In Re Estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos Human Rights Litigation. Agapita Trajano Archimedes Trajano v. Ferdinand E. Marcos, and Imee Marcos-Manotoc

After former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his daughter, Imee Marcos-Manotoc, fled to Hawaii in 1986, they were sued in federal court by Agapita Trajano, a citizen of the Philippines who. then lived in Hawaii, for the torture and wrongful death of Trajano’s son, Archimedes, in the Philippines on August 31, 1977. Marcos-Manotoc did not appear and a default judgment was entered against her. On appeal, she contends that the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction under the Alien Tort Statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1350 , and that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330 , 1602-11, does not authorize a federal court to assert jurisdiction, over actions taken by a foreign government against its own citizens. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and affirm.

I

In August of 1977, Ferdinand Marcos was President of the Philippines, Marcos-Manotoc was the National Chairman of the Kabataang Baranggay, and Fabian Ver was in charge of military intelligence. Archimedes Trajano was a student at the Mapua Institute of Technology. On the 31st of August, Trajano went to an open forum discussion at which Marcos-Manotoc was speaking. When Trajano asked a question…