Mousa v. Islamic Republic of Iran

Decision Date19 September 2001
Docket NumberNo. 00-2096(WBB).,00-2096(WBB).
Citation238 F.Supp.2d 1
PartiesLeah S. MOUSA, Plaintiff, v. The ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al., Defendants
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Columbia

John W. Karr, Karr & Allison, P.C., Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

BRYANT, District Judge.

This action arises from an act of state-sponsored terrorism by a foreign state officially designated by the U.S. Department of State to be a state sponsor of terrorism. Defendants have not entered an appearance in this matter. This Court entered default on December 26, 2000, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1608(d) and Fed.R.Civ.P. § 55(a). As with actions against the federal government, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) requires that a default judgment against a foreign state be entered only after a plaintiff "establishes his claim or right to relief by evidence that is satisfactory to the Court." 28 U.S.C. § 1608(e); see also Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran, et al., 999 F.Supp. 1, 6 (D.D.C.1998).

Plaintiff has brought this action pursuant to the FSIA, which establishes federal court jurisdiction over foreign states and their officials, agents and employees in certain enumerated instances. In particular, the FSIA creates a federal cause of action for personal injury or wrongful death resulting from acts of state-sponsored terrorism. See Sutherland v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 151 F.Supp.2d 27 (D.D.C.2001); Daliberti v. Republic of Iraq, 97 F.Supp.2d 38 (D.D.C. 2000); Jenco v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 154 F.Supp.2d 27 (D.D.C.2001); Elahi v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 124 F.Supp.2d 97 (D.D.C.2000); Eisenfeld v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 172 F.Supp.2d 1 (D.D.C. 2000); Anderson v. The Islamic Republic of Iran, 90 F.Supp.2d 107 (D.D.C.2000); Cicippio v. The Islamic Republic of Iran, 18 F.Supp.2d 62 (D.D.C.1998); Alejandre v. Republic of Cuba, 996 F.Supp. 1239 (S.D.Fla.1997).

I. Findings of Fact

The Court heard testimony on September 4 and 5, 2001. Plaintiff proceeded in a bench trial, and the following findings of fact are based on the sworn testimony and documents entered into evidence in accordance with the Federal Rules of Evidence. Plaintiff has "established [her] claim or right of relief by evidence that is satisfactory to the Court," as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1608(e). The Court finds the following facts to be established by clear and convincing evidence, which would have been sufficient to establish a prima facie case in a contested proceeding:

(1) Plaintiff Leah S. Mousa is an American citizen who was born and raised in New York; she currently lives in Israel with her husband.

(2) On February 25, 1996, Ms. Mousa boarded the Number 18 Egged bus in Jerusalem, Israel, and was on that bus when it was bombed by a terrorist.

(3) At or about 6:45 a.m., as the bus came to a stop on Jaffa Street at its intersection with Sarae Yisrael Street, Magid Warda, a passenger on the bus, detonated explosives which, at the direction of HAMAS, he had carried onto the bus concealed in a travel bag, resulting in a complete destruction of the bus, the deaths of 25 people and severe injuries to 11 others, including the plaintiff. Shrapnel and debris were scattered for more than 100 yards.

(4) HAMAS immediately claimed credit for bombing the bus, a claim that was verified in confessions and other statements to Israeli police by Hassan Salameh, the HAMAS member who planned and organized the attack. Mr. Salameh later corroborated HAMAS' responsibility for the attack in an interview broadcast on a CBS Television News Program, 60 Minutes.

(5) HAMAS, the popular name for the Islamic Resistance Movement, is an organization supported by the defendant, Islamic Republic of Iran ("Iran") and dedicated to the waging of Jihad, which means "holy war" employing terrorism, with the objective of seizing the leadership of the Palestinian people and asserting sovereignty and the rule of its version of the Muslim religion over all of Palestine, which HAMAS contends includes all of the territory of the State of Israel.

(6) Iran supports terrorist and other activities of HAMAS, in monetary amounts ranging between $50 and $100 million per year, and did so prior to and at the time of the February 25, 1996, bombing at issue in this action. Iran saw an opportunity to disrupt the Israeli-Palestinian peace process then under way through terrorist actions. Iran has been identified both by Israel and by the Palestinian Liberation Organization as an instigator and supporter of terrorist activity, including the bombing in this case. Iran encourages terrorism, inter alia, through public statements by government representatives at weekly prayer meetings carried on Iranian television and reported in the Iranian press, encouraging and commending terrorist actions as important to the worldwide Muslim cause. Iran has characterized Israel and the United States as "satanic" and has expressly targeted both countries as the principal enemies of its cause. Iran published and broadcast threats of further bomb violence, between the February 25, 1996, bombing involved in this action and a second bombing by HAMAS of a Number 18 Egged bus on the same bus line exactly one week later, on March 4, 1996.

(7) The testimony of Dr. Reuven Paz and Dr. Patrick Clawson established conclusively that Iran and the other defendants knew of the destructive purposes and objectives of HAMAS, which were set forth in detail in the Charter of Hamas, introduced into evidence as plaintiff's Exhibit 9.

(8) The conclusions of Dr. Paz and Dr. Clawson that Iran had provided material support for the terrorist activities of HAMAS was confirmed by the statements and confessions of Hassan Salameh to the Israeli police after his capture and to a CBS reporter during a 60 Minutes interview in which Mr. Salameh appeared relaxed and satisfied with his supervision of the murders of 50 people and substantial injuries to dozens more. In his confessions and explanatory statements, Mr. Salameh explained that after joining HAMAS, he was sent to Iran, via Sudan and Syria, where he was transported by Iranian aircraft to a military base near Tehran that was garrisoned and operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Osamah Hamdan, the official representative of HAMAS in Iran, met him in Tehran. For three months, Mr. Salameh was trained at that military base by Iranian military instructors, assisted by translators, in the use of explosives, automatic weapons, hand grenades, use of R.P.G. and L.A.W. missiles, terrorist methods of ambush, deactivation of land mines for extraction of explosive material, and trigger mechanisms for various explosive devices. He sketched out two such mechanisms, one of which was used in an operation at Gush Qatif in the Gaza Strip in 1995. According to his statements, all of his training in the use of explosives was provided in Iran by members of the Iranian military. Mr. Salameh also noted meeting in Iran with Mohammed Deif, commander of the military, terrorist wing of HAMAS. Following completion of his training in Iran, Mr. Salameh was sent back to Israel to carry out the series of terrorist attacks to which he confessed, including the explosion of the Number 18 Egged bus on February 25, 1996.

(9) Defendant, Islamic Republic of Iran, is a foreign state and has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism pursuant to section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, 50 U.S.C.App. § 2405(j) continuously since January 19, 1984. Dr. Clawson testified that Iran was, in February, 1996, and is today, the principal state sponsor of terrorism in the world.

(10) Dr. Paz and Dr. Clawson testified that defendants Ayatollah Ali Hoseini Khamenei, Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, and Ali Fallahian-Kuzestani were high officials of Iran on February 25, 1996, whose knowledge and approval would have been necessary to carry out Iran's financing and support of HAMAS and Iran's training of HAMAS terrorists in Iran.

(11) Defendant, The Iranian Ministry of Information and Security, is the Iranian intelligence service, functioning both within and beyond Iranian territory. Acting as an agent of Iran, the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security performed acts within the scope of its agency, within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7) and 28 U.S.C.A. § 1605 note, which caused the severe injuries to Ms. Mousa, in that this defendant acted as a conduit for Iran's provision of funds to HAMAS and training to the terrorists, including Hassan Salameh.

(12) The injuries to Ms. Mousa were caused by a willful and deliberate act of terrorism, not authorized by a court judgment, in that those injuries were the result of an explosion of a bomb carried aboard the Number 18 Egged bus on February 25, 1996, and intentionally detonated by Majid Warda at approximately 6:45 a.m., acting under instructions from Hassan Salameh, who was acting as an official and agent of HAMAS. This bombing would not have occurred but for the encouragement, involvement and assistance of Iran.

(13) As a result of the explosion, Ms. Mousa was thrown approximately 25 feet from the bus onto the opposite side of the intersecting streets. Most of her face and parts of her body were burned, and her face was covered with blood, broken glass and debris. She remembers experiencing extreme terror immediately before the explosion, when a young man on the bus rose and yelled Allah Akbar ("God is great"). She has a memory from the moment of explosion of the extreme, searing pain associated with the shattering of both eardrums, and described it as the worst pain she could imagine.

(14) Ms. Mousa's body was found by paramedic David Sofer. Thinking she was dead due to the appearance of her external injuries and lack of movement, he turned from her to determine which of the other victims needed immediate attention, when a movement of Ms. Mousa caught Mr. Sofer's attention and he rushed to her assistance.

(15) Ms....

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