Africa-Press – Liberia. Summary:
Former Lurd general Laye Sekou Camara, known as “K1”, has been sentenced to 57 months in a U.S. prison for lying on immigration forms about his role in Liberia’s civil war.
Survivors who testified in Philadelphia say the punishment is an insult to the scale of atrocities committed, including killings, torture and forced child soldiering.
Campaigners say Camara could still face trial at Liberia’s planned War and Economic Crimes Court once he is deported in 2029.
For more than two decades, they lived in silence, haunted by the war. In January, seventeen Liberians summoned the courage to travel to the U.S. court in Philadelphia and testify against one of the most feared rebel commanders of Liberia’s second civil war: Laye Sekou Camara, better known by his war names “General K1” or “Dragon Master”.
One by one, witnesses told the sentencing hearing of murder, rape, torture, and the forced labor of children under Camara’s command with the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy. Observers lost count of the number of crimes the witnesses detailed.
Camara had pled guilty to four counts of lying about his war time activities on U.S. immigration proceedings. Prosecutors had demanded a sentence of 40 years, similar to that being served by Mohammed Jabbateh, “Jungle Jabbah” of the Ulimo group, who was sentenced by this same court to 30 years prison in 2017. By pleading guilty Camara hoped he might receive a lighter sentence.
Camara outside the courtroom before sentencing. Credit: Jake Duffy/New Narratives
When the judge handed down his sentence last week, giving Camara just 57 months in prison, many of his victims said they felt betrayed.
“This is not justice,” said a 49-year-old man who testified in Philadelphia. “What is 57 months compared to the atrocities and the mayhem he caused in Liberia? I was expecting 40 or 50 years.”
The man said Camara killed his uncle at a frozen food store in Logan Town during the war. Since returning from the U.S., he has been living in fear. (FPA is concealing the names of victims because of credible fears of retaliation.)
Another, a 39-year-old man who said Camara forced him as a teenager to carry loads and perform tasks for the rebels, called the punishment a “slap in the face. If he was going to be in jail for the rest of his life, I would be pleased. What he did to my parents and to me—it’s not justice for me.”
It is not clear whether Camara’s guilty plea won him leniency with the judge. But the different outcome from the Jabbateh case will likely factor in the thinking of Moses Wright, a former Armed Forces of Liberia commander, who is the next person to face an immigration fraud charge over his role in Liberia’s conflict. His case is set to go ahead in May.
Laye Sekou Camara (left) watches his troops during the civil war. Photo taken from a BBC documentary.
U.S. District Judge Chad F. Kenney found that Camara lied on his 2011 green card application by denying involvement in any insurgency and child soldier recruitment. Unlike courts in Europe that have prosecuted those accused of international crimes in Liberia, the U.S. lacks laws that would apply to Liberia’s conflict. Prosecutors instead use immigration fraud to hold perpetrators accountable.
Departing from the decision taken by the judge in Jabbateh’s trial, Judge Kenney declined to take the egregious nature of the underlying crimes into account in sentencing.
“While I can take into consideration his acts in Liberia, this court is not an international tribunal or a Liberian court,” the judge said, stressing the limits of U.S. law.
Lurd fighters in the streets of Monrovia in 2003. Credit: Tim Hetherington, Long Story Bit by Bit: Liberia Retold
Camara, who had been under house detention before the sentencing, was led away from the court to begin his sentence. He will be deported to Liberia when he finishes his sentence, likely in 2029. Outside his supporters claimed the sentence was a victory.
Victims’ lawyers stressed that the sentence was some form of justice that would never have come about had the witnesses not taken the brave step of testifying.
“Justice was served, irrespective of the sentence,” said Hassan Bility, executive director of the Global Justice and Research Project, which gathered evidence for U.S. prosecutors. “Hundreds of lives were taken away unjustifiably during the second civil war. Today, those souls will have some peace in their graves.”
The conviction and sentence stands in contrast with the experience of another Lurd fighter who had sought permanent residence in the United States after the war. Mayama Sesay, 43, known as “Black Diamond,” was accused of killing civilians and captured soldiers. U.S. immigration authorities announced that they had deported her to Liberia earlier this month, without charging her with immigration fraud. Sesay likely had the advantage of being picked up in the U.S. state of Georgia. Pennsylvania is the only state where prosecutors have charged perpetrators with immigration fraud.
Despite Camara’s sentence, witnesses interviewed said they didn’t regret testifying. “We went to testify for those who did not even have the opportunity to speak,” said the 49-year-old witness.
Osman O. Nyei, who said his brother was killed by Camara in 2003, said it provided closure. “If you do something wrong, you have to undergo punishment. Even though it won’t bring my brother back, we are satisfied with it.”
Camara was arrested and indicted in 2022, long before President Boakai’s 2024 decision to depart with previous presidents to support a war crimes court. Camara’s was the case among the trials that have been held of accused perpetrators in Liberia’s conflict in the US and Europe to go trial since the president’s historic decision.
The War and Economic Crimes Court is set to begin proceedings in November 2027. When Camara returns to Liberia in 2029, he could be tried by the court for his crimes. Victims welcomed that.
“When he comes back, the same day, let him be arrested and face trial,” said the 39-year-old witness. “I watched what he did live. He is guilty.”
The courthouse in Philadelphia
“Our Lives Are in Danger”
Witnesses said Camara and his allies had threatened them in the lead up to the trial. They now fear for their safety on Camara’s return.
“I’m moving in fear,” said the 39-year-old witness. “Since Saturday, people have been calling me. It’s really scaring me.”
The 49-year-old claimed relatives of Camara photographed witnesses outside the courthouse in Philadelphia. “When K1 comes back to Liberia, our lives will not be safe,” he said. “He controlled the entire LURD from beginning to end.”
Bility confirmed that some witnesses had been relocated to new communities for safety. “The threats are real,” he said, urging the government to act.
Liberia National Police Chief of International Relations, Sam Collins, promised protection. “If anybody’s life is in danger, it’s the full responsibility of the police to provide protection,” he said, urging witnesses to immediately alert police if threatened.
Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman and officers; photo LNP Facebook page
Bility said the government’s commitment to Liberia’s War Crimes Court is a turning point. “Those who slaughtered people during the war—their days are now numbered,” he said.
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content.
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