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To amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to provide for exceptions in cases of torture, extrajudicial killing, or war crimes.

June 9, 1993

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

To amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to provide for exceptions in cases of torture, extrajudicial killing, or war crimes.

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

SECTION 1. EXCEPTION TO FOREIGN SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY FOR CERTAIN CASES INVOLVING TORTURE OR EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLING IN A FOREIGN STATE.

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

(1) by striking `or' at the end of paragraph (5);

(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting in lieu thereof `; or'; and

(3) by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:

`(7) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph (2), in which money damages are sought against a foreign state for personal injury or death of a United States citizen occurring in such foreign state and caused by the torture or extrajudicial killing of that citizen by such foreign state or by a war crime committed by the military of such foreign state or by any official or employee of such foreign state while acting within the scope of his or her office or employment, except that--

`(A) the court shall decline to hear a claim under this paragraph if the claimant has not exhausted adequate and available remedies in the place in which the conduct giving rise to the claim occurred; and

`(B) an action under this paragraph shall not be maintained unless it is commenced within 10 years after the cause of action accrues unless the cause of action is based on war crimes committed during World War II.

For purposes of paragraph (7), the terms `torture' and `extrajudicial killing' have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991.'.

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO IMMUNITY FROM ATTACHMENT.

(a) FOREIGN STATE- Section 1610(a) of title 28, United States Code, is amended--

(1) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting in lieu thereof `, or'; and

(2) by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph:

`(7) the judgment relates to a claim for which the foreign state is not immune by virtue of section 1605(a)(7) of this chapter, regardless of whether the property is or was involved in the act upon which the claim is based.'.

(b) AGENCY OR INSTRUMENTALITY- Section 1610(b)(2) of such title is amended--

(1) by striking `or (5)' and inserting in lieu thereof `(5), or (7)'; and

(2) by striking `used for the activity' and inserting in lieu thereof `involved in the act'.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any cause of action arising before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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