122
414 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT, 3d SERIES
action. Owens v. Republic of Sudan (Owens II), 924 F.3d 1256, 1258 (D.C. Cir.
2019) (citing Owens I, 864 F.3d at 763–765,
808). The mechanism for such ‘‘pass
through’’ liability was § 1606 of the FSIA.
If a sovereign immunity exception applied,
§ 1606 would kick in and subject foreign
states to whatever state-law liability a similarly situated private individual would
face. 28 U.S.C. § 1606.
But § 1606 expressly applies only to
§ 1605 and § 1607 of the FSIA. Id. § 1606;
see Owens I, 864 F.3d at 808. And in 2008,
Congress moved the exception to sovereign immunity for state sponsors of terrorism—the relevant exception in this case—
from § 1605 to the newly created § 1605A.
Owens II, 924 F.3d at 1258. Not only that,
but Congress also included in § 1605A a
substantive cause of action against state
sponsors of terrorism. Id. § 1606.
[14] The upshot of this is twofold:
FSIA claims against state sponsors of terrorism are federal causes of action that do
not depend on state law. See In re Islamic
Republic of Iran Terrorism Litig., 659 F.
Supp. 2d 31, 60 n.20 (D.D.C. 2009). And
the FSIA by its terms gives standing to
four groups to bring such claims: nationals
of the United States; members of the U.S.
armed forces; employees or contractors of
the U.S. government acting within the
scope of their employment; and the legal
representatives of any of these three
groups. 28 U.S.C. § 1605A(c).
E.
Liability
As mentioned, § 1605A(c) creates a
cause of action against foreign state sponsors of terrorism for money damages resulting from ‘‘personal injury or death.’’
The injury or death needs to have been
‘‘caused’’ by the specific ‘‘acts’’ listed in the
FSIA, including torture, hostage taking,
and extrajudicial killing, committed by a
foreign state, which ‘‘shall be vicariously
liable for the acts of its officials, employees, or agents.’’ Id. § 1605A(c).
[15, 16] To assess a plaintiff’s theories
of ‘‘personal injury’’ under the FSIA,
courts reference state common law and
often rely on the Restatement (Second) of
Torts ‘‘as a proxy for state common law.’’
Bettis v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 315
F.3d 325, 333 (D.C. Cir. 2003); see also
Valore, 700 F. Supp. 2d at 76; Worley, 75
F. Supp. 3d at 335. Though the FSIA
cause of action contains a statute of limitations that requires an action to be brought
within ten years of April 26, 1996 or within
ten years of the precipitating event, see
§ 1605A(b), this Court lacks the ‘‘authority
or discretion to sua sponte raise the terrorism exception’s statute of limitations,’’
Maalouf v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 923
F.3d 1095, 1114–15 (D.C. Cir. 2019). No
party raises it here.
[17] Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2), this Court may enter a
default judgment on the plaintiff’s claims if
one party applies to the Court for that
outcome. But a default judgment is ‘‘not
automatic’’ and requires (1) that plaintiffs
make a prima facie showing of personal
jurisdiction, Mwani v. bin Laden, 417 F.3d
1, 6 (D.C. Cir. 2005), and (2) that the
plaintiffs ‘‘establish[ ] [their] claim[s] or
right[s] to relief by evidence satisfactory to
the Court,’’ 28 U.S.C. § 1608(e).
III.
A.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Subject Matter Jurisdiction
[18, 19] The Court has subject matter
jurisdiction over these claims. A federal
district court has ‘‘original jurisdiction
without regard to amount in controversy of
any nonjury civil action against a foreign
state TTT as to any claim for relief in
personam with respect to which the for-