US mining co cleared in landmark rights case

ALABAMA - US coal company Drummond was acquitted of liability over the killing of three union leaders in 2001 at a mine it operates in Colombia in what legal experts viewed as a landmark case.

The jury in the civil trial rejected the plaintiffs' accusation that privately held Drummond Co. Inc. gave support to right-wing paramilitaries who carried out the killings and was thus liable for the deaths.

The families' lawyers said Drummond hired the masked gunmen who killed Drummond employees Valmore Locarno and Victor Orcasita in March 2001 and Gustavo Soler seven months later.

The case was based on a 1789 law that has been revived to sue transnational companies for rights abuses and if Drummond had been found liable it could have set a precedent for US companies accused of human rights violations abroad.

"This is the first case to actually go to trial using the Alien Tort Statute violations to go to court against a corporation," said Rusty Johnson, attorney for the plaintiffs, referring to the 1789 law.

- REUTERS