Private Military Contractors and War Crimes

Anssaf Ali Mayo, a sitting member of Yemen’s parliament and a prominent figure in the Islamist al‑Islah party, has filed a civil suit in U.S. federal court in California alleging that former American special operations soldiers, working for U.S.-based Spear Operations Group and hired by the United Arab Emirates, tried to assassinate him in Aden on Dec. 29, 2015. The complaint, brought under the Alien Tort Statute, accuses Israeli‑Hungarian CEO Abraham Golan and former U.S. service members Isaac Gilmore and Dale Comstock of war crimes, crimes against humanity and attempted extrajudicial killing as part of what it describes as a UAE‑funded assassination campaign against political opponents, reportedly paying the firm $1.5 million a month plus bonuses per kill. Mayo says a team from Spear tracked him to his party headquarters and detonated a powerful explosive device at the front door while he was inside with journalists, an incident he recounts in detail in the NPR interview. The Center for Justice & Accountability, which is representing him, argues that highly trained U.S. veterans "sold" a killing program to a foreign government using skills acquired at taxpayer expense, while the UAE has previously denied running such a program and its embassy did not respond to NPR’s latest request for comment. The case tests how far U.S. courts will go in asserting jurisdiction over alleged mercenary activity and war crimes tied to American nationals and a close Gulf ally in Yemen’s war, an issue already drawing scrutiny from human‑rights lawyers and security experts who see a growing, largely unregulated market for ex‑U.S. commandos abroad.