"With Iran, Against Americans"
 December 12, 2001
 By BARRY ROSEN

I was one of the Americans held hostage by the government of
Iran for 444 days beginning in 1979. I was kidnapped at
gunpoint from the American Embassy in Tehran, blindfolded,
interrogated, beaten and locked in a government prison cell
where I was not allowed to speak to anyone. For months I was
kept next to a torture chamber; to this day, I cannot forget
the screams of the dying. Some of the embassy people
kidnapped with me were subjected to mock executions and
threatened with the kidnapping and dismemberment of their
children.

We were seized while performing the critical diplomatic role
of maintaining a bridge between nations and cultures in a
time of great turmoil. On duty, we became early victims of
the terrorism that has now spread to our country. Iran has
not renounced terrorism in the intervening years. The State
Department listed Iran as the most active state sponsor of
terrorism in the world for the year 2000.

Yet, incredibly, after Sept. 11 our government took sides
with Iran - and against the hostages - in a lawsuit we
hostages initiated against Iran last year under the
Antiterrorism Act of 1996. Our suit asks that Iran pay for
its violations of international law, including the core
requirement that diplomats be protected from harm, much less
torture, for performing their duties as representatives of
their country. There are frozen Iranian assets in this
country that could be used for this purpose.

Iran chose not to defend its conduct; it has not replied to
any terrorism lawsuits against it in American courts. In
August of this year, the presiding judge, Emmet G. Sullivan
of the United States District Court in Washington, found
Iran liable, leaving only the issue of the amount of damages
to be paid to us. Then came the amazing action of our
government.

On Oct. 15, the day the hostages were to begin testifying
about what we had gone through, the State and Justice
Departments intervened, asking the court to dismiss our
lawsuit. At the time, the Bush administration was trying to
build support for the war on terrorism and minimize official
opposition abroad. The State Department said it hadn't known
about our lawsuit earlier. But regardless of when it found
out, Iran's behavior in 1979 is no less outrageous after
Sept. 11 than it was before.

The government's argument is that Iran must be shielded
because of an extortionate deal made in 1981, after Iran
threatened to try us as spies and execute us. President
Jimmy Carter had no choice but to accept the demands: to
unfreeze $7.9 billion in Iranian assets (Iran did get this
payment), and to deny us the right to sue Iran.

That agreement was superseded by the Antiterrorism Act,
passed in 1996 and signed by President Bill Clinton. It said
foreign parties could be sued in American courts for
terrorism against American citizens.

Many in Congress were as shocked by the State and Justice
Departments' sudden intervention in the case as we were.
Last month, in an appropriation bill covering the Justice
and State Departments, the House and Senate specified that
our case is a valid claim and that the judge's ruling should
stand. President Bush signed the bill, while saying in a
press release that he would nevertheless do what he legally
could to keep the original agreement with Iran.

The next step in our court case is a hearing tomorrow,
before Judge Sullivan, on the Justice Department's motion.
The motion should be denied. The Senate and House have now
voted twice to put our justice system squarely on the side
of its citizens who are terrorized by foreign governments.
After Sept. 11, President Bush told Congress that America's
message to the world on terrorism was clear: "Either you are
with us, or you are with the terrorists." Where, in this
division, do our own State Department and Justice Department
stand?


Barry Rosen, executive director of external affairs at
Columbia Teachers College, was the last American press
attach to Iran.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/12/opinion/
12ROSE.html?ex=1009168733&ei=1&en=28852d2e3e5cfdd7