Confronting Camara in court: witnesses testify at pre-sentence evidentiary hearing in Philadelphia

Confronting Camara in court: witnesses testify at pre-sentence evidentiary hearing in Philadelphia

On 23 January 2025, a pre-sentence evidentiary hearing was held in the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania  in the case against Laye Sekou Camara, aka K-1. The hearing followed Camara’s guilty plea that waived his right to a trial before a jury. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 19 May, and final judgment will be issued ten days later, on 29 May. Last week’s pre-evidentiary hearing, held long before the sentencing hearing, was therefore unusual but importantly gave an opportunity to 9 Liberian witnesses to testify. Their accounts will be considered by the judge when deciding the length of Camara’s prison sentence.

Unsuccessful attempts to keep testimony about Camara’s war crimes off the record

At the opening of the proceedings, Camara’s defence counsel attempted to challenge the basis of the hearing. Rightly concerned that the evidence being presented by the witnesses would be damaging to his client, and wanting to keep the details of his crimes in Liberia squarely off the record, they attempted to argue that the prosecution had not filed a motion requesting the judge to hear evidence that would warrant the imposition of a higher sentence.

Ordinarily, a sentencing hearing is held after the issuing of a pre-sentence report, prepared by a probation officer, which provides a recommendation to the judge on an appropriate sentence. Each side can then present a motion detailing mitigating or aggravating factors and request the judge to impose a lower or higher sentence. Thursday’s hearing was therefore, as noted by the judge himself, out of the usual order of things. However, in the interest of the fact that witnesses from Liberia were already in the United States ready to testify at the trial, and given that the defence had made no challenge to the hearing when it was scheduled a week prior, the judge dismissed the challenge to the hearing thereby allowing witness testimony of Camara’s egregious acts in Liberia to proceed.

Outside of court, Camara’s lawyers have also made statements in the press to indicate that Camara is not responsible for any war crimes, and only admits that he was a member of LURD.  However, Camara openly pled guilty to the contents of the entire indictment which states that he falsely claimed he (1) was never a member of a rebel group, (2) never engaged in the recruitment or use of child soldiers, and (3) had never committed, ordered, incited, assisted or otherwise participated in extrajudicial killings, political killings or other acts of violence. During Camara’s initial plea in court, neither he nor his lawyers made any attempt to deny these facts or qualify his plea. During last week’s pre-sentencing hearing, Liberian witnesses poignantly testified precisely to these allegations contained in the indictment.

Witnesses testify to Camara’s role in LURD

The first witness on the stand, a journalist, testified directly to Camara’s involvement in LURD. The witness provided context for the fighting that was happening in and around Monrovia in 2003 during the final months of the second civil war. In particular, he spoke about LURD’s control over Bushrod Island and the Freeport of Liberia. The Freeport, known as the “gateway to the nation’s economy” was where all food and fuel imports entered the country and was strategically very important at a time where many in the country were starving.

The witness described meeting K-1 who gave them safe passage to film on Bushrod Island and testified that K-1 was a deputy field commander of LURD and responsible for the mortar crew. The court was shown video footage of K-1, surrounded by child soldiers, and photographs of the destruction caused by the shelling of civilian areas by LURD. In a striking piece of testimony, the witness described K-1 assigning child soldiers as escorts to journalists to ensure their safe passage across the bridge, and he specifically recalled that one of these soldiers was carrying a backpack full of toys and action figures.

“Wherever he went, people were scared.”

Liberian witness

Camara’s use of child soldiers

As each witness testified, it became clear that LURD and Camara regularly recruited and used child soldiers. One witness described how LURD child soldiers stopped him while he was carrying water on the street: “they asked me to open my jaw and they put rocks in my jaw. I lost 3 of my teeth. They slapped my jaw with rocks in my mouth.” Another witness remembered a boy called “Small Soldier” who was responsible for carrying the AK-47 that K-1 used. Small Soldier sat in the back of K-1’s vehicle and was around 14-15 years old at the time.

Involvement in widespread violence and killings

The evidence presented by witnesses revealed both the horrific extent of Camara’s crimes and his notoriety. One witness described how K-1 cut off his uncle’s ear after he refused to obey K-1’s orders, while another was stabbed by K-1 in the knee. According to witness testimony, K-1 travelled through villages arresting men, women, and children and forcing them to fight for LURD – “whatever village we went through, he arrested people there, to go with him. If they refused, they would be killed. … I observed Mr. Camara kill people. From Bomi to Montserrado and Monrovia.”

A witness described the shooting of a pregnant lady and her 13-year-old son, who refused to go with K-1. At least four witnesses testified to K-1 shooting into crowds of civilians searching for food at the Freeport or other warehouses. A number of them lost relatives in this way. As noted by one witness, K-1 “is somebody that everyone knows, wherever he  went, people were scared.”

An important milestone for accountability in Liberia

Throughout the hearing, Camara remained defiant, often talking to his lawyers and smiling. In the hallway during a break in proceedings, he was heard claiming that “the truth will come out” and that witnesses were lying on the stand. However, the evidence presented on the day painted a clear picture of his role in the civil war, and the nature of the brutal atrocities he committed.

Since the hearing, the judge has instructed the prosecutors to file a memorandum for upward departure, a document which will detail the prosecutors’ case for the imposition of a lengthy sentence. It is likely this request will again highlight the details of the atrocities committed by Camara in Liberia, which speak directly to his fraudulent representations when entering the United States. Camara will also have an opportunity to respond and make his own submissions, and a final judgment will be handed down on 29 May.

While the hearing was in some ways unusual, following so quickly in the wake of a guilty plea and before the official sentencing hearing, it gave victims an opportunity to confront Camara in court and put on record numerous atrocities committed in Liberia during the second civil war. His guilty plea is a testament to the bravery of witnesses who came to the US to testify, and despite efforts to keep Camara’s actions off the public record, his case serves as an important milestone for accountability for the crimes committed in Liberia’s civil wars.