WASHINGTON DC (November 1, 2019) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles "Chuck" Grassley urged the administration to put victims of international terrorism first during sanctions-negotiations by securing a commitment from Sudan to compensate for its prior support of terrorism that has killed and injured Americans serving abroad.
In a letter to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Senator Grassley renews his call upon the administration, as a condition of lifting any terrorism-related sanctions, to accept nothing less than a clear commitment from the government of Sudan to resolve or settle the terrorism judgments entered against it in US courts and to meet its obligations to compensate American victims.
“It is critical that, under your leadership, the State Department keep the pressure on Sudan,” Sen Grassley wrote. “To be clear: Sudan should not be permitted to shed its terrorism-sanctions and benefit from participating in the global economy without first fully compensating those harmed by its previous support of terrorism.”
In the years leading up to Al-Qaeda’s 1998 terrorist bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Sudan provided material support and safe harbor to Al-Qaeda and its leadership. Victims have since filed lawsuits in U.S. courts against Sudan under the terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and won compensation, with courts finding Sudan legally responsible for supporting those terrorist attacks. Sen Grassley’s letter follows up on a letter he and former House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte sent to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in 2017.
Full text of Grassley’s letter enclosed at this link.
