TerrorismU.S. district court dismisses 9/11 victims' case against Saudi Arabia

U.S. district judge George Daniels in Manhattan on Tuesday dismissed claims against Saudi Arabia by families of victims of the 9/11 attacks. The victims’ families accused the country of providing material support to al Qaeda.

Judge Daniels said Saudi Arabia had sovereign immunity from claims for damage by families of nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks, and from insurers which covered losses suffered by building owners and businesses.

“The allegations in the complaint alone do not provide this court with a basis to assert jurisdiction over defendants,” Daniels wrote.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the victims’ lawyers tried to strengthen their case with new allegations which were based on testimony they secured from Zacarias Moussaoui, a former al Qaeda operative who is now serving time for his role in the attacks.

Daniels said that even if he permitted the plaintiffs to add these new claims to their original charges, doing so would be “futile, however, because the additional allegations do not strip defendants of sovereign immunity.“

Lawyers for both the plaintiffs and for Saudi Arabia declined comment.

Most of the nineteen 9/11 attackers were Saudi nationals.

The case against Saudi Arabia has had a long and complicated history, with several trial judges, including Daniels, twice before ruling that Saudi Arabia was entitled to immunity under the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

In 2013, however, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York revived the lawsuit, in light of a 2011 decision that allowed similar claims to proceed against Afghanistan.

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. In December, Senators passed, by unanimous consent, an identical bill, but the House adjourned before taking up the measure. The bill’s sponsors said that the language is aimed at federal appellate court rulings which created uncertainty about when terror victims can sue (see “Bi-partisan Senate bill to make it easier for terrorism victims to sue foreign governments,” HSNW, 25 September 2015).

“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.”