Holding International Organizations Accountable Under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act: Civil Actions Against the United Nations for Non- Commercial Torts

A. The Mitrovica Detention CenterDuring the afternoon hours of April 17, 2004, bedlam reigned at the U.N.-run Mitrovica Detention Center in northern Kosovo. 1 Having completed the first day of pre-induction training, a group of international correctional and police officers 2 were preparing to exit the facility when an assailant unexpectedly began firing at the group's three-vehicle convoy.3 Trapped between the facility's closed gate and several buildings, the officers were in the "killing zone" of the Jordanian shooter's deadly volley.4 But for a fortuitous event-the malfunctioning of the gunman's weapon-the officers would have been unable to mount the counterattack which ultimately ended the unprovoked assault.5 In the end, three Americans lay dead while eleven others suffered serious injury.6 1. Press Briefing, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, Statement of Police Commissioner Stefan Feller, Special Press Conference on Shooting Incident in Mitrovica Detention Centre Involving International Officers, Unofficial Transcript (Apr.18, 2004), available at http://www.unmikonline.org/press/2004/trans/tr180404.pdf.2. The group of twenty-four international officers consisted of twenty-one Americans, two Turks, and one Austrian.Id. Id.4. Kosovo Prison Shooter May Have Had Hamas Ties, FOXNEWS.COM, Apr. 24, 2004, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,118065,00.html[hereinafter Kosovo Prison Shooter].Although the gunman was actually Palestinian, for consistency, I refer to him in this Note as Jordanian since he was a member of that country's police contingent.5. In fact, once the assailant's weapon malfunctioned, the officers, who were originally armed only with pistols, seized several automatic rifles from the perpetrator's fellow countrymen and counterattacked the gunman's position, striking him fatally sixteen times.Id.6.At the conclusion of the attack, two American officers had been killed, in addition to the Jordanian gunman.Press Release, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, SRSG Expresses Shock and Dismay at the Shooting Incident Involving International Officers, U.N. Doc.