Accountability for war crimes in U.S. courts

Newsweek reports that,

A [U.S] federal judge in Philadelphia ruled that a former Liberian military commander, Moses W. Thomas, who oversaw the massacre of hundreds of innocent civilians at a church during the country's civil war in 1990 can be held to account under U.S. law for the extrajudicial killings and torture.

 

The lawsuit said Thomas was in command as soldiers fired into the packed church from the front door and through windows, targeting those trying to escape.

Thomas was later promoted to head the country's defense intelligence service and emigrated to the United States in 2000.After the war, Thomas emigrated to the United States, worked at a restaurant and lived in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb. He went back to Liberia two years ago. His lawyer said Friday he now lives in the capital of Monrovia.