United States Fourth Circuit

Defendant, a former Somali official who allegedly ordered the commission of numerous atrocities against plaintiffs in the 1970s and 1980s, does not enjoy sovereign immunity from a suit brought under the Torture Victim Protection Act and the Alien Tort Statute, because the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not apply to individuals who are no longer government officials.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/08/2009
• Published 01/08/2009

Judges

• Before TRAXLER, KING, and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Tara M. Lee, Cooley, Godward & Kronish, L.L.P., Reston, Virginia, for Appellants.  Frederick B. Goldberg, Bethesda, Maryland, for Appellee.   ON BRIEF:  Robert R. Vieth, Sherron N. Thomas, Cooley, Godward & Kronish, L.L.P., Reston, Virginia;  Maureen P. Alger, Cooley, Godward & Kronish, L.L.P., Palo Alto, California;  Pamela Merchant, Moira Feeney, Center for Justice & Accountability, San Francisco, California, for Appellants.  Julian H. Spirer, Spirer & Goldberg, P.C., Bethesda, Maryland, for Appellee.  Tyler Giannini, Harvard Law School, International Human Rights Clinic, Human Rights Program, Cambridge, Massachusetts, for Torture Survivors Support Organizations, Human Rights Organizations, Religious Organizations and Torture Survivors and Their Family Members, Amici Supporting Appellants.  Deena R. Hurwitz, Germaine S. Dunn, Kerry M. Shapleigh, University Of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia, for United States Member of Congress and Law Professors, Amici Supporting Appellants.