By Omar Bah
For the third time this year, a federal judge has refused to dismiss multiple criminal charges in the unique prosecution of a West African man living in Colorado, whose alleged acts of torture in his home country could violate US law.
US District Court Senior Judge Christine M Arguello has rejected each of Michael Sang Correa’s various arguments for dismissing his indictment on seven torture-related counts. Allegedly, Correa was involved in the investigation of an unsuccessful 2006 coup attempt against then-President Yahya Jammeh in The Gambia. Correa was part of an armed unit under Jammeh’s control that tortured multiple coup suspects.
In February, Arguello rejected Correa’s challenge to his 2020 indictment after concluding Correa was on notice he could be prosecuted in Colorado for alleged crimes that took place outside of the United States under the Torture Act of 1994. Then on Sept. 10, Arguello found the inability to transport two witnesses into the US from Africa did not violate Correa’s right to present a complete defense.
This week, Arguello turned to Correa’s new argument: his indictment was filed beyond the statute of limitations.
Correa’s attorneys noted the statute of limitations for federal offenses is generally five years. Correa’s indictment came roughly 14 years after his alleged torture crimes.
The defense suggested the prosecution was “mistakenly” operating under a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act, enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, that removes the statute of limitations if certain offenses created a foreseeable risk of death or serious injury. One of the offenses referenced is torture.
The problem, the defense continued, was that the provision eliminating the statute of limitations was titled “terrorism offenses,” and a related section referred to offenses “calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion.” Citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision involving those charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, Correa argued the “broader context” clearly implicated terrorism and only terrorism.
“Congress was focused on providing the government the tools necessary to intercept, obstruct, and, ultimately, prosecute terrorists — specifically the 9/11 terrorists. Congress was not looking to modify the general statute of limitations for non-terrorism offenses,” wrote public defender Matthew K Belcher in concluding Correa’s torture charges were filed too late.
The prosecution responded that Congress did not explicitly limit its removal of the statute of limitations to terrorism and that Correa is misinterpreting the language.
Arguello agreed Congress removed the statute of limitations for more than just crimes of terrorism, with the wording of the law encompassing torture.
“Given this lack of ambiguity, the Court will not second guess Congress’s intention,” she wrote on Sept. 23.
According to the federal indictment, Correa, who lived in Denver prior to his arrest, participated in the torture of six victims who were suspects in the unsuccessful coup against Jammeh’s government. Allegedly, the torture included beatings, dripping molten plastic onto extremities, extinguishing cigarettes on victims’ bodies, electrocution and stabbing.
TRIAL International, a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, previously reported that Correa’s prosecution is one of a small number of similar cases since Congress enacted the Torture Act. Under the law, a person in the United States can be imprisoned for up to 20 years for acts of torture that take place outside the country.
