The Taliban on Wednesday demanded that Washington return Afghan assets frozen in the United States after a federal judge in New York ruled that families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks could not confiscate them.
Shortly after the Taliban entered Kabul in August 2021 and the Washington-backed overthrow of the Afghan government, the United States confiscated $3.5 billion (€3.3 billion) in assets.
In February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order authorizing the confiscation of $7 billion (6,600 million euros) of these reserves deposited in the United States, half of which is for compensation claims filed primarily by victims’ families. terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the other half for humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
A group of families of 9/11 victims who won a lawsuit against the Taliban a few years ago have demanded that the funds be confiscated to carry out their sentence.
However, on Tuesday, a New York federal judge ruled that federal courts do not have jurisdiction to seize those funds.
“The Taliban, not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people, should be held responsible for the 9/11 attacks,” the judge explained.
According to the federal judge, the US Constitution also “prohibits” him from transferring these assets to the families, as this would be tantamount to recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
However, since the capture of Kabul in 2021, no state has recognized the Taliban government as legitimate.
“These assets belong to Afghanistan. There should be no justification for freezing them or not returning them to the Afghan people,” Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for the Afghan government, told France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
“They should be returned without any conditions,” he added.
Shortly before Karimi’s statements, the Central Bank of Afghanistan also welcomed the US federal judge’s decision.
“These reserves belong to the Afghans and are intended for monetary stability, strengthening the financial system and facilitating trade with the world,” the Afghan central bank said in a statement.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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