Vine v. Republic of Iraq
| Decision Date | 07 September 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. Civ.A. 03-00691(HHK).,No. Civ.A. 01-02674(HHK).,No. Civ.A. 03-00888(HHK).,Civ.A. 01-02674(HHK).,Civ.A. 03-00691(HHK).,Civ.A. 03-00888(HHK). |
| Citation | 459 F.Supp.2d 10 |
| Parties | James S. VINE, et al., Plaintiffs, v. REPUBLIC OF IRAQ, Defendant. Robert Simon, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Republic of Iraq, et al., Defendants. Nabil Seyam, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Republic of Iraq, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Daniel Wolf, Steven Michael Sprenger, Sprenger & Lang, P.L.L.C., Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.
Lawrence Hedrick Martin, Foley Hoag LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants.
These three consolidated actions all challenge the conduct of the Republic of Iraq ("Iraq") during the period prior to the first Gulf War in 1990. Plaintiffs in all three cases allege that, during the course of its invasion of the State of Kuwait, Iraq unlawfully took plaintiffs hostage and, in some cases, tortured them. Before the court are defendants'1 motions to dismiss, filed in these cases prior to consolidation. Upon consideration of defendants' motions, the oppositions thereto, and the record of the case, the court concludes that defendants' motions should be granted in Civil Actions 03-000691 and 03-00888 and granted in part and denied in part in Civil Action 01-02674.
The facts underlying this consolidated action as alleged by plaintiffs are as follows. On August 2, 1990, Iraqi armed forces invaded Kuwait, seizing control of the country. Immediately thereafter, Saddam Hussein, then-President of Iraq, issued a directive prohibiting all foreign nationals, including more than 2,000 American citizens, from leaving Iraq and Kuwait. In both countries, American citizens were denied access to their passports, refused exit visas, and physically prevented from leaving the cities of Baghdad and Kuwait City by the use of roadblocks. Approximately two weeks later, Hussein ordered all American citizens to report to hotels in those two cities. Those who obeyed his order, as well as others captured by Iraqi authorities, were forcibly relocated to strategic sites in Iraq where they served as "human shields" to prevent an attack by the allied forces. Additionally, a large number of Americans sought safe haven from Iraqi military forces by seeking refuge in either diplomatic properties or in private residences and "safehouses" throughout Kuwait and Iraq.
On August 19, 1990, President George H.W. Bush declared that all United States citizens in Kuwait and Iraq, regardless of whether they were in the physical custody of Iraqi forces, were "hostages" because they were being used by Hussein as leverage to prevent the United States and its allies from attacking Iraq and liberating Kuwait. President Bush demanded that Hussein release all American citizens and warned that the Iraqi government would be responsible for their safety and well-being.
By the end of August, Hussein authorized the release of all American women and children and several American male hostages with serious medical conditions. At the same time, Hussein promised to release the remaining hostages in exchange for a promise from the United States not to attack Iraq. The United States refused to accede to Hussein's demands and repeated its call for the release of all American citizens in Kuwait and Iraq.
On September 1, 1990, as a result of the illegal seizure and detention of American citizens in Kuwait and Iraq, the U.S. Department of State designated Iraq a "terrorist state" under 50 U.S.C. § 2405(j).
Between September 1, 1990, and December 1990, Hussein intermittently permitted the release of small groups of the remaining male hostages for medical and "humanitarian" purposes. The hostage situation ultimately came to an end in the second week of December 1990 when Hussein ordered the release of the last group of approximately 250 American hostages.
During their captivity, the American hostages were subject to conditions of confinement that were "harsh, cruel, degrading, and often terrorizing." Vine Third Am. Compl. (Civ. No. 01-2674) ("Vine TAC") ¶ 4. These hostages "lived in constant fear for their lives and suffered from fatigue, depression, severe anxiety and stress, and the loss of the companionship of their loved ones." Id.
In 1999, a class action was filed on behalf of hundreds of the American citizens, and their spouses, who were held hostage by Iraq. Hill v. Republic of Iraq, Civ. No. 99-3346 (D.D.C.) (Jackson, J.). Iraq failed to appear in this action, and the case proceeded by default before Judge Jackson. On June 29, 2001, Judge Jackson denied the Hill plaintiffs' motion for class certification. Subsequently, on December 5, 2001, Judge Jackson imposed a moratorium on the addition of new plaintiffs and assertedly informed plaintiffs' counsel that any other former hostages who wished to bring claims against Iraq would have to file a separate suit.
Three weeks later, having been precluded from participating in the Hill litigation, plaintiffs in one of the consolidated cases in this matter, Vine, et al. v. Republic of Iraq, Civ. No. 01-2674 (D.D.C.), filed their complaint.2 The third amended complaint in Vine, which includes class action allegations, names 236 plaintiffs, all of Whom were either taken hostage by Iraq in 1990 and/or were spouses of individuals who were taken hostage.3
In 2003, two more related cases were filed in this jurisdiction. The first, Simon, et at v. Republic of Iraq, et al., Civ. No. 03-691 (D.D.C.), involves allegations that two individuals — Robert Simon, a CBS News reporter, and Roberto Alvarez, a cameraman working for CBS News — were illegally seized and subsequently tortured by Iraqi officials in 1991. The second, Seyam, et al. v. Republic of Iraq, et al., Civ. No. 03-888 (D.D.C.), involves similar allegations by plaintiff Nabil Seyam. The three suits were consolidated in May 2005.
As a general rule, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA"), enacted in 1976, establishes that foreign states (including "a political subdivision of a foreign state or an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state," 28 U.S.C. § 1603(a)), are immune from suit in courts in the United States. 28 U.S.C. § 1604.4 A limited number of exceptions to this general rule of immunity are enumerated. Id. § 1605. The most recent of the exceptions, and the one implicated in this case, provides that a foreign state "shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of courts of the United States or of the States in any case" where "money damages are sought against a foreign state for personal injury or death that was caused by an act of torture, extra judicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, or the provision of material support or resources ... for such an act." Id. § 1605(a)(7).
In order for this so-called "state-sponsored terrorism exception" to apply, three criteria must be satisfied: (1) the foreign state must be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism at the time of the terrorist act or as a result of the terrorist act; (2) the foreign state must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to arbitrate the claim if the act occurred within the foreign state against which the claim has been brought; and (3) either the claimant or the victim must have been a national of the United States at the time of the terrorist act. Id. § 1605(a)(7)(A),(B); see also Cicippio-Puleo v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 353 F.3d 1024, 1028-29 (D.C.Cir.2004).
Section 1605(a)(7) of FSIA is "merely a jurisdiction-conferring provision that does not otherwise provide a cause of action against either a foreign state or its agents." Cicippio-Puleo, 353 F.3d at 1032. To determine what causes of action, if any, may be pressed against a nonimmune foreign state, FSIA directs courts to pre-existing causes of action. Specifically, § 1606 of FSIA provides, in relevant part:
As to any claim for relief with respect to which a foreign state is not entitled to immunity ..., the foreign state shall be liable in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances.
28 U.S.C. § 1606. Based on this language, "a plaintiff should be able to bring a cause of action under state or common law, federal statutes (where Congress has not indicated otherwise), and even possibly the law of a foreign country in a Section 1605(a)(7) case, as long as the plaintiff would be able to bring such a claim against an individual in similar circumstances." Holland v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40254, at *35-36 (D.D.C. Oct. 31, 2005).
Iraq argues that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the claims of at least 170 of the plaintiffs in the Vine litigation, contending that the state-sponsored terrorism exception does not apply to the claims of those plaintiffs because they were not taken "hostage" as FSIA defines that term. Iraq correctly states that the state-sponsored terrorism exception embodied in 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7) "does not abrogate the sovereign immunity of nations the Department of State has designated state sponsors of terrorism for any and all purposes." Def.'s Mot. (Civ. No. 01-2674) at 4. Rather, § 1605(a)(7) only waives the immunity of such states with respect to claims "for personal injury or death that was caused by an act or torture, extra judicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, or the provision of material support or resources ... for such an act." 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7).
The Vine plaintiffs do not allege that their claims arise from acts of "torture," "extra judicial killing," or "aircraft sabotage." Rather, their claims all arise from the "hostage taking" that occurred when Saddam Hussein's regime assertedly detained them at the outbreak of hostilities between Kuwait and Iraq in 1990. Hostage...
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