9/11Senate approves bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia
The Senate has approved a bill which would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi officials for damages. A 1976 law granting states sovereign immunity form such law suits has thwarted efforts by the families of 9/11 victims to use the courts, but the bill just approved by the Senate would circumvent the 1976 law by allowing lawsuits against governments of countries found to be involved in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. President Barack Obama has said he will veto the legislation.
The Senate has approved a bill which would allow the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi officials for damages.
Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Last week, John Lehman, former secretary of the navy and a member of the 9/11 Commission, said there was an “awful lot of circumstantial evidence” implicating several employees in the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs.
“There was an awful lot of participation by Saudi individuals in supporting the hijackers, and some of those people worked in the Saudi government,” he said.
A still-classified 28-page section of the 9/11 Commission report contains information implicating at least six Saudi officials in aiding the hijackers.
The BBC reports that the families have been trying to use the courts to hold accountable members of the Saudi royal family, Saudi banks, and Saudi charities. A 1976 law granting states sovereign immunity form such law suits has thwarted the families’ efforts.
The bill just approved by the Senate would circumvent the 1976 law by allowing lawsuits against governments of countries found to be involved in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. The House is yet to vote on the bill.
President Barack Obama has said he would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York), a co-sponsor of the bill, said it was overdue and that since it only applies to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, it did not risk lawsuits against the United States.
“Today the Senate has spoken loudly and unanimously that the families of victims of terrorist attacks should be able to hold the perpetrators, even if it’s a country, a nation, accountable,” Schumer told a news conference.
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), also a sponsor of the bill, said the bill did not target the Saudis – but added pointedly: “We have yet to see the 28 pages that have not been yet released about the 9/11 report, and that may well be instructive.”
