court in the Southern District of Florida lacked personal jurisdiction in the Chiquita case, a hearing will take place before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation at the end of September 2016 to determine whether our case is to be transferred back to the US District Court for DC.

News 08/12/2016

John Doe I, et al. v. Nestle USA, Inc., et al.

Former child slaves of Malian origin who were trafficked and forced to work harvesting and/or cultivating cocoa beans on farms in Côte d’Ivoire, which supply cocoa beans to the Defendant companies, filed a complaint on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated former child slaves of Malian origin against Defendants: Nestlé, S.A., Nestlé, U.S.A., and Nestlé Côte d’Ivoire, S.A.; Cargill, Incorporated Cargill Cocoa, and Cargill West Africa, S.A. and Archer Daniels Midland Company for the forced labor and torture they suffered as a result of the wrongful conduct either caused and/or aided and abetted by these corporate entities. Plaintiffs assert claims for child slavery/forced labor, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, and torture under the ATS.