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From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Thu Jul 15 2010 - 00:54:40 EDT
Lawsuits on Terrorism Get Mixed Reaction at Hearing
Witnesses sparred at a congressional hearing today over the possible
consequences of a bill designed to open up litigation against foreign
officials accused of financing terrorism.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), would amend the
Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1974 to allow lawsuits in limited
circumstances. It is in part a response to a 2008 ruling by the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, affirming that Sept. 11 victims could not
sue the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and four of its princes over charitable
contributions that the plaintiffs said went to Al-Qaeda.
“The evidence is very, very forceful about the involvement of Saudi money
in promoting terrorism,” Specter said today in chairing a Senate
Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the issue. He said the threat of a
lawsuit could deter those considering financing terrorism.
John Bellinger III, who served as the U.S. State Department legal adviser
from 2005 to 2009, testified that the legislation could have unintended
effects. It could, for example, allow critics of U.S. foreign policy to
file lawsuits against U.S. officials or their allies, including Israel, he
said.
“It would be very easy to accuse Leon Panetta or Bob Gates of
orchestrating extrajudicial killings,” Bellinger said, adding that such
lawsuits would be without merit but could consume time and resources.
Bellinger is now a partner at Arnold & Porter.
Abraham Sofaer, the State Department legal adviser from 1985 to 1990, said
those concerns are overblown because it is clearly not Congress’ intent
to allow such lawsuits. Sofaer, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s
Hoover Institution, praised the legislation: “If we lived in a civilized
world, it would be one in which no Saudi prince or other prince could
safely fund the killing of innocent civilians in any other country.”
Click here for the witnesses’ written testimony.
Posted by David Ingram on July 14, 2010 at 12:32 PM in Other Courts,
Politics and Government , War on Terror
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/07/lawsuits-on-terrorism-get-mixed-reaction-at-hearing.html