WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a former top official in Somalia who has been ordered to pay Somali torture victims $21 million.

The justices did not comment Monday in letting stand lower court rulings against Mohamed Ali Samantar, who now lives the Virginia suburbs of Washington. He had previously been a top official in dictator Siad Barre’s regime in the 1980s and early 1990s.