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Summary:
A 1996 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) enables American victims of international terrorist acts supported by certain States designated by the State Department as supporters of terrorism -- Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and until recently, Iraq -- to bring suit in federal court to seek monetary damages. Holders of judgments against these States, however, have encountered difficulties in their efforts to collect, despite congressional efforts to make blocked (or "frozen") assets of such States available for attachment by judgment creditors. A recent court decision invalidating plaintiffs' cause of action under the 1996 law raises uncertainties about the future of lawsuits against terrorist States. This report provides an overview of these issues, including a summary of a lawsuit against Iran by former hostages, Roeder v. Islamic Republic of Iran, and a lawsuit against Iraq by former prisoners of war (POWs), Acree v. Republic of Iraq, as well as a brief synopsis of relevant legislative proposals (S. 1257, H.R. 1321, H.R. 865, H.Con.Res. 93). These issues are covered in greater depth in CRS Report RL31258, Suits Against Terrorist States By Victims of Terrorism. The report will be updated. Ordinarily, foreign States, including their agencies and instrumentalities, may not be sued in U.S. courts unless they waive their sovereign immunity or an exception under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) (28 U.S.C. §§ 1602 et seq.) applies. The FSIA provides a list of circumstances where U.S. federal courts will not recognize foreign sovereign immunity. In these circumstances, U.S. courts may exercise jurisdiction over a dispute and treat a foreign state as if it were a private entity. It does not establish liability or a cause of action; it merely removes foreign sovereign immunity as a defense to the courts' jurisdiction. The property of foreign States is also immune from judicial attachment to enforce judgments, unless the property is excepted under 28 U.S.C. § 1610. In 1996 Congress amended the FSIA to allow civil suits by U.S. victims of terrorism against designated State sponsors of terrorism (DSST)1 responsible for, or complicit in,
