Asid Mohamad, Individually and for the Estate of Azzam Rahim, Deceased, et al., Petitioners v. Palestinian Authority et al. (566 U.S. 449)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 18, 2012 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 566 U.S. 449 · 132 S. Ct. 1702
- Decided
- April 18, 2012
- Term
- October Term 2011
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Sotomayor
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court. The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (TVPA or Act), 106 Stat. 73, note following 28 U. S. C. § 1350, authorizes a cause of action against “[a]n individual” for acts of torture and extrajudicial killing committed under authority or color of law of any foreign nation. We hold that the term “individual” as used in the Act encompasses only natural persons. Consequently, the Act does not impose liability against organizations. I Because this case arises from a motion to dismiss, we accept as true the allegations of the complaint. Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 563 U. S. 731, 734 (2011). Petitioners are the relatives of Azzam Rahim, who immigrated to the United States in the 1970⅛ and became a naturalized citizen. In 1995, while on a visit to the West Bank, Rahim was arrested by Palestinian Authority intelligence officers. He was taken to a prison in Jericho, where he was imprisoned, tortured, and ultimately killed. The following year, the U. S. Department of State issued a report concluding that Rahim “died in the custody of [Palestinian Authority] intelligence officers in Jericho.” Dept, of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995, Submitted to the House Committee on International Relations and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 104th Cong., 2d Sess., 1183 (Joint Committee Print 1996). In 2005', petitioners…
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