MIAMI, FL - A federal appeals court has thrown out claims against Chiquita Brands International made by relatives of thousands of Colombians killed during years of civil war. The now dismissed lawsuit accused Chiquita of assisting in the killings by paying $1.7 million to the right-wing paramilitary group known as the AUC.
"We are gratified that the U.S. Court of Appeals has now agreed with us and the claims have been dismissed," said Chiquita spokesman Ed Loyd in an email statement, according to ABC News. "The decision reinforces what Chiquita has maintained from the beginning — that Chiquita is not responsible for the tragic violence that has plagued Colombia."
Chiquita, which formerly operated large banana plantations in Colombia through its Banadex subsidiary, has insisted that it was the victim of extortion and was forced to pay the AUC or face violence directed at its employees and assets in Colombia.
The civil war included a series of campaigns fought by the AUC and FARC. The AUC, Spanish for United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, was formed in 1997 to unite right-wing militias in order to battle the leftist guerrilla group FARC, Spanish for Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, according to ABC News. The campaign killed approximately 50,000 people, and the U.S. lists both the AUC and FARC as terrorist organizations.
Yesterday’s court decision to dismiss the lawsuit cited Kiobel vs. Royal Dutch Petroleum, a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that imposed limits on attempts by foreigners to use U.S. courts to seek damages against corporations for human rights abuses abroad.
In an emailed statement to Reuters, Loyd added, "The responsibility for the violent crimes committed in that country belongs to the perpetrators, not to the innocent people and companies they extorted.”
Attorneys for the estimated 4,000 Colombians could ask the full 11th Circuit or the Supreme Court to review the case.
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