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Keywords

tortdamagesstatutecommon lawrespondent
tortstatuteappealrespondent

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Samantar v. Yousuf

Facts

From 1980 to 1986, petitioner Mohamed Ali Samantar served as the First Vice President and Minister of Defense of Somalia, and from 1987 to 1990 as its Prime Minister. Respondents, members of the Isaaq clan, alleged that they or their family members were victims of torture and extrajudicial killings during Samantar's tenure. They sought damages under the Torture Victim Protection Act and the Alien Tort Statute, claiming that Samantar authorized these acts. After filing their complaint in 2004, the district court dismissed the case, citing the FSIA, but the Fourth Circuit reversed this decision.

Respondents are members of the Isaaq clan, which included well-educated and prosperous Somalis who were subjected to systematic persecution during the 1980's by the military regime then governing Somalia. They allege that petitioner exercised command and control over members of the Somali military forces who tortured, killed, or arbitrarily detained them or members of their families; that petitioner knew or should have known of the abuses perpetrated by his subordinates; and that he aided and abetted the commission of these abuses.

Issue

Whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 provides immunity from suit to a former foreign official based on actions taken in his official capacity.

Whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA or Act), 28 U.S.C. 1330, 1602 et seq., provides petitioner with immunity from suit based on actions taken in his official capacity.

Rule

The FSIA does not govern the determination of an individual foreign official's immunity from suit; instead, such claims are governed by the common law of foreign official immunity.

We hold that the FSIA does not govern the determination of petitioner's immunity from suit.

Analysis

The Supreme Court analyzed the language and structure of the FSIA, concluding that it does not apply to individual foreign officials. The Court noted that the FSIA defines a 'foreign state' and its 'agencies or instrumentalities' in a manner that does not include individual officials. The legislative history indicated that Congress intended to exclude official immunity from the FSIA's scope, thus leaving the determination of immunity to common law principles.

The Court of Appeals reversed, rejecting the District Court's ruling that the FSIA governs petitioner's immunity from suit. It acknowledged 'the majority view' among the Circuits that 'the FSIA applies to individual officials of a foreign state.' 552 F.3d 371, 378 (CA4 2009). It disagreed with that view, however, and concluded, 'based on the language and structure of the statute, that the FSIA does not apply to individual foreign government agents like [petitioner].' Id., at 381.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth Circuit's judgment, holding that the FSIA does not provide immunity to individual foreign officials, and remanded the case for further proceedings regarding common law immunity.

The court of appeals' judgment was affirmed, and the case was remanded for further proceedings.

Who won?

The respondents prevailed in the case as the Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth Circuit's decision, allowing their claims against the former official to proceed under common law rather than the FSIA.

The Supreme Court held that an individual foreign official was not a 'foreign state' within the meaning of 28 U.S.C.S. 1603. An individual official was not an 'agency or instrumentality' of a foreign state under 1603(b), which was defined in a manner that did not evidence the intent to include individual officials.

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