Hanoch Tel-Oren, in His Capacity as Father, on Behalf of the Deceased, Imry Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic Hanoch Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic

726 F.2d 774, 233 U.S. App. D.C. 384, 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 25809

• Court: Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• Decided: February 3, 1984
• Docket: 08-5110
• Status: Published

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

Plaintiffs in this action, mostly Israeli citizens, are survivors and representatives of persons murdered in an armed attack on a civilian bus in Israel in March 1978. They filed suit for compensatory and punitive damages in the District Court, naming as defendants the Libyan Arab Republic, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestine Information Office, the National Association of Arab Americans, and the Palestine Congress of North America.¹

In their complaint, plaintiffs alleged that defendants were responsible for multiple tortious acts in violation of the law of nations, treaties of the United States, and criminal laws of the United States, as well as the common law. Jurisdiction was claimed under four separate statutes: 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question jurisdiction); 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (diversity jurisdiction); 28 U.S.C. § 1350 (providing jurisdiction over actions by an alien alleging a tort committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States); and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330, 1602-1611. For purposes of our jurisdictional analysis, we assume plaintiffs’ allegations to be true.

The District Court dismissed the action both for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and as barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Hanoch Tel-Oren v. Libyan Arab Republic, 517 F.Supp. 542 (D.D.C. 1981). Plaintiffs appeal the District Court’s rulings on two of their claimed jurisdictional bases, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331,1350, and on the statute of limitations issue.

We affirm the dismissal of this action. Set out below are separate concurring statements of Judge Edwards, Judge Bork, and Senior Judge Robb, indicating different reasons for affirming the result reached by the District Court.

1 . Plaintiffs do not pursue their claim against the Palestine Congress of North America on appeal.