U.S. Court Sentences Gambian Death Squad Member To More Than 67 Years for Torture

By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives

• A U.S. federal court has sentenced a former Gambian army captain from the regime of dictator Yahya Jammeh to more than 67 years in prison.
• Michael Sang Correa, first held on immigration charges, is the first non-American prosecuted under the U.S. Torture Act
• Charles McArthur Emmanuel Taylor, commonly known as “Chuckie Taylor,” was the first person prosecuted with the law.

A U.S. federal court Friday sentenced a former member of The Gambia’s feared paramilitary unit to more than 67 years in prison for acts of torture carried out under the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh.

Michael Sang Correa, 46, was sentenced by Senior Judge Christine M. Arguello of the District of Colorado after jurors unanimously found him guilty in April of one count of conspiracy to commit torture and five counts of torture following a 5-day trial. The “Junglers,” of which he was a member, was accused of widespread human rights violations— including migrant killings during Jammeh’s 22-year reign. The Jammeh regime was marked by enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings, and a climate of fear that silenced dissent and crushed basic freedoms. According to the findings of The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, state agents under Jammeh’s regime were responsible for the murders of at least 240 individuals including more than 50 immigrants from other West African countries including Nigeria and Ghana. The Commission’s findings reveal that sexual violence was widespread throughout Jammeh’s rule. On his orders, security personnel, especially Junglers, raped and sexually harassed women.

Correa is the first non-U.S. citizen to be prosecuted under the U.S. torture statute of 1994, which allows the United States to prosecute any U.S. resident for torture, genocide and war crimes committed outside the U.S. Charles McArthur Emmanuel Taylor, commonly known as “Chuckie Taylor,” a son of Charles Taylor, a former Liberian president and convicted warlord, was the first person prosecuted with the law. American-born Chuckie is serving a 97-year prison sentence after his 2008 conviction.

Correa’s victims celebrated his conviction. “Justice in this case is not only about punishment; it is about restoring faith in the rule of law for victims like me, and for the Gambian people,” said Demba Dem, a former member of The Gambia’s Parliament. Dem was quoted by a release from a coalition of Correa’s victims, Gambian civil society organizations, and international human rights organizations, including the Center for Justice and Accountability and TRIAL International.

“I am glad that Correa received a fair trial,” said Dem, a victim of Correa. “It is more than I and many others received, but it is important for true justice.”

“This decision will resonate far beyond this courtroom,” said Jasseh, another victim, who currently serves as advisor to the Gambian Police. “The United States’ involvement in this case has already encouraged Gambian authorities to take accountability seriously. This trial is a catalyst, a jumpstart, for our nation’s journey toward truth, justice, and healing.”

In 2024, The Gambia took what experts said were significant steps towards justice, including passing a legislation for hybrid tribunal to try international humanitarian law violations including systemic rape, torture and extra judicial killings. In what experts say is an important precedent for Liberia’s War and Economics Crimes Court, The Gambia secured a partnership with ECOWAS, the west African regional bloc, to establish the tribunal. The Gambia and Liberia cannot try international crimes in their existing domestic judicial systems.

Correa was first arrested in September 2019  on immigration grounds after overstaying his visa, but his charges escalated to torture following a complaint by victims and human rights organizations.

Moses Wright Trial Delayed

Correa’s sentence came on the day that the trial of Moses Wright, a Liberian army general accused of federal immigration fraud in Pennsylvania, set for late October, was delayed until May. A brigadier general in the Liberian army during the administration of then-president Samuel Doe, Wright, 72, has been accused by witnesses and prosecutors of lying about his role during Liberia’s first civil war. In 2022, U.S. prosecutors indicted him, alleging that he either carried out or directed AFL soldiers to commit a range of atrocities — including persecuting Gio and Mano civilians, killing and assaulting noncombatants, and subjecting them to false arrests and imprisonment.

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In the past decade, Liberians tried in the U.S. faced criminal immigration fraud charges, though their wartime crimes were central to the cases. The U.S. has been unable to directly prosecute people for war crimes or crimes against humanity because it had not passed laws that covered those crimes. In contrast, European countries have used universal jurisdiction to try Liberians and others for such crimes.

Steve Cagen, who led the Correa investigation, suggested others in the U.S. could also be prosecuted under the torture law.

“A standard was set with this trial and sentencing,” said Cagen, according to the U.S. Justice Department.  “Homeland Security Investigations will hunt down and bring to justice those that commit these horrific crimes.”

This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia which had no say in the story’s content.