Francis Gates v. Syrian Arab Republic, 2008 WL 4367284 (D.D.C. 2008)

Gabriel C. Lajeunesse, Georgetown University, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy

Article comments

“This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.”

Abstract

On September 26, 2008, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, handed down a judgment for over $400 million to the survivors of Jack Armstrong or Jack Hensley, two American contractors brutally murdered by al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI). The judgment was rendered against the Government of Syria—held liable for the murders in a federal cause of action under the recently amended Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) for Syria’s material support to AQI.