By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Honduras - Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 11 – Amid this year's coverage of the anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks, the denial to victims' families of frozen Taliban funds and the US State Department's refusal to answer Press questions about it must be noted.
In the ongoing lawsuit "In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001," originally filed in 2003, a conference was held on February 22, 2022 after the US' action on frozen Taliban funds. Inner City Press covered it, below.
The UN, it's said, is complaining about the use of funds - it it doing its own fundraising off Afghanistan.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn held the conference.
Inner City Press live tweeted Judge Netburn's November 10, 2021 conference, here.
In late August 2022, Magistrate Judge Netburn recommended not granting victims access to the $3.5B the Administration had said would be for them: "These creditors hold judgments against the Taliban for its role in the September 11 Terrorist Attacks or other terrorist acts. They move under § 201(a) of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 for a turnover of the DAB Funds to satisfy these judgments. The Court recommends denying these motions... Only the President may recognize the government of a foreign sovereign nation." Only the President may - so what will the Administration do?
On August 29, 2022 Inner City Press called in to the US State Department briefing to ask about this. But Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel wouldn't take the question - then or since -- while taking three from (his) Voice of America.
In the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield intoned: "the United States has not turned our backs on Afghanistan. We have remained in the country*." Then FN *We have remained engaged with the country."
Neither Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield's US Mission to the UN nor the State Department which have been asked, shown this, have done anything about on-going ban from the UN of Inner City Press, including the 2020 UNGA Week it has applied to cover, here.
Watch this site.
The case is In Re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, 03-md-1570 (Daniels / Netburn).
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