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(CNN)An accused war criminal living in the United States is now working as a security guard at Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC.
A CNN investigation found that Yusuf Abdi Ali, who is accused of committing atrocities while he was a military commander during Somalia's brutal civil war, has been living a quiet life near the nation's capital for about 20 years.
Roberts claims Ali is directly responsible for these atrocities, painting disturbing images of acts he allegedly committed. The lawsuit is now headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the court agrees to hear it, it could become a landmark case over whether foreigners living in the U.S. can be held accountable for crimes allegedly committed overseas.The case has had numerous twists and appeals over the years. The most recent happened in February, when the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that only part of the case can move forward -- the lawsuit's claims that Ali tortured and attempted to murder the plaintiff. The other part of the suit -- claims that he committed "war crimes" -- cannot because those alleged crimes happened outside of the United States. "He oversaw some of the most incredible violence that you can imagine," said Kathy Roberts, an attorney for the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), which is leading the civil suit. "He tortured people personally; he oversaw torture." Ali is being sued in a U.S. civil court. The lawsuit, which a human rights group initially filed in 2006, calls Ali a "war criminal" who committed "crimes against humanity."In light of the "very serious nature of the allegations," Ali is on administrative leave, and the company is reviewing the case, according to Chief Executive Rick Cucina. Ali's airport access has also been withdrawn.However, when CNN initially asked Master Security about Ali, the company said it was "unaware of the pending litigation."Ali's employer Master Security has a contract with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to provide unarmed security services. Ali passed a "full, federally mandated vetting process" that included an FBI background check and a TSA assessment. As a result of CNN's investigation, Ali has been placed on administrative leave. CNN found that, today, Ali is living a normal suburban life just outside of the nation's capital, in Alexandria, VA. He shares an apartment with his wife and works as a security guard at Dulles, one of the busiest airports in the country."He tied (my brother) to military vehicle and dragged him behind. He said to us if you've got enough power, get him back," the villager said. "He shredded him into pieces. That's how he died."Several villagers described these atrocities in a documentary that aired on the Canadian network CBC in 1992. One witness claimed Ali captured and killed a family member.Yusuf Abdi Ali served as a commander in the Barre regime and is accused of terrorizing the Isaaq people, torturing clan members, burning villages and conducting mass executions.Led by Mohamed Siad Barre, the regime took over Somalia after a coup in 1969 and ruled with an iron fist. In the north, the dominant Isaaq clan was heavily repressed and brutalized by government forces, according to human rights experts. Read MoreIn a shallow pit in northern Somalia, forensic anthropologists have been delicately digging around battered bones that were recently found in numerous mass graves. They're the remains of a clan slaughtered during the war in the 1980s, alleged evidence of the brutality carried out by the government regime in power at the time. He is just one of more than 1,000 accused war criminals living and working in the United States.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/01/us/accused-war-criminal-works-at-dulles-airport/
