U.S. deports Charles Mbayo, former Sierra Leone high-ranking coup leader
Mr Mbayo had been in ICE custody since ICE Homeland Security Investigations arrested him on
The U.S. authorities have deported Charles Emile Mbayo, a member of a former military junta, back to his country, Sierra Leone.
U S . Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in a statement circulated on social media on Monday, said Mr Mbayo was deported on August 20.
Mr Mbayo had been in ICE custody since ICE Homeland Security Investigations arrested him on June 30, 2025, before he was finally deported.
Speaking about Mr Mbayo’s arrest and deportation, Jared Murphey, acting Special Agent of the Homeland Security Investigations team in Detroit, warned that the U.S. will not be a safe haven for human rights violators.
“HSI is committed to ensuring that there is no safe haven in the United States for those tied to these horrific crimes,” Mr Jared said. “We will continue to investigate these allegations with the assistance of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Centre to seek both accountability and justice in these cases.”
Labelled a “war criminal and criminal illegal alien,” Mr Mbayo was a former high-ranking member of the National Provisional Ruling Council, a military junta that ruled Sierra Leone after ousting President Joseph Momoh in a coup on April 29, 1992.
Though he entered the U.S. legally on a student visa, he became an illegal immigrant after overstaying his visa when his application for permanent residency was denied.
“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,” ICE said.
The National Provisional Ruling Council, which Mr Mbayo once belonged to, was notorious for extrajudicial killings, including of former government officials, as well as the arrest and torture of citizens, with victims buried in mass graves.
