Taliban authorities have urged Washington to return billions of dollars of assets belonging to the Central Bank of Afghanistan after a federal judge in New York ruled that families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks could not confiscate frozen US assets. Afghanistan in August 2021, and US President Joe Biden said he could allocate half of that money to compensate the families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Since then, the families of a number of victims who won their lawsuit against the Taliban many years ago have called for the money to be confiscated for execution. But Judge George Daniels in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday ruled that federal courts do not have jurisdiction to confiscate the money.
The judge explained in a 30-page document that “creditors have the right by court order (to recover the amounts due in accordance with the ruling) … but they cannot do this at the expense of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.”
He added: “The Taliban, not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people, must pay the price for the Taliban’s responsibility for the 9/11 attacks.”
The federal judge said the constitution also “does not allow” him to transfer these assets to the families, as this would be seen as recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban took power, no country has recognized the legitimacy of the Taliban government.
He emphasized that “the main conclusion … is that neither the Taliban nor creditors, by virtue of the judiciary, have the right to raid the treasury of the state of Afghanistan to pay off the debts of the Taliban.”
The decision, which is in line with a recommendation made in 2022 by another judge, is a blow to the families of the victims and the insurance companies that paid out after the attacks.
The Taliban authorities welcomed the decision, with Taliban government deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi telling AFP: “These assets belong to Afghanistan and there should be no argument to freeze them or refuse to return them to the people of Afghanistan,” adding, “They must be returned without any conditions.”
With the withdrawal of foreign troops led by the United States from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban returned to power and once again imposed their strict vision of Islamic law.
Before that, the country was completely dependent on foreign aid, and then its economy was on the verge of collapse, as Washington froze $7 billion in Afghan assets.
Afghanistan is currently facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 38 million people suffering from hunger and 3 million children facing malnutrition, according to international aid agencies.
In February 2022, the US President unveiled a plan to allocate half of the amount for compensation payments filed, in particular, by the families of the victims of the attacks, and the other half for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
However, it is still unclear what will happen to the $3.5 billion allocated for compensation if the appeal is not accepted.
