The U.S. trials of two alleged Liberian warlords, originally set for May and July, have been postponed until at least late this year. Moses Wright, a former Brigadier General of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), was slated to stand trial in the Eastern District of Philadelphia in July, but prosecutors say the hearing will be delayed. Laye Sekou Camara—also known as “K‑1,” “Dragon Master,” or the “More Mortar Man”—of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) had a May trial in the same court, now pushed to November 27.
Following the convictions of Mohammed Jabbateh and Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu for criminal immigration fraud, the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Office is pursuing identical charges against Wright and Camara. Assistant U.S. Attorney L.C. Wright will again lead the prosecution team. Prosecutors allege that, in separate immigration applications, the two concealed their involvement in Liberia’s two civil wars.
The indictment states that in August 2016 Wright “knowingly made a false statement under oath” in a naturalization proceeding. He answered “No” to the question, “During your time as Commanding General, did you ever witness or order any troops to engage in acts of persecution or murder?” despite allegedly having committed murder, assault, false arrest, false imprisonment, and aiding and abetting those crimes. Wright held multiple positions in the Liberian army—commander, master sergeant, and brigadier general—and was loyal to President Samuel Doe. He helped thwart General Thomas Quiwonkpa’s 1985 coup attempt; after the failed coup, soldiers loyal to Doe captured and executed Quiwonkpa and hundreds of Gio and Mano soldiers, then carried out reprisal attacks that killed hundreds of civilians. Five years earlier, Doe had seized power in a coup that overthrew elected President William R. Tolbert. Wright, now 70, faces a maximum sentence of 165 years in prison and a $7 million fine—the steepest penalty for immigration fraud in the United States.
Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission found Wright, along with Moses Thomas, James Chelly, and George Dweh (who later served as Speaker of Liberia’s interim Assembly, 2003‑2006), responsible for killing 27 Gio and Mano family members in a June 1990 massacre ordered by Doe. Dweh, an executive of the Movement for Peace and Democracy rebel group, died in April 2020 without accountability for his alleged role in the killings and other human‑rights violations during Liberia’s second civil war. In August 2022, a Philadelphia court ordered Thomas, a top commander of Doe’s Special Anti‑terrorist Unit (SATU), to pay $84 million to victims of the 1990 St. Peter’s Lutheran Church massacre, which claimed 600 lives. Thomas fled to Liberia, where the government has not pursued justice. The U.S.–based Center for Justice and Accountability and the Liberian organization Global Justice and Research Project sued the Liberian government in the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice for “dereliction of duty” in failing to prosecute Thomas.
Camara, a senior LURD commander, earned the nickname “More Mortar Man” for his ruthless use of mortar weapons. LURD’s August 2003 assault on Monrovia helped force Charles Taylor to resign, ending the conflict. According to Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, LURD was responsible for 12 percent of all civil‑war atrocities reported—second only to Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, which accounted for 39 percent. Although the TRC report did not name Camara, commissioners noted that the document did not capture every crime committed during the wars.
Camara’s 26‑count indictment alleges he was untruthful about his wartime role during a 2012 U.S. visa interview in Dakar, Senegal. A 2003 U.S. Country Report quoted in the indictment says Camara was “in hiding after he allegedly killed a fellow LURD General known as Black Marine.” Camara will be the first LURD commander to face trial; other defendants have been affiliated with the AFL, ULIMO, and NPFL, while members of LURD and MODEL have been charged in the United Kingdom.
Liberia has not established a war‑crimes court to prosecute alleged perpetrators of its civil wars, which claimed an estimated 250,000 lives. Consequently, prosecutors in the United States and Europe are invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows crimes against humanity to be tried anywhere. This story was produced in collaboration with New Narratives as part of its West Africa Justice Reporting Project.
— Anthony Stephens, New Narratives
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