Legal News

Not Everyone?s Happy About Proposed Libya-U.S. Terrorism Settlement

By Dan Slater

The big international news of the afternoon: The Bush administration and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s government are close to reaching a comprehensive agreement to settle all outstanding claims tied to Libya-related terrorism from the 1980s, reports the WSJ’s Jay Solomon.

The agreement reportedly calls for Tripoli to make a single payment of more then $1 billion to a U.S. government-administered entity. That entity would oversee the compensation for victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other terrorist attacks tied to Gadhafi’s regime. Congress, in turn, is close to passing legislation that would allow President Bush to grant Libya a waiver from any future litigation tied to past terrorism acts. “If this passes…all of the victims could be paid out by the fall,” said Jim Kreindler (Dartmouth, Columbia law), whose law firm represents 130 victims of the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. “All the plaintiffs with legitimate claims are in favor of the agreement.” (Kreindler (Dartmouth, Columbia law) is also the co-chair of the 9/11 Plaintiffs’ Committee)

To be sure, a waiver from future litigation is no small concession, and some folks are pretty upset about it. Back in January, we noted that Henry Kennedy, a federal judge in D.C. ordered Libya and six of its officials to pay about $6 billion in damages to the families of seven Americans who were killed in the bombing of a French airplane — UTA 772 — in 1989. Crowell & Moring, led by Stuart Newberger, sued the Libyans pursuant to the “terrorism exception” of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act — a law that strips terrorist states of their immunity from lawsuits.

This afternoon, Crowell & Moring sent a letter to Capitol Hill, which includes the following passage:

We are the American families whose loved ones were murdered by Libya in September 1989 when Libyan agents placed a suitcase bomb on board UTA Flight 772 which blew up over the African desert on its way to Paris, killing all 170 innocent people on board. We speak out today to oppose passage of the “Libyan Claims Resolution” Bill pending before the House of Representatives.

Over seven years ago we filed a lawsuit under U.S. law to hold Libya accountable for this act of murder and aircraft sabotage, and to obtain a judicial award for fair compensation. Libya and its lawyers have vigorously defended the case from the beginning, and this past January 2008 the federal court in Washington, D.C. issued a judgment against the Libyan State, the only federal court judgment to be awarded against Libya in such cases. . . .

We, of course, support those who already have settled their claims against Libya and hope they achieve a full measure of justice — but any settlements by other victims should not be at the expense of those who have fought and won in the courts. The courts have decided that Libya carried out the UTA 772 attack, and has awarded us compensation under the rule of law. This Bill will invalidate the court’s judgment, and allow Libya to avoid a court judgment. This simply cannot be what Congress intends. We are optimistic that Congress will work with all U.S. victims of Libyan terrorism to enforce U.S. court judgments on their behalf.

Update: We just got a call from Stuart Newberger of Crowell & Moring, the lawyer for the UTA 772 victims, who explained the letter to Congress. “Our only purpose was to express concern to the Senate and the House and express that we hope they understand what they’re doing. They’re invalidating a federal court ruling where Libya has been held accountable for blowing up a jumbo jet and killing 170 innocent civilians.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 31, 2008 (boomark / email).