The Miller Firm, LLC currently represents 567 victims of the 1998 Embassy Bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that through our firm’s work have obtained federal judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Sudan for providing material support to Al-Qaeda.
These bombings in Kenya’s capital Nairobi as well as Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Aug. 7, 1998 killed 224 people and wounded thousands of innocent people. It marked the first large-scale attack by al Qaeda. Three years later, al Qaeda operatives carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, killing nearly 3,000 people.
A federal judge found Sudan liable and ordered it to pay $10.2 billion, including $4.3 in punitive damages, to the plaintiffs. In 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld Sudan’s liability, but ruled that a 2008 change in the law allowing for punitive damages was enacted after the bombings occurred and cannot be applied retroactively.
To date, the 1998 Embassy Bombing victims have received a small portion of the federal judgment awarded for their horrific injuries through the United States victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund (USVSST). These victims have been unable to receive compensation from any other source due to Iran and Sudan’s refusal to recognize the court judgments. President Donald Trump’s administration urged the Supreme Court to hear the case and reinstate the punitive damages award.
Working together with other law firms, The Supreme Court has agreed to hear our arguments on February 24th 2020 that $4.3 billion in punitive damages against Sudan should be reinstated. The decision of the court is likely be released in June 2020.