Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar and his two sons could face huge penalties in the U.S. state of Virginia after a lawsuit was filed against him this month which accuses his forces of torturing members of two families to death in 2014 during his brutal campaign to silence dissidents in the North African country.
According to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, the Al-Suyid and Al-Krshiny families allege that forces under the command of Haftar and his sons Saddam and Khalid and other forces under Haftar’s command tortured and killed two members from each of their families in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
“Defendants Khalid and Saddam…are U.S. citizens and LNA members who lived in Virginia for years and own property in this District,” the court papers indicate, paving the way for financial compensation for the victims’ families.
According to the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Kevin Carroll, they have a good chance of winning the case and receiving substantial compensation from the Haftars, who own 17 properties in Virginia.
“We do have documentation about the ownership of the properties. The families hope for financial damages,” Carroll told Anadolu Agency.
“The fact that the families are Libyan citizens does not prevent them from recovering damages in the United States under this law,” he said, referring to the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991.
The Act is a statute that allows for the filing of civil suits in U.S. courts against individuals who, acting in an official capacity for any foreign nation, committed torture and/or extrajudicial killing.
The families described the atrocities committed under the Haftars’ watch in the court documents, which were viewed by Anadolu Agency.
Documents provided to the court describe Haftar and his two sons as U.S. citizens and detail their ownership of 17 properties in various districts of Virginia worth a total of at least $8 million.