9/11 victims are blocked from seizing $3.5 billion in frozen assets from Afghanistan because Biden would have to recognize the Taliban
Efforts by the victims of 9/11 to seize $3.5 billion in frozen assets belonging to the Afghan Central Bank have failed because President Joe Biden’s administration doesn’t recognize the Taliban as the country’s legitimate government.
But seized assets from the profits of crime (bank accounts, cars, houses, cash, etc). is OK to reimburse victims.
A group of families of 9/11 victims had previously sued the Taliban for their losses, winning a default judgment when the militant group did not turn up to court.
But how could they, if they would never be granted VISA or other documents to trail TO the US, and even then, will be arrested once their land on US soil? Even if they wanted to.
But because of the new ruling, which cites federal and constitutional law, the Taliban cannot be said to control the money in the central bank without being officially recognized as representing Afghanistan.
If a criminal organization has control of a bank (or business), and its assets are frozen/seized, then those assets can be used to satisfy the debt judgements. How is this different?
“The Taliban, not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people, must pay for the Taliban’s liability in the 9/11 attacks,” Daniels said.
Then how much of those assets were the Taliban’s and how much were for the Afghan people?
Last February, Biden cleared a legal path for relatives to pursue the $3.5 billion held in Afghanistan’s central bank to pay off the judgment debts. An executive order moved to freeze $7 billion of the central bank’s assets, earmarking half to go toward helping Afghan people, and the other half to the 9/11 families.
$3.5 Billion!
He added that neither the Taliban nor judgment creditors are “entitled to raid the coffers of the state of Afghanistan to pay the Taliban’s debts.”
But the WH has cleared what belongs to Afghanistan and what is considered the Taliban’s.
“This decision deprives over 10,000 members of the 9/11 community of their right to collect compensation from the Taliban,” (Lee Wolosky, a lawyer who argued for the victims’ compensation) said. “We believe it is wrongly decided and will appeal.”
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