The Iraq Cases

Welcome to the Iraq Case website. This site, created by Sprenger + Lang, provides information concerning Hill v. Republic of Iraq (The "Hill case") and Vine v. Republic of Iraq (The "Vine case").

The Hill and Vine cases are two lawsuits in which damages have been sought against the Republic of Iraq for taking American citizens hostage after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Following that invasion, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein issued an order prohibiting all U.S. citizens from leaving Iraq and Kuwait. Pursuant to that directive, hundreds of American citizens were trapped in those countries and detained against their will. American citizens who were discovered by Iraqi security forces were subject to seizure and forced relocation to military installations and other strategic sites, where they were used as “human shields” in order to deter Allied air attack. While Saddam authorized the release of female and child hostages in early September, the crisis did not come to an end until mid-December when, under intense international pressure, Saddam issued further orders freeing the remaining male hostages.

The original complaint in the Hill case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on December 15, 1999 by ten American citizens who were held hostage by Iraq. Following the filing of the complaint, 170 additional hostages and their spouses joined the case as plaintiffs. The Hill case was closed to new plaintiffs in December 2001, at which point, the Vine case was brought in order to allow more victims of Iraqi hostage-taking to seek judicial redress. The objective of both suits is to compensate American victims of Iraqi terrorism for the injuries that they suffered and to deter the commission of additional acts of terrorism in the future.

Both the Hill and the Vine cases were brought under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1602 et seq. That Act was amended in 1996 to authorize suits against countries that have been designated as “terrorist states” by the State Department when those states perpetrate acts of terrorism against American citizens. The FSIA specifically authorizes U.S. courts to hear cases, such as the Hill and Vine cases, which allege that a foreign government has taken American citizens hostage in violation of international law.

On December 5, 2001, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his decision in the Hill case, finding Iraq liable for acts of hostage-taking and false imprisonment. He later entered default judgments for compensatory damages in favor of all 180 plaintiffs against Iraq and Saddam in amounts totaling more than $94 million in the aggregate. He also awarded punitive damages against Saddam in the amount of $300 million. In March 2003, all 180 compensatory damage awards issued in the Hill case were satisfied from Iraqi government accounts that had been frozen by the U.S. Government since August 2, 1990. The $300 million punitive damage award against Saddam remains unsatisfied.

On December 27, 2001, the original complaint in the Vine case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Vine case has since been assigned to Judge Henry H. Kennedy. An amended complaint was filed on March 7, 2002. Iraq failed to appear and was declared in default on August 18, 2003. The default was lifted when the new Iraqi government decided to defend the case on January 19, 2005. Iraq then filed a motion to dismiss the case on various grounds. The Vine plaintiffs have filed papers opposing Iraq's motions and are presently awaiting the district court's decision. For a more complete summary and update on the status of the Hill and Vine cases, please see the link About the Case.

The purpose of this site is to inform interested parties about the suit. We hope you will explore this website and find it informative. Please contact us at dan@danielwolflaw.com if you have any additional questions.