Warfaa v. Ali

33 F. Supp. 3d 653, 2014 WL 3734121, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103320
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJuly 29, 2014
DocketNo. 1:05cv701 (LMB/JFA)
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 33 F. Supp. 3d 653 (Warfaa v. Ali) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Warfaa v. Ali, 33 F. Supp. 3d 653, 2014 WL 3734121, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103320 (E.D. Va. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

LEONIE M. BRINKEMA, District Judge.

Before the Court is defendant’s Renewed Motion to Dismiss. For the reasons that follow, in addition to the reasons stated in open court, defendant’s motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

This civil action arises out of events that occurred in Somalia during the tumultuous regime of Mohamed Siad Barre. Plaintiff Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa (“plaintiff’ or “Warfaa”) is a Somali national who was allegedly tortured based on his membership in a clan opposed to Barre’s regime. Defendant Yusuf Abdi Ali (“defen[657]*657dant” or “Ali”) is a former officer of the Somali National Army, now living in the United States, who allegedly directed and participated in plaintiffs torture.

The facts alleged in the Amended Complaint are as follows. In 1987, plaintiff was a farmer living in northern Somalia. Am. Compl. ¶ 17. At that time, defendant was a Colonel in the Somali National Army, serving in the Fifth Battalion, which operated out of the nearby city of Gebiley, Somalia. Id. ¶¶ 6, 15. In December 1987, pursuant to defendant’s orders, Fifth Battalion soldiers abducted plaintiff from his home at gunpoint and took him to the Army’s regional headquarters. Id. ¶¶ 17-18. Over the course of the next three months, plaintiffs arms and legs were bound, he was stripped naked, and he was beaten to the point of unconsciousness at least nine times. Id. ¶¶ 20-24. Defendant was present and witnessed at least some of plaintiffs torture. Id. ¶ 25. In March 1988, defendant personally interrogated plaintiff, at the end of which defendant took out a pistol and shot plaintiff five times. Id. ¶26. Assuming plaintiff was dead, defendant ordered his subordinates to bury the body. Id. The soldiers quickly discovered that plaintiff was not dead, however, and they agreed to release him in exchange for a significant bribe. Id. ¶ 27.

In 1990, anticipating the overthrow of Barre’s regime, defendant entered Canada through the United States. Id. at 17. In 1992, Canada deported defendant back to the United States for gross human rights abuses in Somalia. Id. ¶ 8. In 1994, the United States similarly threatened defendant with deportation, and he voluntarily departed for Somalia in July 1994. Id. Defendant nonetheless returned to the United States in December 1996 and has been living here ever since as a lawful resident alien. See id.

On November 10, 2004, two plaintiffs, proceeding anonymously as Jane and John Doe, filed suit against defendant in federal court. Pursuant to an Order of the Court, issued on April 29, 2005, their complaint was voluntarily dismissed. On June 13, 2005, the same plaintiffs initiated the instant action. The Complaint alleged that defendant is liable for engaging in attempted extrajudicial killing, torture, degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, in violation of the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”), 28 U.S.C. 1350, and the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (“TVPA”), 106 Stat. 73, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 note.

This action has been subject to a number of stays, mostly to give the United States Department of State an opportunity to express its views on defendant’s claim of immunity and to give the Supreme Court an opportunity to decide related issues in a companion case, Somantar v. Yousuf, 560 U.S. 305, 130 S.Ct. 2278, 176 L.Ed.2d 1047 (2010). The final stay was lifted on April 25, 2014, one day after the Court received a Statement of Interest Submitted by the United States of America, explaining that the “United States is not in a position to present views to the Court concerning this matter at this time.” On May 9, 2014, plaintiff Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa filed an Amended Complaint using his true name and restating his claims against defendant; the other plaintiff, Jane Doe, elected not to proceed with this action, which has been recaptioned to reflect these changes.

II. DISCUSSION

Defendant moves to dismiss the Amended Complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

[658]*658A. Standard of Review

Under Rule 12(b)(1), a court must dismiss an action if finds subject-matter jurisdiction lacking. Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp., 546 U.S. 500, 514, 126 S.Ct. 1235, 163 L.Ed.2d 1097 (2006). The burden rests with the plaintiff to establish that such jurisdiction exists. Warren v. Sessoms & Rogers, P.A., 676 F.3d 365, 370-71 (4th Cir.2012). Under Rule 12(b)(6), a court must begin by assuming that the facts alleged in the complaint are true and by drawing all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor. Burbach Broad. Co. of Del. v. Elkins Radio Corp., 278 F.3d 401, 406 (4th Cir.2002). “Judgment should be entered when the pleadings, construing the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, fail to state any cognizable claim for relief.” O'Ryan v. Dehler Mfg. Co., 99 F.Supp.2d 714, 718 (E.D.Va.2000). In other words, to avoid dismissal, the factual allegations in the complaint, taken as true, “must be enough to raise a right of relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). That means a plaintiff must “nudgef ][his] claims across the line from conceivable to plausible.” Id. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to'draw a reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

B. Alien Tort Statute Claims

Although defendant failed to raise the issue in his papers, the Court must address the effect of Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 1659, 185 L.Ed.2d 671 (2013), on plaintiffs ATS claims.1 The ATS provides “original jurisdiction” in the federal district courts over “any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.”' 28 U.S.C. § 1350. The Supreme Court has clarified that the ATS is a jurisdictional grant for only a limited category of claims premised on violations of internationally accepted norms. Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692, 729, 124 S.Ct.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
33 F. Supp. 3d 653, 2014 WL 3734121, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/warfaa-v-ali-vaed-2014.