Can a foreign citizen bring a takings claim against the U.S. government?
Question: Does a foreign citizen have a right under the Fifth Amendment to just compensation for the U.S.-inspired taking of property in a foreign country?
Backstory:
According to her allegations, Ms. Atamirzayeva is a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan. She resides in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Prior to the events that are the subject of her claim, she was the sole owner of a cafeteria located on property next to the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent. The property on which her cafeteria was located was owned by the Republic of Uzbekistan, but Ms. Atamirzayeva owned the buildings on the property.
Ms. Atamirzayeva alleges that in December 1999 officials at the U.S. Embassy made a verbal demand to local authorities in Tashkent that they destroy Ms. Atamirzayeva’s cafeteria in order to increase the security of the U.S. Embassy. The following day, local authorities forcibly expelled Ms. Atamirzayeva from her cafeteria, then destroyed it while officials from the U.S. Embassy oversaw the demolition. Ms. Atamirzayeva sought compensation from local authorities and from the U.S. Embassy, but those efforts were unsuccessful. She then initiated this takings action in the Court of Federal Claims.
Did Ms. Atamirzayeva prevail? Get the answer, in pdf, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.