I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2363

To amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to provide for exceptions

in cases of torture, extrajudicial killing, or war crimes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 9, 1993

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to provide

for exceptions in cases of torture, extrajudicial killing,

or war crimes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. EXCEPTION TO FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMU4 NITY FOR CERTAIN CASES INVOLVING TOR5 TURE OR EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING IN A FOR6 EIGN STATE.

7 Section 1605(a) of title 28, United States Code, is

8 amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph

10 (5);
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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (6) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; or’’; and

3 (3) by adding at the end thereof the following

4 new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(7) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph

6 (2), in which money damages are sought against a

7 foreign state for personal injury or death of a Unit8 ed States citizen occurring in such foreign state and

9 caused by the torture or extrajudicial killing of that

10 citizen by such foreign state or by a war crime com11 mitted by the military of such foreign state or by

12 any official or employee of such foreign state while

13 acting within the scope of his or her office or em14 ployment, except that—

15 ‘‘(A) the court shall decline to hear a claim

16 under this paragraph if the claimant has not

17 exhausted adequate and available remedies in

18 the place in which the conduct giving rise to the

19 claim occurred; and

20 ‘‘(B) an action under this paragraph shall

21 not be maintained unless it is commenced with22 in 10 years after the cause of action accrues

23 unless the cause of action is based on war

24 crimes committed during World War II.
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1 For purposes of paragraph (7), the terms ‘torture’ and

2 ‘extrajudicial killing’ have the meanings given those terms

3 in section 3 of the Torture Victim Protection Act of

4 1991.’’.

5 SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO IMMUNITY FROM ATTACHMENT.

6 (a) FOREIGN STATE.—Section 1610(a) of title 28,

7 United States Code, is amended—

8 (1) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (6) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘, or’’; and

10 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

11 new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(7) the judgment relates to a claim for which

13 the foreign state is not immune by virtue of section

14 1605(a)(7) of this chapter, regardless of whether the

15 property is or was involved in the act upon which

16 the claim is based.’’.

17 (b) AGENCY OR INSTRUMENTALITY.—Section

18 1610(b)(2) of such title is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘or (5)’’ and inserting in lieu

20 thereof ‘‘(5), or (7)’’; and

21 (2) by striking ‘‘used for the activity’’ and in22 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘involved in the act’’.
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1 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any

3 cause of action arising before, on, or after the date of the

4 enactment of this Act.

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