USA-Libya: US court in Eastern Virginia convicted Marshal Khalifa Haftar of war crimes after a legal battle against him in the US was fought by Libyans who accused him of torture and extrajudicial executions.
A US Federal Court judge in Virginia has found Khalifa Haftar responsible for the crimes he is accused of committing in Libya.
Judge Leonie Brinkema said Haftar is civilly liable for paying compensation to plaintiffs and added that date will be set for the next session to discuss compensation for the victims’ families.
Libyan families had filed a lawsuit against Haftar in Virginia courts, accusing his forces of carrying out attacks that killed 6 members of these families, and the lawsuit demanded financial compensation of one billion dollars.
The families wrote at the time that Haftar, as commander of the Libyan National Army, had “participated in an indiscriminate war against the Libyan people: killing many men, women, and children in bombardments and torturing other civilians”.
These families based their request on an American law dating from 1991, the Torture Victims Protection Act, which makes it possible to prosecute any person exercising an official function in a foreign country who has committed acts of torture and/or extrajudicial executions.
US justice delivers final verdict against Haftar, accused of torture
On June 14, 2022, the British site Middle East Eye reported that an American judge had received a recommendation from a justice of the peace to issue a hypothetical decision against Khalifa Haftar, in a case in which he was accused of committing crimes. crimes of torture against Khalifa Haftar. civilians.
According to a report published by the site, the magistrate of the federal court of Virginia in the United States stressed the need to condemn Haftar for having committed war crimes against Libyan civilians.
Senior Judge Leonie Brinkema is expected to deliver her final decision in the case on June 24.
He accused Haftar of delaying court proceedings and failing to respond to his appearance or communication with the Federal Court.
According to the website’s report, the families of the victims are seeking compensation under the Protection of Victims of Torture Act 1991.
This law allows non-US citizens to obtain compensation from perpetrators of acts of torture or extrajudicial executions.
President of the Foundation for Democracy and Human Rights and adviser to victims of war crimes, Imad Eddin Al-Muntasir, looks forward to a total judgment exceeding $100 million in the three cases brought against Haftar in the USA.
