Blackhawk Incident Legal Questions

Gao ID: NSIAD-96-91R February 1, 1996

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed payments to the survivors of foreign victims of the downing of 2 U.S. helicopters in Iraq in April 1994. GAO noted that: (1) the $100,000 payments to the foreign victims' survivors were a humanitarian gesture conveying U.S. regret over the incident; (2) the payments were discretionary payments authorized by the Secretary of Defense and were not subject to certain claims acts or their implementing regulations; (3) failure to make similar payments to the American victims' survivors was not a violation of the Civil Rights Act which did not apply in the instant circumstances; and (4) there was no evidence that the Department of Defense improperly released any information regarding the life insurance of one American victim.



The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.