A court in the US has ordered the ex-Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Samantar to pay $21 million in damages to victims of torture and human rights abuses that took place whilst he was in power.
An 8 year long court battle ended earlier this week, with a Washington court ruling Samantar must compensate his victims from his time in office during the 1980s.
Kathy Roberts from the Center for Justice and Accountability and was the attorney for the lead plaintiff welcomed the ruling commenting,
"The court's ruling [sends] a message to victims and perpetrators alike that the U.S. will not provide a safe haven to war criminals""Individuals who are perpetrating Syria's human rights violations who may think they are acting with impunity should be aware that the arc of justice is long but it does come."
Another of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Steven Schulman, added,
“This is a remarkable result for our clients, who faced down one of the most powerful men in their country’s history and forced him to concede liability for his crimes.”
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