TerrorismBi-partisan Senate bill to make it easier for terrorism victims to sue foreign governments

A bill sponsored by a bipartisan group of Senators and which was introduced last week would make it easier for victims of acts of terrorism to sue foreign governments and private-sector bodies financing and supporting terrorism.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the bill largely targets the government of Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf funders of terrorism funders. It has been advocated by victims of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The victims’ families have so far been frustrated in their effort to hold the Saudi government and Gulf individuals and charities accountable.

In December, Senators passed, by unanimous consent, an identical bill, but the House adjourned before taking up the measure.

The new bill has seventeen cosponsors, including Senators Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Chris Coons (D-Delaware).

“The bottom line is that victims of terror on American soil ought to have an ability to hold accountable the foreign powers and other entities that fund the hate-filled organizations that inflict injury and death on our fellow citizens,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), one of the bill’s sponsors. “Unfortunately, our courts have prevented that and allowed countries like Saudi Arabia that has provided financial support to terror-linked operations to escape any repercussions.”

In 2003, Saudi Arabia and several Islamic charities affiliated with the Saudi government were sued not only by families of the victims, but also by insurance companies which lost billions of dollars as a result of the 9/11 attacks. The plaintiffs claimed that the Saudi government and the charities supported al-Qaeda in the years leading to the 2001 attacks, and that that support facilitated al-Qaeda’s rise and provided the wherewithal for the nineteen 9/11 terrorists.

The Inquirer notes that the bill introduced last week would amend two laws, the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, to make clear that foreign governments and private-sector financiers which provide indirect support to terrorist organizations can be held liable in U.S. courts. Schumer and other sponsors said that the language is aimed at federal appellate court rulings which created uncertainty about when terror victims can sue.

The record of the initial 2003 lawsuit is mixed. U.S. District Judge Richard Conway Casey in Manhattan threw out the original claims against Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit first upheld Casey, but then reversed itself and reinstated Saudi Arabia as a defendant, sending the case back to the District Court.

Saudi Arabia has always rejected any responsibility for the attacks.

“The law has required 9/11 victims and families to endure three separate trips to the (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit) and three separate trips to the Supreme Court, only to find themselves back in District Court 14 years later,” said Sean Carter, a litigator with the Center City law firm of Cozen O’Connor, one of the firms suing Saudi Arabia. “It is incredibly important for Congress to intervene at this point to end the endless cycle of appeals.”