Hekmati v. Islamic Republic of Iran

278 F.Supp.3d 145

Amir HEKMATI, Plaintiff,

v.ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 16–0875 (ESH)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed September 29, 2017

Scott D. Gilbert, Mark Alexander Packman, Emily P. Grim, Gilbert, LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff.

REDACTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLEN SEGAL HUVELLE, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Amir Hekmati, a United States citizen, spent four and one-half years in Evin prison in the Islamic Republic of Iran ("Iran"). He brings this action for compensatory and punitive damages against Iran under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1602 – 1611, alleging that Iran's detention of him and treatment while detained constituted hostage taking and torture. (Compl., May 9, 2016, ECF No. 1.) Iran failed to respond to the complaint, the Clerk entered a default, and plaintiff has now moved for a default judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(2). (Mot. for Default Judgment, Feb. 6, 2017, ECF No. 12.) For the reasons set forth herein, the Court will grant the motion for default judgment.

BACKGROUND

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

The evidence in the record before the Court establishes the following facts.

Amir Hekmati is a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who was born in the United States in 1983. (Proposed Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law in Support of Mot. for Default Judgment ("Mem.") Ex. A (Decl. of Amir Hekmati ("Hekmati Decl.")) ¶¶ 1, 3.) His parents, Ali and Behnaz Hekmati, had immigrated to the United States from Iran before he was born. (Id. ¶ 3.) He has three siblings—an older sister, a twin sister, and a younger brother. (Id. ¶ 4.) When he was eight years old, his family moved to Flint, Michigan, and he lived there until he graduated from high school in 2001. (Id. ¶¶ 7–8.)

From July 2001 until August 2005, Hekmati served in the United States Marine Corps. (Id. ¶ 9, Ex. A.) While in the Marines, he completed a 63-week course in Arabic at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, graduating with high honors in May 2003. (Id. ¶ 10, Ex. C.) Thereafter, he was deployed to Iraq as an infantry rifleman to support combat operations; he also served as the personal interpreter for the battalion commander. (Id. ¶ 11, Ex. D.) After completing his four-year term of active service, during which he reached the rank of E–5/SGT, he was honorably discharged in August 2005. (Id. ¶¶ 9, 12, Ex. A.) After leaving the military, Hekmati worked as a defense contractor in the areas of language and cultural instruction, with a focus on new language translation technology. (Id. ¶¶ 14–16, 18.) He also went to college online, obtaining a bachelor's degree in International Business Management in 2009 from the University of Phoenix. (Id. ¶ 17.)

In 2009, Hekmati was hired as a research manager for a U.S. defense contractor, which led to his spending a year in Iraq, providing cultural analysis and advice to U.S. military commanders. (Id. ¶ 19.) In May 2011, he started a new job in Afghanistan as an analyst for another U.S. defense contractor. (Id. ¶ 20.) Shortly thereafter, though, he was accepted into a Master's Program in Economics at the University of Michigan, and he decided to enroll. (Id. ¶¶ 21–22.) Before returning to the United States, he decided he would take his first trip to Iran to visit relatives and see the country of his parents' birth. (Id. ¶ 25.)

A. Iran

Hekmati received authorization to travel to Iran from the Iranian Interests Section of the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C., and he arrived at the airport in Tehran on August 14, 2011. (Id. ¶¶ 27–28.) After a brief interview with immigration officials, he was admitted to the country using his Iranian passport. (Id. ¶ 28.) On August 29, 2011, two days before his scheduled departure, two men who represented themselves as being from a passport control agency appeared and asked him to come with them to answer a few additional questions. (Id. ¶ 30.) They took Hekmati to a small office building nearby, where he was questioned by men from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security ("MOIS"). (Id. ¶¶ 31–32.) MOIS is Iran's primary intelligence organization; in 2012, it was designated by the United States Department of the Treasury for human right abuses dating back to June 12, 2009. See U.S. Dept. of Treasury, Treasury Designates Iran Ministry of Intelligence and Security for Human Rights Abuses and Support for Terrorism, U.S. Dept. of Treasury Press Center (Feb. 16, 2012) ("Treasury Designation") ("The U.S. Departments of the Treasury and State also today imposed sanctions against MOIS pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being responsible for or complicit in the commission of serious human rights abuses against the Iranian people since June 12, 2009.")

Hekmati was asked why he was in Iran, and he told them he was there "[t]o visit Iran." (Hekmati Decl. ¶ 31.) He was also asked to write down the names of his family members, which he did. (Id. ) Then he was ordered to write down that he was a former member of the U.S. military. (Id. ) Once he did that, the interrogator asked him to sign the paper, which he did. (Id. ¶ 32.) After Hekmati signed the paper, the interrogator began to call him a "spy" and threatened that he would be taken to "a very bad place" if he did not confess. (Id. ¶ 33.) He told the interrogator that he had no idea what he was talking about, but ultimately, two guards handcuffed Hekmati and took him to Evin Prison. (Id. ¶¶ 33–34.)

B. Detention

"Evin Prison in Tehran [is] notorious for cruel and prolonged torture of political opponents of the government." U.S. Dep't of State, Iran 2012 Human Rights Report at 7. When Hekmati first arrived at Evin, he was strip-searched, given blue prison pajamas, blindfolded, and taken to a small, windowless cell in Ward 209, which was controlled by MOIS. (Hekmati Decl. ¶¶ 34, 36); see also Iran 2012 Human Rights Report at 7 ("news organizations and human rights groups reported [that Ward 209] was under the control of the country's intelligence services"); Treasury Designation at 1 ("MOIS agents are responsible for the beatings, sexual abuse, prolonged interrogations, and coerced confessions of prisoners, particularly political prisoners, which occurred in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, which is controlled by MOIS, following the June 2009 elections in Iran.")

Hekmati describes his first few days in Ward 209 as a "blur." (Hekmati Decl. ¶ 35.) He was "shocked, confused, scared, [and] indignant." (Id. ) He did not know if what had happened was all a "misunderstanding" or if "prison official were about to blow [his] head off." (Id. ¶ 35.) As it turned out, Hekmati spent the next four months in his cell in solitary confinement. (Id. ¶ 36.) His cell was so small that he could not fully extend his legs when he was lying down. (Id. ¶ 37.) The walls were curved, making him "feel constantly like the walls were caving in" on him. (Id. ) The "floor was cold tile covered with a thin carpet," and that is where Hekmati slept as there was no mattress. (Id. ) Hekmati was given a thin blanket, but it did little to protect him from the cold floor. (Id. ) "There was nothing else in the cell except a small makeshift toilet, which was more like a pail with a hose." (Id. ¶ 38.) "There was no plumbing and no toilet paper." (Id. ) The prison official kept bright lights on 24 hours a day, making it impossible for Hekmati, in his windowless cell, to tell if it was daytime or nighttime. (Id. ¶ 39.) "At other times, the power went out, and [he] was left in complete darkness for hours at a time." (Id. ) When that happened, Hekmati felt like he was "being buried alive." (Id. ) He was served very little food—a slice of bread and margarine in the morning, soggy rice and lentils for lunch, and a small cup of soup or lentils in the evening. (Id. ¶ 49.) He rapidly lost a significant amount of weight—by his estimate, over 20 pounds. (Id. ) Hekmati was permitted to leave his cell "only once every few days for 10–15 minutes to take a cold shower." (Id. ¶ 40.) Otherwise, he was "taken from [his] cell only for interrogations, which ... happened every few days." (Id. ) He was always blindfolded when he was taken out of his cell. (Id. )

While Hekmati was in Ward 209, he was frequently subjected to physical and psychological abuse. For example, "[p]rison officials intentionally exacerbated [Hekmati's discomfort] by regularly pouring water on the floor of [his] cell so that it remained cold and damp and grew moldy," a smell he describes as "putrid." (Id. ¶ 37.) "At times, the air was so heavy and polluted that [Hekmati] had trouble breathing" and, in fact, "the guards [had to wear] surgical masks." (Id. ¶ 38.) In addition, "[p]rison guards beat [him] repeatedly with batons and struck [him] in [his] kidneys with an electric taser." (Id. ¶ 41.) On one occasion, an interrogator "chained [him] to a table blindfolded and whipped the bottom of [his] feet with cables as punishment for not giving him the answers he wanted." (Id. ¶ 42.) Hekmati describes these "whippings" as "excruciating." (Id. ("Because I could not move, I felt the pain not just on my feet, but reverberating through my head, like a screwdriver jammed into my brain.").) Also, because the wounds were on his feet, they were slow to heal; his feet became swollen, and he could not walk properly. (Id. ) On multiple occasions, he "was handcuffed in stress positions for hours at a time." (Id. ¶ 43.) Such as on one occasion, he "was handcuffed with one arm reaching behind [his] shoulder and the other hand meeting it behind [his] back for nearly forty-eight hours," a position that prevented him from sitting the entire time and caused "excruciating" pain in his shoulder. (Id. ) The prison guards also constantly taunted and belittled him, insulting him, his mother, and his country. (Id. ¶ 44.) On one occasion, prison officials lied and told him that his sister had been involved in a terrible car accident, but then refused...