A former Somali army officer who lived quietly in the United States as an Uber driver has been deported after a jury found him liable for torture committed during Somalia’s civil war, in a case first reported by the BBC.
The Man Behind the Wheel
For years, Yusuf Abdi Ali lived in North America, first in Canada and later in the United States. In Virginia, he worked as an Uber driver, ferrying passengers across suburban streets with a high rating of 4.89. To his customers, he was a polite, reliable driver. To survivors of Somalia’s war, however, he was remembered as a feared colonel in the national army under dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
According to BBC reporting, Ali commanded a unit accused of widespread abuses, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and persecution of civilians. One survivor, Farhan Tani Warfaa, testified that Ali shot and tortured him during the late 1980s. Warfaa’s testimony became central to a civil case filed in the United States decades later.
The Court Case
In May 2019, a US federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found Ali responsible for the torture of Warfaa. The jury awarded Warfaa $500,000 in damages, a symbolic victory for survivors who had long sought justice.
Quoting the BBC: “On Tuesday, a jury at a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, found that Ali was responsible for the torture of Mr Warfaa more than three decades ago, awarding Mr Warfaa $500,000 in damages.”
The case was significant not only for its verdict but also for its context. War crimes trials are rare in US civil courts, and even rarer when the accused is a migrant who has lived quietly in the country for years.
Deportation as Justice
Following the ruling, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiated deportation proceedings against Ali. In December 2024, he was removed from the United States and sent back to Somalia.
For survivors, Ali’s deportation was more than a bureaucratic process. It was a form of justice. Deportation, often criticized as punitive and disruptive to migrant lives, in this case became a mechanism for accountability.
Human rights advocates noted that Ali’s removal highlighted the importance of international cooperation in addressing war crimes. Migrants who escape justice in their home countries cannot be allowed to live freely abroad without scrutiny.
Ali’s case underscores how alleged perpetrators of war crimes can live quietly abroad, blending into migrant communities until legal systems catch up with them. For migrant communities, it highlights the complex intersections of justice, accountability, and deportation. While deportation is often framed as punitive, in this instance it has been presented as a pathway to justice for victims of war crimes.
The BBC noted: “On Tuesday, a jury at a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, found that Ali was responsible for the torture of Mr Warfaa more than three decades ago, awarding Mr Warfaa $500,000 in damages.”
Ali’s removal sends a message that the United States will not serve as a safe haven for alleged war criminals. For survivors, it is a reminder that justice, though delayed, can still be delivered across borders.
Ali’s case underscores how alleged perpetrators of war crimes can live quietly abroad, blending into migrant communities until legal systems catch up with them. For migrant communities, it highlights the complex intersections of justice, accountability, and deportation. While deportation is often framed as punitive, in this instance it has been presented as a pathway to justice for victims of war crimes.
The BBC noted: “On Tuesday, a jury at a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, found that Ali was responsible for the torture of Mr Warfaa more than three decades ago, awarding Mr Warfaa $500,000 in damages.”
Ali’s removal sends a message that the United States will not serve as a safe haven for alleged war criminals. For survivors, it is a reminder that justice, though delayed, can still be delivered across borders.
