- Written by FPA Staff Writer
- Published: 25 July 2014
“We are aware of reports that several Liberian government officials had their U.S. visas cancelled recently. Under U.S. law, we cannot comment on individual visa cases. That said, the partnership between the United States and Liberia remains strong. We have worked together through many difficult times. We are committed to supporting Liberia and her people as they seek to foster democracy and economic growth and to rebuild the country.” - U.S. Embassy Statement
Monrovia — The United States Embassy in Monrovia says it is aware of reports that several Liberian government officials had their U.S. visas cancelled recently, but says under U.S. law, it cannot comment on individual visa cases.
“That said, the partnership between the United States and Liberia remains strong. We have worked together through many difficult times. We are committed to supporting Liberia and her people as they seek to foster democracy and economic growth and to rebuild the country,” the embassy said in a statement Thursday.
A FrontPageAfrica revelation this week reported that three officials, including Associate Supreme Court Justice Kabineh J’aneh, Youth and Sports Minister Eugene Nagbe, and Senator Geraldine Doe-Sheriff were denied entry either en route or upon entry in the U.S. after they were granted visas by the embassy in Monrovia in diplomatic passports. The trio had some affiliation with different rebel groups during Liberia’s civil war, which lasted from 1989 to 2003.
Brown Denies Visa Revoke
Information Minister Lewis Brown confirmed that three senior Liberian government official’s one from each branch of the government visas have been revoked by the United States government. The Minister said the government of Liberia like any other responsible government around the world will write the U.S. government inquiring why those senior officials’ visas were revoked.
Said Brown: “We are hearing all sorts of speculations, some claiming that my visa has been revoked. These are all speculations that are totally untrue.” Responding to questions that the US has requested President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to present the blueprint of all those accused of war and economic crimes, the Minister described the comment as totally False, noting that the U.S. government respects Liberia as a sovereign state.
Sources told FrontPageAfrica this week that J’aneh was told his visa was canceled upon arrival in France en route to the United States. Mr. Nagbe learned of his visa revocation after arriving in the United States, while Doe-Sheriff was stopped in Accra, Ghana. Information Minister Lewis Brown described the incidents as serious in an interview with the Voice of America Wednesday and acknowledged that the Liberian government had made inquiries to the U.S.
Information Minister Lewis Brown confirmed that three senior Liberian government official’s one from each branch of the government visas have been revoked by the United States government. The Minister said the government of Liberia like any other responsible government around the world will write the U.S. government inquiring why those senior officials’ visas were revoked.
Said Brown: “We are hearing all sorts of speculations, some claiming that my visa has been revoked. These are all speculations that are totally untrue.” Responding to questions that the US has requested President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to present the blueprint of all those accused of war and economic crimes, the Minister described the comment as totally False, noting that the U.S. government respects Liberia as a sovereign state.
Sources told FrontPageAfrica this week that J’aneh was told his visa was canceled upon arrival in France en route to the United States. Mr. Nagbe learned of his visa revocation after arriving in the United States, while Doe-Sheriff was stopped in Accra, Ghana. Information Minister Lewis Brown described the incidents as serious in an interview with the Voice of America Wednesday and acknowledged that the Liberian government had made inquiries to the U.S.
“So far, we have made the proper representation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the American Embassy accredited near our capital seeking information on the revocation of visas of at least three individuals who are serving at very high levels in the government. We are still waiting for feedback from the embassy,” Brown was quoted as saying
The VOA quoted Brown as saying that the
government remains hopeful the visa issue is simply the result of a
misunderstanding. “We know that at least three senior officials’ visas
were revoked. It is within the purview of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to make such representation and to get the information. Until
we do, we’d like to think there may have been some misunderstanding, a
processing issue perhaps,” he said.
But despite Brown’s hopeful tone, diplomatic observers say, the issue could be deeper, coming on the heels of the arrest and detention in May this year of Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, Charles Taylor’s former Defense Minister, leading many to conclude that the Obama administration may be ready to go after Liberians accused of war crimes.
Woewiyu was arrested last May in Newark, New Jersey and charged with “lying on his application for U.S. citizenship by not disclosing his alleged affiliation with a violent political group in Liberia”, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In 2012, the U.S. government deported George Boley, former leader of the Liberia Peace Council, and was found to have recruited and used child soldiers in military operations undertaken by the Peace Council during the country’s civil war. ICE said Boley’s deportation was the first removal order it had obtained under the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008.
In 2009, a court in Miami convicted the son of former President Taylor on six counts of committing acts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. Chuckie Taylor was the commander of the notorious Anti-Terrorism Unit that suppressed opposition to his father’s regime and was sentenced him to 97 years. Brown told the VOA that he was unaware whether the visa revocations were part of an overall US commitment to root out alleged human rights violators who may be trying to seek refuge in the United States.
“We’ve heard about all these speculations; we do not rush to any conclusion. And so, what we want to do is to, as we’ve done, do a formal request for information about what may, or may not, have occurred. I think people are running to conclusions and may find it totally unnecessary in the end,” Brown said. The U.S. embassy’s response comes on the eve of President Sirleaf’s travel to Washington for next month’s US-Africa summit.
But despite Brown’s hopeful tone, diplomatic observers say, the issue could be deeper, coming on the heels of the arrest and detention in May this year of Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, Charles Taylor’s former Defense Minister, leading many to conclude that the Obama administration may be ready to go after Liberians accused of war crimes.
Woewiyu was arrested last May in Newark, New Jersey and charged with “lying on his application for U.S. citizenship by not disclosing his alleged affiliation with a violent political group in Liberia”, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In 2012, the U.S. government deported George Boley, former leader of the Liberia Peace Council, and was found to have recruited and used child soldiers in military operations undertaken by the Peace Council during the country’s civil war. ICE said Boley’s deportation was the first removal order it had obtained under the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008.
In 2009, a court in Miami convicted the son of former President Taylor on six counts of committing acts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture. Chuckie Taylor was the commander of the notorious Anti-Terrorism Unit that suppressed opposition to his father’s regime and was sentenced him to 97 years. Brown told the VOA that he was unaware whether the visa revocations were part of an overall US commitment to root out alleged human rights violators who may be trying to seek refuge in the United States.
“We’ve heard about all these speculations; we do not rush to any conclusion. And so, what we want to do is to, as we’ve done, do a formal request for information about what may, or may not, have occurred. I think people are running to conclusions and may find it totally unnecessary in the end,” Brown said. The U.S. embassy’s response comes on the eve of President Sirleaf’s travel to Washington for next month’s US-Africa summit.
