By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press
McLEAN, Va. March 2, 2013 (AP)
Somalia's newly
recognized government is asking the State Department to grant immunity to a
former prime minister who was found responsible in a U.S. court for human-rights
abuses.
The letter issued
this week by the Federal Republic of Somalia's prime minister, Abdi Farah
Shirdon, seeks immunity for Mohamed Ali Samantar, who now lives in Fairfax but
was a top official in dictator Siad Barre's regime in the 1980s and early
1990s.
Last year, a
federal judge in Alexandria awarded seven Somali victims a $21 million judgment
against Samantar for orchestrating a campaign of torture and killings against
members of the Isaaq clan. Samantar fought the case for years, arguing that
U.S. courts had no right to pass judgment on internal Somali affairs. On the
eve of trial, he declared bankruptcy and entered a default judgment while
continuing to pursue his immunity claim in an appeals court. While he accepted
legal liability for the killings, he denied wrongdoing.
At the time,
Samantar was denied immunity in large part because there was no functioning
government to claim immunity on his behalf. After Barre's regime collapsed in
1991 the country lacked a true central government for more than 20 years. But
in January, the U.S. formally recognized the new Somali government.
Samantar's
attorney, Joseph Peter Drennan, said he expects the U.S. to honor Somalia's
request and the case to be dismissed. The 4th U.S. Circuit of Appeals rejected
an appeal filed by Samantar last year, but Drennan said Friday he will file
papers with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to have the case tossed out.
"We fully
expect the U.S. will honor this request for immunity," Drennan said.
"To do otherwise would represent an affront to the government of
Somalia."
State Department
press officers did not respond to questions about the case Friday.
The fact that the
Somali prime minister, who was himself an official in the Barre regime,
requested the immunity so soon after receiving U.S. recognition reflects the
importance of the case to the Somali government, Drennan said. He said the new
government is seeking to move beyond the old score-settling of clan-based
grievances, and lawsuits like the one brought in Virginia by members of the
Isaaq clan "represent a threat to efforts to promote peace and
reconciliation."
Kathy Roberts, a
lawyer for the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, said
Somalia's immunity request for Samantar is disappointing.
"In his
meeting with Secretary of State Clinton in January, (Somali) President (Hassan
Sheikh Mohamoud) made a commitment to restore faith in governance and the rule
of law. Embracing impunity for war criminals is a disappointing
beginning," she said in a statement.
The Somali prime
minister's request for immunity for Samantar goes to the State Department. If
the State Department decides to honor it, it would be up to a court to dismiss
the case.
In rejecting
Samantar's immunity claim last year, the appeals court said the executive
branch's recommendation is a big factor in determining immunity, but not the
only one. It also said abuses such as torture and extrajudicial killings, like
those Samantar was accused of, may never be eligible for protection.
The case against
Samantar was initially filed in 2004 and has already been heard once by the
U.S. Supreme Court. Initially the district court judge granted immunity to
Samantar but the Supreme Court reinstated the case.
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