September 11: American justice prevents families of victims from accessing frozen Afghan assets – World Today News

The families of victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001 will not be able to seize part of the assets of the Afghan central bank frozen in the United States, decided on Tuesday a federal judge in New York. This sum representing 3.5 billion dollars (3.3 billion euros) is part of the reserves of the Afghan central bank deposited in the United States and frozen on August 15, 2021, the day of the entry of the Taliban into Kabul and the overthrow of the Washington-backed Afghan government.

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order in February 2022 allowing the seizure of seven billion dollars (6.6 billion euros) of these reserves deposited in the United States, half of which are intended for compensation claims. made in particular by the families of victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the other half for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. These assets are kept within a New York entity of the American central bank (Fed).

“These reserves are the property of the Afghans”

A group of families of 9/11 victims who years earlier had won a lawsuit against the Taliban have since requested the seizure of those funds to honor the judgment.

Judge George Daniels of the Southern District of New York, however, ruled on Tuesday that federal courts lack jurisdiction to seize the funds. “Judicial creditors have the right to (collect the sums due under the judgment rendered) (…) but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank of Afghanistan”, explained the magistrate in a 30-page document. . “The Taliban, not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people, must pay for the Taliban’s responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.”

According to the federal judge, the Constitution also “prevents” him from granting these assets to the families because this would amount to recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. However, since the capture of Kabul in 2021, no state has recognized the Taliban government as legitimate.

This judgment, aligned with the recommendation issued in 2022 by another magistrate, is a blow to the families of victims and to the insurance companies which paid compensation following the attacks. In a statement, the central bank of Afghanistan welcomed the judgment. “These reserves are the property of the Afghans and are intended for monetary stability, strengthening the financial system and facilitating trade with the world,” she reacted.

More than 2,900 people died in 2001 after four airliners were hijacked, crashing into the Twin Towers of New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Afghanistan faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than half of its 38 million people facing hunger and nearly four million children suffering from malnutrition, according to aid organizations.