Appeals court hears case against Caterpillar for deaths and injuries in Palestinian home demolitions

topic : Caterpillar | Palestine | Rachel Corrie

July 9, 2007, Seattle -- Today the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard Corrie et al. v. Caterpillar, a case charging Caterpillar, Inc. with aiding and abetting war crimes and other serious human rights violations on the grounds that the company provided bulldozers to Israel knowing they would be used unlawfully to demolish homes and endanger civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (opt). The case was brought by the parents of Rachel Corrie and four Palestinian families whose family members were killed or injured when Caterpillar bulldozers demolished their homes. Corrie, a 23-year-old American peace activist and student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, was killed March 16, 2003, in the Gaza Strip by a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer while protecting a home from illegal demolition.

"More than four years after Rachel's death, my family and I are still searching for justice," said Rachel's mother, Cindy Corrie. "My daughter was a peaceful activist trying to protect others, and her brutal killing should never have happened. Our family condemns all attacks on civilians. We believe Caterpillar must be held accountable for their role in the attack on my daughter Rachel and for those on Palestinian civilians whose homes were demolished with them inside."

Caterpillar provided the D9 bulldozers to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), knowing they would be used to unlawfully destroy civilian homes. Since the year 2000, the IDF has used Caterpillar bulldozers to destroy more than 4,000 Palestinian homes, leaving thousands of individuals homeless in the process. The Caterpillar D9 bulldozer is over 13 feet tall and 26 feet wide, weighs more than 60 tons with its armored plating, and can raze houses in a matter of minutes.

Much of the world community, including international human rights organizations and the United Nations, has consistently condemned these demolitions as a clear violation of international humanitarian law. For years, Caterpillar has had notice that the IDF was using its D9 bulldozers for human rights violations, yet has continued to provide them.

The case was argued today by the renowned scholar and professor Erwin Chemerinsky, Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science, Duke University School of Law.

Gwynne L. Skinner, founder of the Public Interest Law Group, pllc, and currently Visiting Clinical Professor of Law in the International Human Rights Clinic at Seattle University School of Law filed the case on behalf of the plaintiffs along with the Center for Constitutional Rights. Skinner said, "The court should reinstate this important human rights case. Aiding and abetting the destruction of civilian homes where there is simply no military necessity is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law. It is especially tragic when civilians are not given proper notice and the demolitions occur while they are still inside -- sometimes in the middle of the night -- leading to death and injuries, often of children and the disabled who cannot escape. Caterpillar has continually said it cannot control what the IDF does with the bulldozers, but that is not the standard corporations are held against -- it is whether they give knowing assistance that has a substantial effect on the commission of the violations."

The case was dismissed by Judge Franklin D. Burgess in the Western District of Washington in November 2005. The Court of Appeals today heard oral arguments on whether the case should proceed while supporters gathered outside the courthouse.

Maria LaHood, Senior Attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said, "Caterpillar must be held accountable for selling its D9 bulldozers to Israel knowing they would be used to unlawfully demolish homes. The families who courageously brought this case because their homes were demolished and their loved ones were killed or injured deserve justice -- no one should be above the law."

The plaintiffs are represented by the International Human Rights Clinic at Seattle University School of Law, the Seattle-based Public Interest Law Group, pllc, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.

About CCR

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is a non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights demonstrators in the South, CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

For more information, visit the following websites:

http://www.rachelcorriefoundation.org

http://www.ccr-ny.org

http://www.stopcat.org

http://www.catdestroyshomes.org

http://hrw.org/campaigns/gaza/cat

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engmde150332004

http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=158