Former African coup leader may stay in U.S.
Permanent residency granted Sam Kambo

By Steven Kreytak

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Saturday, June 30, 2007

A U.S. immigration judge ruled Friday that an Austin man who once helped lead a coup in his native Sierra Leone did not participate in mass executions and may remain in the United States.

In a written decision, Judge Gary Burkholder in San Antonio made Sam Kambo, 38, a permanent resident of the U.S.

Hanaan Kambo, center with her children, from left, Hannah and twin Shaina, Samantha, and in front Seth, says she doesn't know when her husband Sam is coming home, but believes that he will. 'We just thank God. Indeed, justice has prevailed,' she said following Friday's ruling.

"It's beyond words, beyond words," Kambo's wife, Hanaan, said of her joy at the judge's ruling. "We just thank God. Indeed, justice has prevailed."

Kambo is a Lower Colorado River Authority engineer who has lived in the United States since 1994. He had been living with his wife and four U.S.-born children in North Austin before he was arrested and ordered deported by Department of Homeland Security officials in October.

Kambo was one of eight soldiers who led an April 1992 bloodless coup in the West African country that swept the National Provisional Ruling Council to power. He later served in several high government posts, including energy minister.

He denied participating in any atrocities linked to the government.

He remained jailed Friday following the judge's ruling.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman declined to comment on why Kambo wasn't released, issuing only the following statement:

"At this time, ICE Counsel is reviewing the judge's decision. Mr. Kambo will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of this review."

Kambo's lawyer, Simon Azar-Farr of San Antonio, said that because government lawyers appealed an earlier judge's decision to release Kambo on bail, the government must either drop its appeal or wait until the appeals court rules before Kambo can be set free.

Kambo came to the U.S. to study on a student visa at the University of Texas in 1994 and stayed on work visas. The U.S. government knew he was part of the coup when he got here, Azar-Farr has said.

In 2004, a U.S. immigration agent began investigating Kambo's involvement in atrocities committed by the National Provincial Ruling Council. Kambo was arrested in October and jailed.

At a two-day hearing on Kambo's case last month, government lawyers charged him with directing the December 1992 summary execution of about 30 Sierra Leoneans accused of plotting another coup.

They argued that Kambo is not eligible for a visa or permanent resident card under a law that excludes anyone who "has committed, ordered, incited, assisted or otherwise participated in the commission of" any act of torture or any extrajudicial killings.

Flown in to testify from Sierra Leone was Joseph Jayah, a 40-year-old former bodyguard to ruling council President Valentine Strasser. Jayah, a Sierra Leone soldier from 1988 until this year, told the judge that the night of the killings in 1992, many central members of the ruling council — including Kambo — gathered up the accused political dissidents, drove them out of town and ordered soldiers to shoot them.

Kambo's lawyer, Azar-Farr, called as a witness Patrick Muana, a Texas A&M University assistant professor who is writing a book on Sierra Leone history and has done extensive research on the 1992 massacre. Muana testified that he has never heard Kambo's name associated with the executions.

Burkholder issued a detailed 19-page decision Friday.

He said he based much of his decision on comparing witness testimony with the findings of the Report of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which sought to create an impartial account of human rights violations.

Burkholder discounted Jayah's account because it was not corroborated by the report. And while he wrote that it "strains credulity to accept" that Kambo had no prior knowledge of the December 1992 arrests and executions, he noted that the commission report found Kambo was not among suspected participants.

Burkholder found that Kambo "had some prior knowledge of the plan to arrest and execute regime opponents . . . but that he did not directly participate in that operation or actively assist it."

Rallying to help Kambo and his family since his arrest have been friends, co-workers and faculty from his children's elementary school who held fundraisers in his honor, including a concert at the Nutty Brown Cafe.

"We've come to know so many people who are so caring and loving," Hanaan Kambo said. "They've literally helped us survive in this country eight months without an income. We have been able to pay all of our bills, to eat. Thank God."