U.S. EMBASSY BOMBING

On 7 August 1998, Al Qaeda detonated two suicide truck bombing attacks on the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people and wounding over 4,500. Almost all of the victims were local citizens.

In January 2008, the US expanded the reach of the exclusions under the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act (FSIA) to include private action lawsuits against designated State Sponsors of Terrorism on behalf of non-US citizen victims, if the victim was a member of US Armed Forces, or an employee or contractor of the US government at the time of the attack.

In August 2008, MM~LAW and our co-counsel filed three lawsuits against the Republic of Sudan and the Islamic Republic of Iran (Wamai et al. v. Republic of Sudan et al., Amduso et al. v. Republic of Sudan et al., and Onsongo et. a. v. Republic of Sudan et al.) , and others for their complicity in the al-Qaeda attacks, on behalf of over 600 victims of the bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam under the exception to the FSIA - 28 U.S.C. §1605A. We alleged in the Complaint that Iran, Hezbollah and Sudan aided and abetted al-Qaeda by intentionally providing material support and substantial assistance to al-Qaeda, which included financing, training, weapons, material and safe haven, and that this support was critical to al Qaeda's execution of the 1998 embassy bombings.

In October 2010, a three day trial on liability was held in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and on 30 November 2011, Hon. Judge Bates entered a final judgment on liability in favor of plaintiffs and against defendants. The Court found that

“The government of Iran aided, abetted and conspired with Hezbollah, Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda to launch large-scale bombing attacks against the United States…Iranian defendants, through Hezbollah, provided explosives training to Bin Laden and al Qaeda and rendered direct assistance to al Qaeda operatives…Sudan also provided critical financial, military, and intelligence services that facilitated and enabled al Qaeda to strengthen its terrorist network and infiltrate nearby countries. With the support of Sudan and Iran, al Qaeda killed and attempted to kill thousands of individuals on site in the 1998 U.S. embassy attacks in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam”.

The court appointed seven “Special Masters” (retired judges) to evaluate each of the plaintiffs’ claims and prepare recommendations for the court’s approval of proposed findings and compensation.

In 2013, the court granted our petition to file an additional Complaint (Opati et al. v. Republic of Sudan et al.) and refer their claims for damages and compensation to the Special Masters to be decided jointly with the three cases for which the court had already ruled the defendants liable.

From 2011 until 2014, the Special Masters convened over 600 hearings, to receive and analyze evidence supporting each of the plaintiff’s claims for compensation. On July 25, 2014, Hon. US District Court Judge John D. Bates issued orders in each of our four consolidated Embassy bombing cases, entering judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and awarding compensatory and punitive damages to each of the plaintiffs, as follows:

Opati:
Total damage award:                                                                    $3,163,433,873.00
Compensatory damages with prejudgment interest:                    $1,581,716,936.50
Punitive damages:                                                                        $1,581,716,936.50

Wamai:
Total damage award:                                                                    $3,566,104,489.58
Compensatory damages with prejudgment interest:                    $1,783,052,244.79
Punitive damages:                                                                       $1,783,052,244.79

Onsongo:
Total damage award:                                                                   $199,106,578.19
Compensatory damages with prejudgment interest:        $99,553,289.10
Punitive damages:                                                            $99,553,289.10

Amduso:
Total damages award:                                                                 $1,755,878,431.22
Compensatory damages with prejudgment interest:        $877,939,215.61
Punitive damages:                                                            $877,939,215.61

Total Judgments:                                                                        $8,684,523,372.49

On April 11, 2015, the Republic of Sudan filed a motion to vacate the consolidated judgments. Hon. Judge John D. Bates denied the motion to vacate in its entirety. Sudan than filed an appeal.

In 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld Sudan’s liability and the judgements for compensatory damage awards, but ruled that the punitive damages could not be applied retroactively because the 2008 change in the law allowing for punitive damages was enacted after the bombings occurred.

On February 24, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments to reinstate the $4.3 billion in punitive damages against Sudan. The U.S. government supported our clients’ demand for punitive damages, in addition to compensatory damages, and the U.S. Solicitor General appeared at the Oral Argument hearing and on behalf of the victims before the Supreme Court. Victims and families of victims were present for the hearing and spoke to the press immediately following the hearing.

On May 18, 2020, the Supreme Court issued an unanimous decision, siding with victims against Sudan, ruling that “the plaintiffs proved Sudan’s role in the attacks and established their entitlement to compensatory and punitive damages.” Furthermore, this decision affirms the arguments made by the US Solicitor General before the Court that allowing Sudan to escape justice in this case would be harmful to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The Supreme Court decision firmly establishes the rights of U.S. victims of terror (both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals employed by or working as a contractor for to the U.S.) to hold designated State Sponsors of Terrorism accountable in U.S. Court for their actions and ordered to compensate the victims.

Commencing in 2019, MM~LAW and co-counsel filed three lawsuits (with a fourth lawsuit in process) on behalf of other victims of the U.S. Embassy bombing who were not included in the earlier consolidated lawsuits. The court, in reversing its methodology used in the prior judgments, has ruled that claims be limited to a family member being within the “blast radius” at the time of the bombing to sustain a claim for damages and compensation. This issue is continuing to be litigated before the court.

Click on the embedded links to download:

JUDGEMENTS:

United States District Court for the District of Columbia

Wamai Amended Complaint

Judgement on Liability – Memorandum Opinion 2011

Judgement on Damages – Memorandum Opinion 2014

Opinion Denying Sudan’s Motion to Vacate the Judgement

Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion to Enforce the Judgments

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Opinion of Circuit Court of Appeals Affirmed Compensatory Judgements 2017

Opinion of the Circuit Court of Appeals affirming IIED Claims 2019

Supreme Court of the United States