THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS
McLEAN, Virginia — Somalia's newly recognized government
is asking the State Department to grant immunity to a former prime minister
accused of human-rights abuses.
The letter issued this week by the Federal Republic of
Somalia seeks immunity for Mohamed Ali Samantar, who now lives in Fairfax but
was a top official in dictator Siad Barre's regime.
Last year, a federal judge in Virginia awarded seven
Somali victims a $21 million judgment against Samantar for orchestrating a
campaign of torture and killings against members of the Isaaq (ee-SOCK') clan.
At the time, Samantar was denied immunity because there
was no functioning government to claim immunity on his behalf. In January, the
U.S. formally recognized the Somali government.
Samantar's attorney said he expects the U.S. to honor
Somalia's request and the case to be dismissed.
http://www.cja.org/article.php?class=20&list=classt&type=287
No comments:
Post a Comment