Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Former U.S. hostages in Tehran face new struggle
They were taken captive in Iran, where they endured mock firing squads and beatings.
After their release, they spent decades fighting for compensation, first in U.S. courts, then through Congress and finally won a victory three years ago.
But now, 40 years after the revolution that spurred their kidnapping, survivors among the 53 American hostages held after the U.S. Embassy was overrun say they are facing new frustrations.
Legislation passed in 2015 granted them up to $4.44 million each, or $10,000 per day of captivity. But only a fraction of the money has come through.
“They were heroes,” said Bryan Belk, son of former hostage William Belk, who recently died. “Our country was supposed to take care of them.”
The former hostages’ struggle now is not with a foreign country or even their own government, but with another group of claimants — family members of 9/11 victims who have recently gained access to the fund.
The Tehran hostages were not the only beneficiaries of the 2015 United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act, which also allows payments to other Americans who win awards for damages in federal courts against countries that have been officially designated state sponsors of terrorism — North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Iran.
The hostages and their families say they were surprised to see relatives of 9/11 victims win judgments against Iran, despite the fact that the official report on the 2001 attacks “found no evidence that Iran … was aware of the planning.” Last year, for example, in a lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 1,000 relatives, a federal judge in New York ordered Iran to make payments ranging from $12.5 million per spouse to $4.25 million per sibling.
The hostages emphasize they bear no ill will against the 9/11 families.
Congress acknowledged that there were other mechanisms available for deserving victims, specifically referring to the 9/11 fund, said Stuart Newberger, a specialist in international law at Crowell and Moring.
This legislation, said Newberger, was designed to compensate people like the victims of embassy bombings in Africa whom he represents and the Tehran hostages who had no other means of collecting.
The problem arose, Newberger said, when Justice Department lawyers interpreted the law to allow 9/11 family members to get a judgment against Iran and apply to the United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism fund.
“The careful balance that had been constructed to ensure all deserving victims and families receive compensation has been upended in a way no one anticipated three years ago,” he said.
To Barbara Rosen, wife of Barry Rosen, the embassy’s press attache, “It’s like saying that people who suffered from Catholic church sexual assaults can sue Protestants.”
The impact is evident in the shrinking payouts.
There were 2,116 claimants for the initial round of payments in 2017. The former hostages received 13.66 percent of their award. Some took overseas trips with their families; others made plans to support philanthropic causes.
The United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism website lists an additional 3,743 for second-round payments. The payout rolled out in January is far smaller — at just 4.2 percent.
“It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to figure out what’s happening,” said their attorney, Thomas Lankford, who argues that the hostages — the “oldest victims of modern terrorism” — should have been paid a lump sum.
“The effect has been, if you please everyone, you please no one,” said John Limbert, 76, a former hostage who went on to become deputy assistant secretary of state for Iran.
The American hostages were captured by Iranian students, who stormed the embassy in 1979, prompting a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. Their 444-day ordeal captivated the world, as they were paraded, shackled, in front of cameras.
Their release came in 1981 after Algerian diplomats brokered a deal on their behalf. But the agreement left them, unlike many victims of terrorism, unable to take legal action against Iran. The Algiers Accords required the United States to “terminate all legal proceedings in United States courts involving claims of United States persons and institutions against Iran.”
Some victims of terrorism have won awards of hundreds of millions in U.S. courts, although collecting has often proved challenging.
The Tehran hostages received $50 for each day of captivity after their release but were repeatedly rebuffed by the courts, with government lawyers arguing that the Algiers Accords were still binding.
After failing in the courts, the former hostages turned to Congress, winning support from both Democrats and Republicans, including Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, the home state of three of the hostages.
The 2015 law established a means for them to collect — not directly from Iran but from fines levied on organizations that do business illegally, including a portion of the $9 billion penalty paid by the Paris-based bank BNP Paribas for violating sanctions against Iran, Cuba and Sudan.
Sixteen of the hostages did not live to see the 2015 legislation pass.
The uncertainty irks even those who were surprised to receive any money at all.
“When the award was made I was honored that Congress would consider us,” said Kathryn Koob, one of two women to have been held for the full 444 days. Now, though, she has had to put plans on hold to fund a chair in world religion.
“We are being held hostage again,” she said.