London, UK
Thomson Reuters Foundation
As the Taliban demand the release of billions of dollars in Afghan assets frozen overseas, another group of people is laying claim to the money – families of the victims of the 11th September, 2001 airplane attacks in the United States.
The hardline Islamist movement, which returned to power last year two decades after it was toppled by US-led troops, say they need the funds to get the country on its feet as millions of people face famine.
But a group of relatives of 9/11 victims say they have a right to the money after they were awarded $US7 billion in damages against the Taliban nearly a decade ago – money they have never been able to collect.
An UNHCR worker pushes a wheelbarrow loaded with aid supplies for a displaced Afghan family outside the distribution centre as a Taliban fighter secures the area on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, on 28th October, 2021. PICTURE: Reuters/Zohra Bensemra.
On Friday, the United States announced a plan to free up half the frozen assets to help the Afghan people, while holding the rest to possibly satisfy lawsuits against the Taliban.
The Taliban criticised the move, accusing the United States of stealing money belonging to the Afghan people.
Here is the background:
How much was frozen?
Some $US9 billion to $US10 billion in Afghan central bank assets were frozen overseas after the Taliban seized control of the country on 15th August last year.
About $US7 billion of that is parked with the New York Federal Reserve. The rest is in European countries including Germany, Britain and Switzerland.
Donors also halted billions of dollars of aid to Afghanistan, which relied on foreign support for 75 per cent of its public spending before the Taliban’s comeback.
The country’s economic meltdown – fuelled by the suspension of most aid, the banking crisis and a lack of liquidity – threatens to tip 97 per cent of the population into poverty this year.
What is the claim by the 9/11 families?
Nearly 3,000 people were killed and more than 25,000 wounded when al Qaeda militants hijacked four planes in 2001, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York, another into the Pentagon and a fourth into a field.
The attacks prompted the United States to invade Afghanistan later that year, toppling the Taliban rulers who it accused of giving safe haven to al Qaeda.
In 2012, a group of about 150 relatives of some of the victims were granted about $US7 billion in damages against the Taliban and others in a US court ruling.
Until now, there had been no way to collect the money, but the families saw the Taliban’s return to power as an opportunity to claim funds frozen in the United States.
In September, the Federal Reserve was served with a “writ of execution” to seize the money to cover the judgment in the so-called “Havlish case” – named after one of the plaintiffs.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs then started negotiating with the US Government on a deal that would see some of the money go towards helping Afghans.
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The bigger picture
The Havlish claim comes as Afghanistan faces a collapsing economy and the spectre of mass starvation.
Aid officials have repeatedly called for Washington to start releasing the frozen funds to ease the crisis.
Analysts say there are ways to do this without the money falling into Taliban hands.
One expert on Afghanistan said the 9/11 plaintiffs’ claim could already be jeopardising lives.
“People are potentially dying right now because of that lawsuit, because it has added one more layer of complexity to the issue of just freeing up the funds,” the expert said.
“This money is not the Taliban’s money. You can’t seize a country’s reserves.”
What has the Biden administration done?
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat of economic collapse in Afghanistan.
Senior administration officials said they would work to ensure half the frozen assets – $US3.5 billion – could be used to benefit the Afghan people.
The rest will remain in the United States, subject to ongoing litigation by the 9/11 relatives and other US victims of terrorism.
It is not yet clear how the $US3.5 billion will be used to help Afghanistan, but aid experts say humanitarian relief is only a bandage.
The United Nations has said the frozen reserves are needed to “jump-start” the economy.
Resuscitating the banking sector and injecting liquidity is vital in order to revive business and trade, and restore livelihoods.
Who actually owns the money, and who has the right to unfreeze it?
There is a lack of clarity on both points. One lawyer described it as a “quagmire”.
In the writ, the 9/11 plaintiffs state that the Taliban have declared themselves the government of Afghanistan and claimed ownership of all property belonging to the previous government, including central bank assets.
They argue that the judgment against the Taliban can therefore now be enforced against the assets held at the Federal Reserve.
But analyst Laurel Miller of the International Crisis Group think-tank queried how the United States could construe the assets as belonging to the Taliban when it did not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
“It’s difficult to see how this is Taliban money,” she said.
“These are assets of the Afghan state that were accumulated under the Western-supported government over the last 20 years.
“If the plaintiffs do get some of this money it will not hurt the Taliban at all. It will hurt desperately poor Afghans, but it won’t be a punishment of the Taliban.”
For its part, the Taliban government has repeatedly demanded return of the money, saying it is unethical to withhold it as the nation faces a cash crunch.
But the Biden administration has already said the assets will not be made available to the Taliban.
Further complications
Different 9/11 groups have recently made moves to claim a share of the funds, which could complicate negotiations, though lawyers said the Havlish plaintiffs were the only 9/11 group that has an enforceable judgment against the Taliban.
