Brief Urges Court to Recognize Aiding-and-Abetting Liability Under the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA)
WASHINGTON — DiCello Levitt has filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cisco Systems, Inc., et al. v. Doe I et al. (No. 24-856), a landmark human rights case addressing corporate accountability for alleged involvement in torture and religious persecution abroad. A copy of the amicus brief is available here.
The case was brought by victims of religious persecution in China who allege that Cisco Systems provided surveillance and monitoring technology used by the Chinese government to identify, track, and torture members of disfavored religious groups. At issue before the Court is whether the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (TVPA) permits civil liability not only for those who directly commit acts of torture, but also for those who knowingly aid and abet such abuses.
The amicus brief was filed on behalf of Human Rights First, Michael H. Posner, and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, in support of the respondents. Drawing on international law, statutory text, and legislative history, the brief argues that the TVPA must be read to include aiding-and-abetting liability because it was enacted to implement the United States’ obligations under the Convention Against Torture (CAT).
“The TVPA was designed to ensure that victims of torture have a meaningful civil remedy,” said Scott Gilmore, a partner at DiCello Levitt and counsel of record for the amici. “That remedy would be hollow if liability stopped at the person wielding the instrument of torture while ignoring the actors who knowingly enabled it. International law is clear: complicity in torture is itself a grave violation, and Congress intended U.S. law to reflect that reality.”
Central to the brief’s argument is the Supreme Court’s longstanding Charming Betsy doctrine, which instructs courts to interpret U.S. statutes consistently with international law obligations wherever possible. Because the CAT expressly requires both criminal and civil liability for “complicity or participation in torture,” the amici argue that the TVPA must be construed in harmony with that mandate.
The brief further explains that the CAT’s remedial purpose — ensuring fair compensation and rehabilitation for victims — would be undermined if those who substantially assist torture could evade accountability simply because they were not the direct perpetrators.
The DiCello Levitt team assisting with the amicus brief includes Scott Gilmore, James Crisafulli, and Nicole Arenth.
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