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A U.S. judge on Tuesday awarded $21 million to seven people who sued a former prime minister of Somalia now living in Virginia, claiming he tortured and killed his own people more than two decades ago.

A former Somali prime minister denied diplomatic immunity must pay $21 million in damages to the victims of his alleged torture and human rights abuse, a U.S. federal court ruled.

U.S. Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema awarded $21 million in compensatory and punitive damages against former Somali General Mohamed Ali Samantar. This judgment marks the first time that any Somali government official has been held accountable for the atrocities perpetrated under the Siad Barre regime.

On June 20 in Madrid, Spain, YO DONA magazine announced that Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) attorney Almudena Bernabeu was the 2012 recipient of its prestigious International Award for Professional Work.

On April 18, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Torture Victim Protection Act (TVPA) does not impose liability against organizations for acts of torture and extrajudicial killing. CJA calls upon Congress to ensure that organizations who are responsible for human rights abuses, such as torture, extrajudicial killing, and crimes against humanity, are held liable.

A seven year court battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court ended in a federal courtroom in Virginia on Thursday when former Somali Gen. Mohamed Ali Samantar admitted liability for war crimes and human rights abuses committed in the late 1980s, when he was the defense minister and commander of military forces in Somalia.

The former prime minister of Somalia on Thursday ended an eight-year legal battle by accepting legal liability for alleged war crimes and killings that occurred under the regime of dictator Siad Barre. But he denied wrongdoing and said he never approved any slayings.

Former Somali General Mohamad Ali Samantar accepted liability before U.S. federal judge Leonie Brinkema for torture, extrajudicial killing, war crimes and other human rights abuses committed against the civilian population of Somalia during the brutal Siad Barre regime.

CJA has confirmed that the formal extradition requests from the Spanish Government have arrived in El Salvador, with simultaneous transmittal to the United States likely, for fifteen former members of the Salvadoran military, including members of the high command. The defendants have all been charged with conspiracy to assassinate and the assassination of 5 Spanish Jesuits and 3 Salvadoran citizens. Of these requests, 13 are for defendants in El Salvador, and 2 are for defendants in the United States