# Yusuf Abdi Ali (Tukeh)

> Yusuf Abdi Ali (Tukeh), commander of the Somali army's Fifth Brigade in 1987–1988: the 2019 US civil verdict, his defence, the 2024 immigration ruling and his removal to Somalia.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/yusuf-abdi-ali-tukeh/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

Yusuf Abdi Ali was an officer of the [Somali National Army](/en/institutions/somali-national-army/) under [Siad Barre](/en/people/siad-barre/). This page records what US courts, US immigration authorities and the press report about him. The events in the north-west in those years are covered in [The Isaaq genocide, 1987–1989](/en/history/isaaq-genocide-1987-1989/).

## Commander of the Fifth Brigade, 1987–1988

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) states that he was a lieutenant colonel and commander of the army's Fifth Brigade in north-west Somalia from about May 1987 to July 1988. It says the army committed serious abuses in that period, including arbitrary arrests and executions, the burning of towns, unlawful use of landmines and the destruction of water reservoirs ([ICE, 23 December 2024](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ero-washington-dc-removes-high-ranking-somali-national-convicted-human-rights)).

## The civil case, Warfaa v. Ali

The Center for Justice and Accountability filed a lawsuit in the United States on behalf of Farhan Mohamoud Tani Warfaa, a herder from north-west Somalia, about 15 years before trial. Warfaa said that when he was 17 Ali tortured him, shot him and left him for dead during an interrogation, and that he survived by bribing the men sent to bury him. On Tuesday 21 May 2019, after more than three days of deliberation, a jury in a federal court in northern Virginia found Ali liable for torture and awarded US$400,000 in compensatory and US$100,000 in punitive damages. Jurors did not find enough evidence on the shooting to hold him liable for attempted killing ([Mohamed Olad Hassan, VOA, 21 May 2019](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-jury-former-somali-colonel-responsible-for-torture/4927432.html)).

Ali denied torturing Warfaa. His lawyer, Joseph Peter Drennan, said the suit was based on "clan vengeance", that there was no "clear, convincing evidence" that Ali tortured anyone or directed torture, that the witnesses were biased, and that Ali deserved immunity as a former foreign official (VOA, 2019).

## Immigration ruling and removal, 2024

ICE states that its war-crimes centre asked for an investigation in March 2020, that Ali was detained in November 2022, and that on 8 February 2024 an immigration judge issued a 65-page decision finding that he had personally engaged in torture and had ordered soldiers under his command to detain, torture and assist in extrajudicial killings. He was removed to Somalia on 20 December 2024, aged 71. An ICE official, Russell Hott, said: "Though justice was delayed in this case, it ultimately prevailed" (ICE, 2024).

## Sources differ

- **Date of Warfaa's torture.** 1987 in the lead of VOA's report; 1988 later in the same report.
- **Responsibility.** The jury and the immigration judge found him responsible for torture; Ali and his lawyer denied it and called the case clan-based.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "ERO Washington, D.C. removes high-ranking Somali national convicted of human rights violations" (2024): [release](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ero-washington-dc-removes-high-ranking-somali-national-convicted-human-rights).
- Voice of America, "US jury: former Somali colonel responsible for torture" (2019): [article](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-jury-former-somali-colonel-responsible-for-torture/4927432.html).

---
I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.