Foreign Nations May Have Civil Liability For Terrorist Activities Under RICO
A case reported out of the United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Norfolk Division on July 25, 2007, Rux v. Republic of Sudan, 2007 WL 2127210 (E.D.Va.), reminded me of the unique breadth of RICO. In Rux, the court referred to Southway v. Cent. Bank of Nigeria, 198 F.3d 1210, 1216 (10th Cir. 1999). The 10th Circuit held in Southway that the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) was enforceable against a foreign state by virtue of an exception contained in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976.
The Rux case arose from the October 12, 2000, terrorist bombing of the American warship U.S.S. Cole during a temporary refueling stop in the Port of Aden, Yemen, in which seventeen American sailors were killed. Plaintiffs, consisting of more than fifty surviving family members of the deceased sailors, allege that Defendant Republic of Sudan was liable for damages from the attack because it provided material support and assistance to Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization whose operatives planned and carried out the attack. Plaintiffs brought their action pursuant to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which establishes subject matter jurisdiction for personal injury or death resulting from acts of state-sponsored terrorism. Upon evidence adduced at a non-jury trial before this Court on March 13-14, 2007, the Court awarded judgment in favor of the plaintiffs in the total amount of $7,956,344.
As I have noted in previous posts, although some state racketeering acts provide a cause of action arising out of personal injuries, federal RICO does not. So, unlike in the Rux case, in order to recover damages under the federal civil RICO statute, a plaintiff must prove injury to his business or property “by reason of a violation of section 1962” of RICO. But, damage to business or property is often a result of terrorist criminal acts. Consequently, RICO may provide a remedy for those persons who suffer such losses because of terrorist activity, if the facts fit one of the exceptions in Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976.
