## Facts

- Somali nationals sued Mohamed Ali Samantar, a former senior Somali government official, for alleged torture, arbitrary detention, and extrajudicial killing by Somali security forces during the 1980s.
- Plaintiffs sought civil liability under the Torture Victim Protection Act and the Alien Tort Statute.
- The complaint alleged Samantar exercised command authority over forces committing abuses, knew or should have known of the violations, and aided and abetted them.
- Samantar moved to dismiss on the ground that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) immunized him from suit.

## Issues

1. Whether the FSIA’s immunity for a “foreign state” extends to an individual sued for acts taken in an official capacity.
2. Whether a former foreign official is entitled to FSIA immunity for acts performed while in office.

## Decision

- The Court unanimously affirmed the court of appeals.
- The Court held the FSIA does not govern immunity claims by individual foreign officials, whether current or former.
- Any immunity available to Samantar must be determined under federal common law, not under the FSIA.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings on any common-law immunity defenses.

## Legal Principles

- The FSIA’s immunity framework applies to foreign states and their political subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities, not to natural persons sued as foreign officials.
- The FSIA definition of “agency or instrumentality” contemplates organizational entities with separate legal personhood, not individual officials.
- When the FSIA does not apply, foreign official immunity questions are resolved under federal common law, which may account for historical practice, customary international law, and Executive Branch views.

## Conclusion

The Court held that individual foreign officials are not covered by the FSIA’s immunity provisions; their immunity, if any, must be evaluated under federal common law, and the case was returned to the lower courts to address that question.


Samantar v. Yousuf, 560 U.S. 305 (2010)