Suits Against Terrorist States by Victims of Terrorism
Abstract
In 1996 Congress amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to allow U.S. victims of terrorism to sue the states responsible for terrorist acts. That politically popular initiative has subsequently become very complex. The terrorist state defendants have refused to appear in court, the courts have handed down large default judgements, the Clinton and Bush Administrations have intended to block various steps to collect on those judgments. and Congress has repeatedly enacted measures intended to facilitate payment. Further complexity has been added by attempts in one suit to abrogate an international agreement, the enactment of retaliatory legislation in some of the terrorist states, the second Gulf War, and a recent proposal to compensate victims through an administrative process. This report provides an overview of this complex issue; gives background on the doctrine of state immunity and the FSIA; details the evolution of the terrorist state exception enacted in 1996 and the judicial decisions that have followed; describes the proposals subsequently made and statutes enacted to help claimants obtain satisfaction of their judgements; sets forth the legal and policy arguments that have been made for and against those legislative initiatives; describes the decision in the hostages' suit against Iran and Congress' efforts to vitiate the Algiers Accords; summarizes what has happened with Iraq's assets; and describes S. 1275. The report also contains two appendices: Appendix I lists the cases covered by section 2002 as amended, the amount of compensation that has been paid in each case, and the source of the compensation. Appendix II lists the amount of the assets of each terrorist state currently blocked by the United States. The report will be updated as events warrant.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA481704
Entities
People
- David M. Ackerman
Organizations
- Library of Congress