A US District Judge has ruled that family members of victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are not entitled to funds from Afghanistan’s central bank. Judge George Daniels said that awarding the families money seized from the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) would require an assessment that the Taliban is the legitimate government of Afghanistan, a decision he was “constitutionally restrained” from making.
The Biden administration had issued an executive order in February 2022 stating it would split $7bn in frozen assets from Afghanistan’s central bank between the Afghan people and families of 9/11 victims who sued the Taliban. While the Taliban was not directly involved in the attacks, lawyers for the families argued it had helped enable al-Qaeda, which mounted the attack, by allowing the group to operate in Afghanistan.
The ruling upholds a previous decision in August 2022, when US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn also recommended that victims of 9/11 could not seize cash from the Afghan central bank to satisfy court judgements against the Taliban. Doing so would mean acknowledging the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, something Netburn said only the US president can do.
Since the Taliban swept aside the US-backed government and took power in August 2021, the Biden administration has not recognised the group as the country’s official ruling party. In response to the ruling, Lee Wolosky, a lawyer for one creditor group known as the Havlish plaintiffs, called the conclusion “wrongly decided” and said the group would appeal.
Arash Azzizada, co-founder of the US-based Afghans For a Better Tomorrow, welcomed the decision in a statement sent to Al Jazeera via text on Tuesday. He said: “Justice will not be served by raiding the coffers of a people suffering from one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet.”
On Tuesday, US District Judge George Daniels ruled that family members of victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are not entitled to funds from Afghanistan’s central bank. The judge said that awarding money seized from the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) would require an assessment that the Taliban is the legitimate government of Afghanistan, which he was “constitutionally restrained” from making.
The Biden administration had issued an executive order in February 2022 to split $7bn in frozen assets from Afghanistan’s central bank between the Afghan people and families of 9/11 victims who sued the Taliban. Lawyers for the families argued that although the Taliban was not directly involved in the attacks, it had helped enable al-Qaeda by allowing them to operate in Afghanistan.
In August 2022, US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn also recommended that victims of 9/11 could not seize cash from the Afghan central bank to satisfy court judgements against the Taliban. This was because doing so would mean acknowledging the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, something only the US president can do.
Since then, the Biden administration has not recognised the group as Afghanistan’s official ruling party. In response to Tuesday’s ruling, Lee Wolosky, a lawyer for one creditor group known as the Havlish plaintiffs, called it “wrongly decided” and said they would appeal.
Arash Azzizada, co-founder of Afghans For a Better Tomorrow, welcomed the decision and said: “Justice will not be served by raiding the coffers of a people suffering from one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet.”