Former Somalia leader liable in US for human rights violations

Four Somalis last week prevailed in their long effort in US courts to hold a former top official of Somalia liable for torture and other human rights abuses.
The 11-year-long legal battle ended on March 9 when the highest court in the United States let stand a ruling that had awarded the Somalis $21 million in damages for crimes committed by former premier and Defence minister Mohamed Ali Samantar.
The violence for which Mr Samantar has acknowledged responsibility took place during the military dictatorship of Mohamed Siad Barré, who ruled Somalia from 1969 to 1991.
Mr Samantar, 84, made his way to the United States following the collapse of the Barré regime and has lived in Washington DC suburbs for the past 18 years.
The four Somalis, who had also migrated to the United States, sued Mr Samantar in 2004 under a US law designed to protect victims of torture.
The former prime minister argued that he was entitled to immunity from the claims against him because of his standing at the time as an official of a foreign country. The US Supreme Court last week upheld a lower court’s rejection of Mr Samantar’s defence.
“I truly rejoice to know that Samantar cannot escape the pronouncement of the court of law,” said Aziz Deria, one of the four Somalis represented by attorneys at the Centre for Justice and Accountability, a California-based human rights organisation.
“My late father Mohamed Iid, my younger brother Mustafa, and my cousin Yusuf were pulled from our family’s home and murdered under Gen Samantar’s orders just because of their clan,” Mr Deria recalled. “The Supreme Court’s decision today gives me hope that justice for all Somalis is possible.”
The lower US court that had earlier found in favour of the Somalis’ suit ruled that Mr Samantar “in fact ordered and affirmatively permitted such violations.”
Centre for Justice and Accountability legal director Kathy Roberts called the final judgment in the Samantar case a victory for victims of crimes that governments commit against their own people.
“Thousands of Somalis suffered under the Siad Barré regime and in the years since its collapse,” Ms Roberts said. “The decision of the Somali Federal Government not to seek immunity for Samantar, and the US Supreme Court’s denial of Samantar’s final appeal, together send a strong message that the perpetrators of such atrocities will not be cloaked with impunity.”
The Obama administration had urged the Supreme Court to let the ruling against Mr Samantar stand.
It remains to be seen how much, if any, of the $21 million in awarded compensation will actually be paid to the Somalis.
Ms Roberts said following the initial court ruling in 2012 in favour of her clients that monetary compensation was not of paramount concern.
“Our clients have always made it clear that this case was not about money damages — it was about justice,” the attorney said then. “There is no amount of money that could adequately compensate them for what they suffered, or that could compensate the thousands of innocent people who suffered or died under the Siad Barré regime.”
Source: The East Africa