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    Liberia: U.S. Deports Liberian Rebel Commander – Justice Advocates Say It Shows ‘To Warlords That There’s No Place to Hide’

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    Summary:

    • U.S. authorities say they deported Liberian warlord Mayama Sesay, 43, known as “Black Diamond,” accused of killing civilians and captured soldiers.
    • Sesay was a commander with the rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, Lurd, which opposed Charles Taylor’s government.
    • Her deportation came nearly two weeks after another Lurd commander was convicted of federal fraud in the U.S. and sentenced to 57 months

    U.S. Immigration Authorities announced Monday they had deported a Liberian rebel commander. Although the Immigration and Custom Enforcement, (ICE), said Mayama Sesay, 43, was deported on September 5th, it only made the announcement this week. The decision of an immigration judge to deport her in May was affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals, according to ICE.

    Sesay, known by her war name “Black Diamond,” was a commander with the Lurd rebel group, one of two groups that helped force Charles Taylor, the Liberian president at the time, out of power. U.S. immigration authorities said she commanded an all-female group of fighters known as the Women’s Artillery Commandos. They said, “Sesay entered the United States on a visitor’s visa on March 27, 2014, and later married a U.S. citizen,” but “denied being ‘Black Diamond’ or having any affiliation with the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy” during her immigration interview after she applied for permanent residency in 2015.


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    “At just 22 years old, Sesay recruited and trained child soldiers to fight against Taylor’s forces,” ICE said. “During the conflict, she gained notoriety for her brutal tactics, including restraining, beating captured soldiers, and deploying mortar bombs to terrorize and kill military personnel and civilians. Sesay has been designated as a war criminal in Liberia.”

    Laures Massaquoi Page, the spokeswoman for the Liberia Immigration Service, confirmed Sesay’s deportation to the country in a FrontPage Africa/New Narratives interview by phone on Tuesday. She said Sesay “along with some Liberians were deported for multiple charges,” but she declined providing further details about the charges and the number of Liberians deported.

    News of Sesay’s deportation came nearly two weeks after a U.S. federal court in Philadelphia sentenced Laye Sekou Camara, commonly known as “K-1,” another former Lurd commander, to 57 months in prison for lying about his rebel activities in Liberia. Lurd committed

    12 percent of all crimes reported to Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Those numbers are only second to Talyor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, N.P.F.L., which the Commission said committed two in every five atrocities reported to it.

    The Commission Report did not name specifically mention Sesay, but did name one “Markdamie” also nicknamed Black Diamond on its list of “most notorious perpetrators,” accusing her of committing massacre and cannibalism. The T.R.C. said she fought for Taylor’s N.P.F.L.

    John Stewart, a commissioner of the T.R.C, said “it’s possible that she was with the N.P.F.L. because some of those people fought for various factions at different times.”

    IEC said Sesay “played a prominent role in recruiting and leading child soldiers during Liberia’s civil wars.”

    Justice advocates welcomed Sesay’s deportation.

    “This is an indication to warlords that there’s no place to hide,” said Hassan Bility, director of the Global Justice and Research project, which together with Civitas Maxia, its Swiss partner, works with American and European authorities to document actrocities of accused perpetrators during Liberia’s civil wars. “The spirits of the slaughtered have woken up and are not going to rest anytime soon until justice is done. Be warned, all you warlords; If you travel to the West, you may not come back.”