The former prime minister of Somalia on Thursday ended an
eight-year legal battle by accepting legal liability for alleged war crimes and
killings that occurred under the regime of dictator Siad Barre. But he denied
wrongdoing and said he never approved any slayings. Mohamed Ali Samantar, now 76, was a top official
in the Barre regime serving throughout the 1980s as vice president, defense
minister and prime minister, up until the months before the regime's collapse
in 1991. But for more than a decade, he has lived quietly in the Washington
suburb of Fairfax, Va., surrounded by a large extended family. Samantar was
sued in 2004 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria by several members of the
Isaaq clan, who said they suffered brutal repression, including torture and
mass killings, under the Barre regime. Samantar
told the AP he was fundamentally offended by the idea that an American court
could pass judgment on a Somali dispute.
"I worked 40 years for my country," he said. "I was
faithful to my country and abided by the law." On Thursday, as jury selection was about to
begin, Samantar said he would accept a default judgment against him and would not
contest the allegations. He made clear,
though, that while he accepts legal liability he admits no wrongdoing. "I request to accept default, but that
doesn't mean I'm guilty," he told the judge. I believe that this is a cop-out. I believe that Samantar should have to see
and hear what he did to these people for so many years. They are most likely scarred for life due to
the events that took place in Somalia. However,
I don’t think this should be taking place on American soil. I believe that anything that happened should
be corrected and handled in Somalia. The
US has no interest in it and should not be imposing on this man’s life. If anything is to happen, he should be
exported and tried in his country. I
think that we as Americans too often take matters that are none of our concern
into our hands. And this needs to
stop. We need to worry about what is
happening here as opposed to being so wrapped up in what is happening in other
countries.
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