Owens v. Republic of Sudan, 826 F. Supp. 2d 128

Five consolidated FSIA terrorism cases; defaults entered after proper service; evidence heard Oct 2010 on liability; 2008 NDAA amended FSIA to allow federal suits by U.S. government employees and related claims; plaintiffs allege Iran and Sudan provided material support enabling 1998 East Africa embassy bombings; court must first evaluate liability with evidence satisfactory to the court; findings show Iran and Sudan sponsored terrorism and supported al Qaeda with safe harbor, training, and financial/logistical aid; damages framework under 1605A(c) or applicable state/foreign law; choice of law and remedies addressed after liability findings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Federal cause of action under 1605A(c) exists for non-U.S. national family members	family members may recover under 1605A(c) by virtue of waiver of immunity	family members outside four enumerated categories have no federal claim	Federal claim limited to four categories; family members lack federal action
Jurisdiction and service under FSIA 1608 with defaulted defendants	proper service established; defaults entered	-	Court has personal and subject matter jurisdiction; defaults valid
Choice of law for non-federal claims	foreign national family members should apply foreign/state law to avoid disparities	forum law should govern?	District of Columbia law applies for uniformity and forum interests
designation of Iran and Sudan as state sponsors of terrorism at the time of acts	Iran/Sudan were designated sponsors when acts occurred	-	Both Iran and Sudan designated sponsors at relevant times, satisfying 1605A(a)(2)(A)(i)
Causation between material support and embassy bombings	support provided directly enabled attacks	-	Proximate causation established; material support linked to 1998 embassy bombings

Kilburn v. Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, 376 F.3d 1123 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (proximate causation and liability framework cited in FSIA cases)