Mohammed Jabbateh

Last updated
Mohammed Jabbateh
Mohammed-Jabateh-.jpg
Mohammed Jabbateh in a photo submitted with his U.S. asylum application in 1998
BornSeptember 1966 (age 57)
Liberia
Criminal status Incarcerated
Conviction(s) Immigration fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1546) (2 counts)
Perjury (18 U.S.C. § 1621) (2 counts)
Criminal penalty30 years imprisonment
Details
VictimsHundreds
Span of crimes
1992–1995
Country Liberia
Date apprehended
April 2016
Imprisoned at FCI Allenwood Medium
Paramilitary career
Nickname(s)Jungle Jabbah
Allegiance ULIMO (1992–1994)
ULIMO-K (1994–1995)
Years of service1992–1995
UnitZebra Battalion
Battles/wars First Liberian Civil War

Mohammed Jabbateh (born September 1966, sometimes Jabateh), also known by his nom de guerre Jungle Jabbah, is a Liberian war criminal and former United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) and ULIMO-K commander who was convicted in the United States of lying to immigration authorities about his role in the First Liberian Civil War (1989-1997) when he sought asylum in the late 1990s. [1] He was arrested in April 2016. On October 18, 2017, Jabbateh was tried and convicted in Philadelphia of two counts of fraud in immigration documents and two counts of perjury stemming from false statements he made when filing for asylum and permanent residence. [2] He was sentenced to 30 years in prison the following April, the statutory maximum allowed. Jabbateh was the first person convicted of crimes stemming from war-related activities during the First Liberian Civil War. He lost his appeal in September 2020.

Contents

Atrocities

Jabbateh joined ULIMO in 1992. He rose to the rank of a commander. Jabbateh was the leader of the Zebra Battalion. The organization was responsible for countless atrocities, including the murders of hundreds of civilians, rape, sexual slavery, torture, ritual cannibalism, and human enslavement. In 1994, ULIMO split into two warring factions, ULIMO-K and ULIMO-J. Jabbateh stuck with the former organization. Both groups continued to commit atrocities. According to witnesses, Jabbateh would cut out the hearts of some of his victims and force their widows to cook them. He would then feed the cooked heart to his men, believing it give them strength. [3] [4] [5]

Immigration to the United States

In December 1998, Jabbateh submitted his application for US asylum and later for US permanent residency. [6]

Jabbateh disclosed that he was a member of ULIMO and later ULIMO-K (Mandingo ethnic faction), but he did not reveal his alleged capacity. In January 1999, an immigration asylum officer interviewed Jabbateh to determine whether his asylum application should be granted. Jabbateh responded "no" to these two questions: 1. "Have you ever committed a crime?" and 2. Have you ever harmed anyone else?" In January 1999, Jabbateh received US asylum based on his answers to questions posed on his Form I-589 asylum application form.

Jabbateh also applied for permanent residency (also known as a green card) using Form I-485. He responded "No" to these two questions: 1. "Have you ever engaged in genocide, or otherwise ordered, incited, assisted or otherwise participated in the killing of any person because of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin or political opinion?" 2. "Are you under a final order of civil penalty for violating section 274C of the Immigration and Nationality Act for use of fraudulent documents of have you, by fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact, ever sought to procure or procured a visa, other documentation, or entry into the US or any immigration benefit?". [7]

Indictment and arrest

On March 10, 2016, Jabbateh was indicted and charged by the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with two counts of fraud in immigration documents in violation of the 18 U.S.C. § 1546 and two counts of perjury in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1621. [3]

The indictment was unsealed on April 13, 2016, and Jabbateh was arrested in his Delaware County home in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. [8]

Trial

On October 2, 2017, Jabbateh was arraigned before the Honorable Judge Paul S. Diamond at the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [9] Jabbateh pleaded not guilty on all counts. The jury, composed of eight women and four men, was selected the same day and opening arguments began the following day. [10] The trial lasted for three weeks until October 18, 2017.

Assistant United States Attorney Linwood C. Wright, Jr. and Assistant United States Attorney Nelson S.T. Thayer prosecuted Jabbateh. Thayer was previously a trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and prosecuted the massacre in Srebrenica, Bosnia. [11] The government stated that as a ULIMO-K commander in the late 1990s, Jabbateh either committed himself or ordered his troops to "commit crimes such as the murder of civilians, sexual enslavement of women, public rapes, conscription of child soldiers and maiming and torture of noncombatants." [12] Twenty witnesses and victims were flown from Liberia to Philadelphia to testify in court against Jabbateh.

Gregory J. Pagano was the attorney for Jabbateh. Pagano interrogated the credibility of the government's selection of the witnesses and their testimonies. [13] The defense counsel presented their case on October 16, 2017.

Verdict

On October 18, Jabbateh was convicted of two counts of fraud in immigration documents and two counts of perjury stemming from statements he made in connection with his applications for asylum and permanent residence. [14] Jabbateh was sentenced to 30 years in prison on April 19, 2018. [15] Although federal guidelines generally only call for 15 to 21 months in prison for the charges he was convicted, U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond instead sentenced him to the statutory maximum, saying it would be "not only unreasonable but outrageously offensive" in light of his past. [16]

"I want to be clear, I am departing not based on the horror of the atrocities the defendant committed abroad. Rather, I am departing based on the egregiousness of his lies…and their effect on our asylum laws and immigration system."

He said Jabbateh had made a "mockery" of the U.S. asylum system that had been established to protect people fleeing from human rights abusers like himself. [17]

Jabbateh was a commander or higher-ranking officer in ULIMO and ULIMO-K, and during that time he either personally committed, or ordered ULIMO troops under his command to commit the following list of acts:

  1. The murder of civilian non-combatants
  2. The sexual enslavement of women
  3. The public raping of women
  4. The maiming of civilian non-combatants
  5. The torturing of civilian non-combatants
  6. The enslavement of civilian non-combatants
  7. The conscription of child soldiers
  8. The execution of prisoners of war
  9. The desecration and mutilation of corpses
  10. The killing of persons because of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin or political opinion

Appeal

Jabbateh's conviction and sentence were unprecedented, both as the first conviction connected to the First Liberian Civil War and also for the length at 17 times the recommended sentence for such immigration offences, the longest ever sentence in the US for lying about war crimes on immigration forms. Jabbateh appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in January 2020 on the basis that his crimes in Liberia did not amount to genocide. Circuit Judge Thomas L. Ambro noted the unusual length of the sentence and that it could be viewed as being imposed for his war crimes rather than his immigration offences. [18] Jabbateh lost his appeal in September 2020. Judges Ambro, Paul Matey, and Julio M. Fuentes noted that some of the charges he was convicted of should not have been applied, but allowed them to stand because his lawyer had not objected. The forms filed in 2002 were beyond the statute of limitations, but the charges related to lying in a 2011 immigration interview despite the law only applying to written documents. They ruled that Judge Diamond correctly used his discretion in imposing the long sentence. [19]

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Jabbateh is serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Medium. He is scheduled for release on November 5, 2041. Jabbateh's inmate number is 75217-066. [20] [21]

Personal life

Jabbateh was granted US political asylum on December 23, 1999. He settled in Lansdowne, where he remained until his conviction in October 2017. [22] Jabbateh has a wife and five children who live in Philadelphia. [23] Jabbateh also has an ex-wife and at least seven children who live in Liberia or elsewhere on the African continent, who he attempted to sponsor to immigrate to the US. [24] Jabbateh started a shipping company in 2008, Jabateh Brothers Loading Services, which packages and ships containers to Liberia. It remains in operation. [24]

Friends and family in his community around Philadelphia regarded him favorably. [25] He does not hold a US passport and had not left the country since his arrival in 1998.

Related Research Articles

Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows states or international organizations to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed, and regardless of the accused's nationality, country of residence, or any other relation to the prosecuting entity. Crimes prosecuted under universal jurisdiction are considered crimes against all, too serious to tolerate jurisdictional arbitrage. The concept of universal jurisdiction is therefore closely linked to the idea that some international norms are erga omnes, or owed to the entire world community, as well as to the concept of jus cogens – that certain international law obligations are binding on all states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)</span> President of Liberia from 1997 to 2003

Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor is a Liberian former politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 22nd president of Liberia from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003 as a result of the Second Liberian Civil War and growing international pressure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctors' Trial</span> Post-World War II trial of German doctors for war crimes

The Doctors' Trial was the first of 12 trials for war crimes of high-ranking German officials and industrialists that the United States authorities held in their occupation zone in Nuremberg, Germany, after the end of World War II. These trials were held before US military courts, not before the International Military Tribunal, but took place in the same rooms at the Palace of Justice. The trials are collectively known as the "subsequent Nuremberg trials", formally the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT).

Trial in absentia is a criminal proceeding in a court of law in which the person who is subject to it is not physically present at those proceedings. In absentia is Latin for "in (the) absence". Its meaning varies by jurisdiction and legal system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Liberian Civil War</span> 1989–1997 war in West Africa

The First Liberian Civil War was the first in a series of two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia. It lasted from 1989 to 1997. President Samuel Doe established a regime in 1980 but totalitarianism and corruption led to unpopularity and the withdrawal of support from the United States by the late 1980s. The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from the Ivory Coast to overthrow Doe in December 1989 and gained control over most of the country within a year. Doe was captured and executed by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), a splinter faction of the NPFL led by Prince Johnson, in September 1990. The NPFL and INPFL fought each other for control of the capital city, Monrovia and against the Armed Forces of Liberia and pro-Doe United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy. Peace negotiations and foreign involvement led to a ceasefire in 1995 but fighting continued until a peace agreement between the main factions occurred in August 1996. Taylor was elected President of Liberia following the 1997 Liberian general election and entered office in August of the same year.

David Roosevelt Johnson was a Liberian who led a rebel group during the country's civil war. He was not a member of the Krahn ethnic group he fought for; however, his wife was Krahn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean-Pierre Bemba</span> Congolese politician

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He has served as the DRC's Vice Prime Minister and defence minister since 2023. He was previously one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 17 July 2003 to December 2006. He led the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), a rebel group turned political party. He received the second-highest number of votes in the 2006 presidential election. In January 2007, he was elected to the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Merlino</span> American mobster

Joseph Salvatore "Skinny Joey" Merlino is an American mobster and reputed boss of the Philadelphia crime family. He rose to power and seized control of the organization in the mid-nineties after he fought against the John Stanfa faction of the family. He has led the crime family in gambling, loan sharking, drug trafficking, and extortion. In comparison to other traditional mob bosses who shunned the limelight, Merlino has interacted regularly with the media and the public, often openly providing charity and hosting events to benefit indigent people in Philadelphia, drawing comparisons to the similarly outgoing, conspicuous, and ostensibly charitable late New York crime boss John Gotti. He is the son of deceased Philadelphia crime family underboss Chuckie Merlino.

The Völkerstrafgesetzbuch, abbreviated VStGB, is a German law that regulates crimes against (public) international law. It allows cases to be brought against suspects under international criminal law provisions, meaning that suspects can be prosecuted even though both they and their victims are foreigners and the crime itself took place abroad.

Bosco Ntaganda is a convicted war criminal and the former military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), an armed militia group operating in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He is a former member of the Rwandan Patriotic Army and allegedly a former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots.

Joshua Milton Blahyi, better known by his nom de guerre General Butt Naked, is a Liberian evangelical preacher, writer and former warlord best known for his actions during the First Liberian Civil War. During the conflict, Blahyi led a group of soldiers which fought on the side of anti-rebel group United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) before converting to Christianity and becoming a pastor in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles McArther Emmanuel</span> Liberian-American warlord

Charles McArther Emmanuel, also known as Chuckie Taylor, is the son of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia. Raised by his mother in the US until he was 16, Taylor Jr. travelled to Liberia in 1994 to live with his father, who in turn enrolled him in the Accra Academy, an elite boarding school in Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Criminal Court investigation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo</span>

The International Criminal Court investigation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the Second Congo War and its aftermath, including the Ituri and Kivu conflicts. The war started in 1998 and despite a peace agreement between combatants in 2003, conflict continued in the eastern parts of the country for several years. In April 2004 the government of the DRC formally referred the situation in the Congo to the International Criminal Court, and in June 2004, prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, formally opened an investigation. To date, arrest warrants have been issued for:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood</span>

The Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood is a federal prison complex for male inmates in Pennsylvania, United States. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Woewiyu</span> Liberian politician (1946–2020)

Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, also known as Tom Woewiyu or Thomas Smith, was the former leader of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), with Charles Taylor.

Alieu Kosiah is a former commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) faction, a rebel group that participated in the First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996) which fought against the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, led by Charles Taylor. After the war, Kosiah moved to Switzerland, where he obtained permanent residence.

Hassan Bility is a Liberian journalist, and the founder and Director of the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), a non-governmental organization dedicated to the documentation of war time atrocities in Liberia and to assisting victims in their pursuit of justice for these crimes.

Kunti Kamara, a.k.a. Kunti Kumara, Kunti K., Colonel Kamara, CO Kamara or Co Kamara, whose real name may be Awaliho Soumaworo, is a former Liberian rebel militia commander who participated in the First Liberian Civil War as a leader in the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO).

Civitas Maxima is a non-governmental organisation that documents mass crimes, such as crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes, and pursues justice on behalf of the victims, particularly in West Africa.

References

  1. ↑ "After Arrest Of Jungle Jabbah, U.S. Homeland Security Releases Hotline To Report War Criminals -". 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  2. ↑ "Liberian rebel commander guilty of immigration fraud". Washington Post. Associated Press. 2017-10-18. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  3. 1 2 "IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA".
  4. ↑ "Trial Monitoring: Jungle Jabbah". Civitas Maxima. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  5. ↑ Corey-Boulet, Robbie (2017-11-28). "A US Immigration Case Offers a Rare Day in Court for Victims of Liberian War Crimes". ISSN   0027-8378 . Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  6. ↑ Kanneh, Jackson (2016-04-14). "Liberia: Ex-Ulimo General Jungle Jabbah Arrested in United States". FrontPageAfrica (Monrovia). Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  7. ↑ "Liberia: Ex-ULIMO Rebel Arrested in U.S." The New Republic Liberia (Monrovia). 2016-04-14 – via AllAfrica.
  8. ↑ Pradelli, Chad (2016-04-14). "Feds: Liberian war criminal arrested in Delaware County". 6abc.
  9. ↑ "In historic verdict, Delco man convicted in 'Jungle Jabbah' war crimes case". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  10. ↑ "Jury in Philly selected to weigh alleged Liberian war criminal's case". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  11. ↑ Maximas, Report by Civitas. "FPA - Alleged Liberian War Criminal "Jungle Jabbah" Trial Set to Begin in Philadelphia October 2". www.frontpageafricaonline.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  12. ↑ Giahyue, James Harding. "FPA - Recalling Sinje Massacre: Survivor Welcomes Jungle Jabbah Trial in America". frontpageafricaonline.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  13. ↑ "Jury deliberates in trial of Liberian accused of war crimes". 6abc Philadelphia. 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  14. ↑ "Delco Businessman Guilty of Lying About African War Crimes". NBC 10 Philadelphia. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  15. ↑ Ex-Liberian warlord jailed in US for lying about asylum claim The Guardian, 2018
  16. ↑ Roebuck, Jeremy. "'Jungle Jabbah,' ex-warlord living in Delco, sentenced to 30 years". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  17. ↑ International, United Press (2018-04-23). "Ex-Liberian warlord living in Pa. sentenced to 30 years for immigration fraud | Gephardt Daily" . Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  18. ↑ Roebuck, Jeremy (2020-01-21). "Seeking new trial, ex-warlord living in Delco questions whether murders, rapes, torture, and cannibalism make him a genocidal war criminal". The Inquirer.
  19. ↑ Roebuck, Jeremy (2020-09-09). "Appeals court upholds 30-year prison stint for Delco warlord 'Jungle Jabbah' who lied about Liberian war atrocities". The Inquirer.
  20. ↑ "Inmate Locator". www.bop.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  21. ↑ "United States v. Jabateh, 974 F.3d 281 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  22. ↑ "Feds: Liberian civil war commander 'Jungle Jabbah' found in Philly suburbs". Metro US. 2016-04-13. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  23. ↑ "Delco man to face alleged past as Liberian war criminal in federal trial". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  24. 1 2 "Two views of Delco man: Businessman or war criminal". Philly.com. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  25. ↑ Kanneh, Jackson (2017-10-10). "Witnesses Tell Stories of Jabbateh Torture, Rape, Murder, Cannibalism in Bopolu". frontpageafricaonline.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-22. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.