9th Circuit Says Genocide Requires Specific Intent

In Abagninin v. AMVAC Chemical Corp., (9th Cir., Sept. 24, 2008), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a suit under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) that had been brought by workers in the Ivory Coast against manufacturers, distributors, and users of the pesticide DBCP. ATS allows suits in U.S. courts by an alien for a tort committed in violation of the law of nations or of a treaty of the United States. The suit charged that defendants committed genocide and crimes against humanity, claiming that they knew the pesticide would cause male sterility and low sperm counts. The court held that genocide is defined under customary international law as a specific intent crime. Relying on the definition of genocide in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the court held that genocide requires a specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Mere awareness of the likely consequences of an action is not enough. Yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle reports on the decision.