In 2015, a U.S. spending bill was passed which included a provision to provide victims of state sponsored terrorist attacks and their families with monetary compensation. The Miller Firm has now filed applications on behalf of 567 victims of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya through this U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund. Through these applications, The Miller Firm is seeking to collect on part of the 8.68 billion dollar verdict it won on behalf of these victims.
Over 200 people, 13 of them American, were killed when al Qaeda bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi and 11 people were killed in the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. Prior to the establishment of this fund, President Obama visited the Nairobi, Kenya Memorial Park, where victims appealed to him for fair compensation. Victims only received support for immediate medical costs and material losses at the time of the attacks, which the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund now seeks to rectify.
A large part of the initial funds will come from the $9 billion forfeiture of the French Bank, BNP Paribas. BNP plead guilty in 2014 to processing money through Sudan, Iran, and Cuba, countries deemed to be state sponsors of terrorism, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The testimonies of victims of the bombings were influential in this case. Through the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund, money that is paid, seized or forfeited to the U.S. in this manner will be used to compensate victims of state sponsored terrorism and their families. This includes the individuals who were held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran between November 4, 1979, and January 20, 1981, as well as their spouses and children.
The allocation of funds in the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund will be administered by Special Master Mr. Kenneth R. Feinberg. He was also the first special master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund and worked in a similar capacity with the Gulf of Mexico BP oil spill. The U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund website assures victims and their families that claims will be processed “promptly, fairly, and transparently.”
One bombing survivor who still works at the Nairobi Embassy told Think Progress that this bill, “sends a clear message to the world that America will stand by those who stand by it” (thinkprogress.org). The Miller Firm filed these applications for the 567 bombing victims before the initial application period ended on October 12 of 2016. The Miller Firm continues to represent and seek justice for victims of terrorism originating in Iran, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia.
The Miller Firm is presently accepting clients who were injured or families who experienced terrible loss on September 11, 2001. Please call us at 1-800-882-2525 and ask to speak to attorneys David Dickens, Timothy Litzenburg, Michael Miller, or Nancy Miller. They can be reached as well at [email protected] or [email protected].
