Summary US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a former top official in Somalia
WASHINGTON: (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a former top official in Somalia who was ordered to pay $21 million to Somali victims of human-rights abuses.
The justices did not comment Monday in letting stand lower court rulings against Mohamed Ali Samantar, who now near Washington. He had previously been a top official in dictator Siad Barre s regime in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Federal courts found that Samantar could be held liable for orchestrating a campaign of torture and killings and rejected claims that he should be immune because he was an official of a foreign government.
The Obama administration had argued that Samantar was not immune from suit.
