Filártiga v. Pena-Irala

Filártiga v. Pena-Irala is a landmark legal case from 1980 in which the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that U.S. courts could hear cases of human rights abuses committed abroad under the Alien Tort Statute. The case involved Paraguayan citizens who sought justice in the U.S. after a government official tortured and killed their family member in Paraguay. The Court ruled that international human rights violations, such as torture, can be prosecuted in U.S. courts, establishing the principle that certain violations of universal human rights are actionable regardless of where they occurred.