Letelier v. Republic of Chile case brief, 488 F. Supp. 665 (1980)

Letelier v. Republic of Chile, 488 F. Supp. 665 (1980)

-       Letelier, a former Chilean official, was killed by a car bomb planted by Cubans hired by Pinochet’s government in Sheridan Circle, in Washington.
-       Defendants: Republic of Chile, Intelligence Agency, individual officials.

• Do the defendants constitute “governments”?
  • Chile – yes
  • Intelligence agency – agency
  • Individual officials - yes

-       Default rule: defendants are immune unless exception applies.
-       Exception applied: noncommercial tort exception.
-       Chilean government argues that this is an inherently sovereign act (see exception (A) above), a public act.

• Court responds that there is no distinction in the noncommercial tort exception between illegal private and illegal public activities

-       Court also says that political assassination is such a heinous crime that the court must have jurisdiction

• The court will not read into the legislation a permit for states to exercise their discretion in such a way that they can assassinate individuals – this is clearly contrary to the precepts of humanity

-       After they won, the plaintiffs tried to attach a Chilean airline to recover damages; the court said no because the airline was considered to have a separate identity from the state

• So the plaintiffs got an award, but they couldn’t enforce it in the United States
• However, the US and Chile went into intense negotiations…a commission was established which concluded that Chile had to pay the Letelier and Moffit families the money that they were awarded

Newest Addition to the FSIA: Terrorist Acts Exception
-       Applies only to suits brought by Americans.
-       applies only to those states which have been designated a state sponsor of terror.