Yahoo! Being Sued Over Chinese Human Rights Abuse

Wang Xiaonig, and additional unnamed plaintiffs, is suing Yahoo! because he is being imprisoned by the Chinese government, stemming from a 2003 conviction on charges of “incitement to subvert state power,” for which he received a ten-year prison sentence. Wang was distributing literature in support of democratic reforms in China. Yahoo! provided the Chinese government with email records, email messages, and other identifying information related to Wang. The plaintiffs brought their action in Federal District Court, claiming, inter alia, violations of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), 28 U.S.C. § 1350 and Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA), 28 U.S.C. § 1350. Plaintiff’s, in their complaint, contend they,

 

“are being subjected to grave violations of some of the most universally recognized standards of international law, including prohibitions against torture, cruel, inhuman, or other degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention, and forced labor, for exercising their rights of freedom of speech, association, and assembly, at the hands of Defendants through Chinese officials acting under color of law in the People’s Republic of China.”

Yahoo! seeks to have the suit dismissed under the political question doctrine – similar to the dismissal in the case of Corrie v. Caterpillar – in that litigating this case calls into question the sovereign rights of China, and U.S. foreign policy relating to China. Yahoo! stated, the “claims in this case directly implicate the propriety of actions taken by the Chinese government.”

The Chinese people have seen fit to be governed by regime opposed to free speech. Yahoo! cooperated with government authorities when it released the information about Wang, much in the same way Yahoo!, AOL, and other internet companies comply with American law enforcement agencies in disclosing information about violations of the law, e.g., child pornography. How is it that a civil court in the United States should determine the propriety of a foreign sovereign’s laws? It is, however, a just and laudable cause for the United States Nonetheless, the same desire becomes quixotic when pursued through ludicrous means such as civil suits. to lobby the Chinese government to provide greater freedoms for its citizens.

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