Liberia: U.S. Embassy Officials Visit Leading War Crimes Investigators in Show of Support, Investigators Say

Liberia’s leading war crimes investigation group says a visit by U.S. Embassy officials was intended to reassure its staff about their security. From left: Hassan Bility, director of the Global Justice and Research Project; Christopher M. Hofmann, political officer; and Thomas Quaye, political and human rights assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Liberia. Credit: Anthony Stephens/New Narratives.

Summary:

• Two U.S. Embassy officials visited Liberia’s leading war crimes investigation group following death threats against its director of investigations, who was subsequently relocated for security reasons.
• Hassan Bility, the group’s director, described the visit as a show of American solidarity while the officials declined to comment on the visit.
• The visit comes amid security concerns linked to investigations involving alleged Liberian war criminals, including former senior army commander Moses Wright, whose U.S. trial has been postponed until February 2027.

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***By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with *******New Narratives ****

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Two officials from the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia visited the Global Justice and Research Project, Liberia’s leading war crimes investigation group, two weeks after it relocated its director of investigations following repeated death threats. The group’s director said the visit was an expression of American solidarity with his organization.

Christopher M. Hofmann, a political officer at the Embassy, and Thomas Quaye, a political and human rights assistant, visited the organization earlier this month. They allowed this reporter to photograph their visit but declined to comment on the discussions, referring questions to Hassan Bility, the group’s director.

“The U.S. had come to listen to some of our security concerns,” Bility said in an interview after the meeting. “Their coming was a solidarity of support to indicate that the United States stands with us, and the United States will not stand by idly to allow somebody to do harm to the Global Justice and Research Project.”

The visit comes amid growing security concerns involving the Global Justice and Research Project, whose investigations have contributed to convictions of former rebel commanders over their Liberia war-related crimes, in the United States and Europe. The organization has repeatedly faced threats and attacks.

The latest threats were directed at an investigator working on cases involving alleged wartime perpetrators, including Moses Wright, 73, a former senior Liberian army commander accused of concealing his wartime activities when applying for U.S. immigration benefits. Survivors have accused Wright of involvement in the 1990 St. Peter’s Lutheran Church massacre, in which an estimated 600 civilians were killed. He faces federal immigration fraud and perjury charges in Pennsylvania and has denied the charges.

Bility said his organization had sought security assistance from the two-member U.S. Embassy delegation but declined to share what they said. Nevertheless he said he was comforted by the visit.

“I feel more secure,” Bility said of the embassy’s visit. “Every time U.S. embassy officials visit this office, for us, it becomes an expression of solidarity with our works and our belief, what we stand for. And we know what they can do.”

In 2021, Michael McCarthy, then the U.S. ambassador to Liberia, visited the group’s offices and publicly expressed support for Bility’s work amid threats against the organization.

The organization has faced other security incidents. Earlier this year, armed men broke into its Monrovia offices, assaulted a security guard and threatened Bility, prompting renewed concerns about the safety of those investigating wartime atrocities.

A portion of the 16-foot fence surrounding the offices of the Global Justice and Research Project, which the group says were recently broken into by armed men.Credit: Global Justice and Research Project.

Bility said the Liberia National Police had not provided updates on complaints the organization filed concerning the threats. Gregory Coleman, Liberia’s police inspector general, did not respond to the latest request for comment.

The Global Justice and Research Project and its Swiss partner, Civitas Maxima, have helped document atrocities committed during Liberia’s civil wars, gathering evidence and identifying witnesses for investigations and prosecutions in the United States and Europe.

Their work has contributed to several convictions. In the United States, Mohammed Jabateh, a former rebel commander known as “Jungle Jabbah,” was sentenced to 30 years in prison for immigration fraud and perjury. In Switzerland, Alieu Kosiah, another former rebel commander, received a 20-year sentence for war crimes. In France, Kunti Kamara, a former commander of the same rebel group, was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment in 2022 for complicity in crimes against humanity, torture and acts of barbarism.

The organizations’ work has also drawn accusations of witness coaching and bribery from defendants and their supporters, allegations they, investigators and prosecutors in every case have rejected.

In 2022, Beth Van Schaack, then the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, publicly backed Bility and his organization, praising their contribution to international prosecutions.

“These cases would not be possible without the amazing work of the Global Justice and Research Project and other Liberian and international civil society actors who have rigorously, reliably, and with unwavering integrity worked to keep the dream of justice alive,” she said.

Van Schaack also expressed concern about threats and intimidation against the organization’s staff.

Threats against Global Justice have fueled concerns about security for witnesses and officials of Liberia’s proposed war and economic crimes court. The country’s Witness Protection Agency recently unveiled a US$20.54 million plan they said would be needed to support the activities of the court.

This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the Investigating Liberia project. Funding was provided by the Swedish International Cooperation Development Agency. The funder had no say in the story’s content.