9/11 Victims Cannot Seize $3.5 Billion In Afghan Frozen Assets: U.S. Judge

A U.S. judge ruled Tuesday against the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, who had moved to collect $3.5 billion in frozen assets belonging to Afghanistan’s central bank in order to fulfill a compensation ruling they had won in court against the Taliban.

Manhattan District Judge George Daniels ruled that it is unconstitutional to allow victims to claim those assets because doing so would amount to recognizing the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government, which is outside the court’s power. 

“The judgment creditors are entitled to collect on their default judgments and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history, but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank of Afghanistan,” Daniels wrote in his 30-page decision. 

Since the Afghan Central Bank, known as Da Afghanistan Bank, or DAB, is a foreign government entity, Daniels argued he lacked jurisdiction under federal law to act against the bank, according to Reuters. 

Neither the Afghan people nor the previous administration, according to Daniels, are liable to compensate for the attack ― only the Taliban are. 

The ruling also upheld the findings of U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, who concluded in August that the victims did not have a right to the assets.

There was about $7 billion in Afghan central bank funds deposited at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York when the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021. The U.S. Treasury Department immediately blocked the assets to prevent the Taliban from accessing them.

When President Joe Biden signed an executive order freeing up some of  the assets last February, he allocated half of them to go toward helping Afghan people during the humanitarian crisis caused by the collapse of the country’s economy. The other $3.5 billion was set aside for victims of the 9/11 attacks who had obtained default judgments after defendants, including the Taliban, failed to show up in court. The victims then moved to claim the money. 

“This decision deprives over 10,000 members of the 9/11 community of their right to collect compensation from the Taliban,” said Lee Wolosky, a lawyer representing some of the plaintiffs.

 “We believe it is wrongly decided and will appeal.” Wolosky said. 

A separate Tuesday court filing indicates that the other creditor groups are also planning an appeal.

On Sep. 11, 2001, terrorists associated with al-Qaeda who were at the time harbored in Afghanistan by the Taliban, flew four hijacked aircrafts into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in northern Virginia, and a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people.