Sierra Leone Telegraph: 6 September 2025:
A disturbing statement published by America’s ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations on their websit yesterday, says that they have removed suspected war criminal and criminal illegal alien Charles Emile Mbayo from the United States to Sierra Leone on August 20, 2025.
But questions are now being asked by many in Sierra Leone as to why the government of President Bio has kept quiet on the deportation to the country of such a dangerous individual, who is highly regarded as among those bearing the greatest responsibility for the many atrocities committed by the military junta – National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) led by now President – Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio and others.
Does the return of Mbayo to Sierra Leone pose security risk to the people of Sierra Leone?
With Sierra Leone now classed as a global narcotics transit point, providing sanctuary to some of the most dangerous and most wanted drug-barons, the presence of Mbayo must be of major security concern.
According to the ICE statement published yesterday, Mbayo is a former high-ranking member of the NPRC, that ruled Sierra Leone after overthrowing President Joseph Momoh in a coup on April 29, 1992.
The ICE report says that on Dec. 29, 1992, the NPRC extrajudicially killed approximately 29 victims, including former government officials and others accused of planning a coup against the regime.
Victims who were not already detained in prison were arrested; several were tortured, and all were summarily executed and their bodies buried in a mass grave.
No one in the NPRC military has faced justice, despite calls in Sierra Leone and abroad for those bearing the greatest responsibility to be held accountable by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face justice.
Some in Sierra Leone are arguing that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations include the setting aside of all human rights abuses and atrocities committed by the NPRC as part of the country’s peacebuilding process.
But many in Sierra Leone still believes that without justice, peace cannot be guaranteed, as calls for the current President Julius Maada Bio and others to face trial at the ICC continue to be made.
According to the ICE report, Charles Mbayo entered the United States on Jan. 9, 1998, on an F-1 student visa. He later applied to become a permanent resident, but his application was denied in July 2023.
“HSI is committed to ensuring that there is no safe haven in the United States for those tied to these horrific crimes,” said HSI Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey. “We will continue to investigate these allegations with the assistance of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center to seek both accountability and justice in these cases.”
The HSI-led Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the U.S., including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation, and the use or recruitment of child soldiers.
Since 2003, the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center have issued more than 79,000 lookouts for potential perpetrators of human rights abuses and stopped over 390 human rights violators and war crimes suspects from entering the U.S. (Photo above: Mbayo apprehended by ICE).
ICE urges members of the public who have information about potential former human rights violators in the United States to contact U.S. law enforcement through the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE or the online tip form. They can also email HRV.ICE@ice.dhs.gov.
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