Political Violence in the United States

Main Elements of a Claim Under § 1605A FSIA

Designated state sponsor of terrorism

According to research about Political Violence from the Federal Judicial Center:At the time of (or as a result of) the act of torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking, or the provision of material support or resources in question, the Secretary of State must have formally designated the foreign state as a government that has “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism” pursuant to § 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, § 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, § 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, or any other relevant provision of law.273 The list of designated state sponsors of terrorism is published on April 30 of each year. If the foreign state is not on the list at the time of the act or as a result of the act, the terrorism exception does not apply.274 As of December 2013, four countries were on the list: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria.275 The removal of a state from the list of designated state sponsors does not automatically impact pending litigation. However, following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Congress passed legislation that permitted the President to make the terrorism exception to immunity under former § 1605(a)(7) inapplicable to Iraq, depriving the courts of jurisdiction over then-pending actions. In Republic of Iraq v. Beaty,276 the Supreme Court upheld the President’s exercise of this authority: “When the President exercised his authority to make inapplicable to Iraq all provisions of law that apply to countries that have supported terrorism, the exception to foreign sovereign immunity for state sponsors of terrorism became inoperative as against Iraq.”Note: FSIA is the acronym of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976.

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