Murder charges against Alabama coal company dropped
An Alabama-based coal company was exonerated by a federal jury of charges it contributed to the 2001 murders of three union leaders at its coalmine in La Loma, Colombia. Drummond, which currently operates the largest open-pit mine in the world in Colombia, was the first company to be charged under the Alien Tort Statute, a 218 year-old law under which US companies can be sued for labor and human rights abuses in developing countries. The suit, brought forth by the United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Fund, charged Drummond with providing material support to paramilitary groups in Colombia in exchange for the murders of the union leaders.
See "Murder charges against Alabama coal company dropped", Kyle Whitmire, The New York Times, July 26, 2007