A trial is underway at the U.S. District Court in Denver for Michael Sang Correa, a Gambian man who is now the first non-U.S. citizen to be tried under the federal Torture Act.
According to Human Rights Watch, Correa was a member of the Junglers, a paramilitary “death squad” that tortured suspected coup plotters under orders from Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh.
Correa came to the U.S. in 2016 and eventually settled in Denver. He was indicted in 2020 under Title 18’s anti-torture statute for crimes allegedly committed in The Gambia in 2006.
Correa’s case is one of three to be tried under the Torture Act since it passed in 1994. The trial is expected to last until April 18.
