Warlord or peacekeeper? Liberians differ on leader's past

As far as Robert Sayon Morris is concerned, the Liberian community made a wise choice in picking Kerper Dwanyen as president of the state's Liberian organization.

"He is well-known in the community, and he will be someone who is able to deliver," said Morris, 49, a software developer who stopped by the African Food Market and Deli in Brooklyn Park on Friday to get some lunch.

But Gabriel Kular, 29, a cashier, backed the incumbent, Martha Sinoe, who lost. "She's been helping the community since she became president." Besides, he said, "I won't support anyone who's a warlord."

For the approximately 15,000 to 20,000 Liberians in Minnesota, said to be the largest Liberian refugee community in the United States, this was a hot election -- and it isn't over yet.

The election commission for the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota is expected to decide in the next several days what to do about protests filed by two of the losing candidates, alleging Dwanyen should be disqualified because he was a warlord in Liberia's bloody civil war in the early 1990s.

"There was a lot of tension in this election," said the Rev. James N. Wilson II, chairman of the Liberian Ministers Association in Minnesota, which supported Dwanyen.

Dwanyen vigorously denies the allegations. "I was not a warlord," he said.

Dwanyen outpolled Sinoe, 805 votes to 439. Wynfred Russell came in third with 280 votes, and Jackson George got 231 in the vote for president of the Organization of Liberians of Minnesota.

It's an important post.

"Anything that goes on in the community that concerns Liberians, we refer to the Liberian president," said Deedee Luogon, 35, a stylist at the Unique Beauty Salon in Brooklyn Park.

Dwanyen, a mortgage broker, is the outgoing president of the Oldtimers Sports Association, which works with youth soccer players. He said he played an important role in seeking support from Minnesota's congressional delegation in persuading President Bush to halt the deportation of Liberians this fall.

Sinoe disagrees. "He played no role at all," she said.

Conflicting accounts

The postelection discussion has focused on Dwanyen's role in the civil war.

Russell cites a report issued by U.S. immigration officials in 1993 that says Dwanyen headed a group called the Nimba Redemption Council of Liberia, which challenged Charles Taylor's group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, militarily. Taylor is considered to have been responsible for numerous massacres.

The report says that according to a French news agency account, Dwanyen's organization attacked several outposts, "not sparing civilians in the process."

Emmanuel Dolo of Coon Rapids, who authored a book about Liberia called "Ethnic Tensions in Liberia's National Identity Crisis," said in a telephone interview from Liberia, "Our understanding is that he [Dwanyen] headed an organization that engaged in human rights violations. He led an organization that was responsible for the deaths of Liberians at the hands of Charles Taylor and his regime."

Dwanyen denies any human rights abuses by himself or the Redemption Council, and dismisses Dolo as one of Russell's supporters.

"Taylor assassinated most of the intellectual and political elite of my county, including my father, the late David Dwanyen," he says.

He said a group of West African states formed a multi-national peacekeeping force to restore peace in Liberia. Dwanyen said he was asked by citizens of his home county to become a spokesman for the Nimba Redemption Council, and his job was to encourage the community to not treat the multinational soldiers as a hostile force. He said the council was to serve as "scouts to navigate the terrain" and give political assistance to the peacekeepers.

Taylor's forces attacked his group, he said, but they were poorly armed and fled. He said the group was quickly disbanded when the multinational force decided against deploying to Nimba County.

'This was a dirty campaign'

Dwanyen said his election opponents have former military personnel in their political camps, a claim Russell denies.

Russell said having a warlord head the organization would undermine its credibility with other groups and foundations that can help local Liberians.

Sinoe, a nurse by profession, insists she was the victim of unscrupulous attacks. "[This] was a dirty campaign," she said. "They did everything to get me out."

She said allegations about Dwanyen's background did not surface until late in the campaign and few knew the details. She and Russell have filed protests, saying that as a warlord Dwanyen should not have been allowed to run.

Francis Zazay, chairman of the election commission, said there are several charges that must be reviewed, including whether election guidelines allow the commission to exclude a warlord or former warlord.

Dwanyen said that while he is not a warlord, there is no such restriction.

Mariah Seton of Chicago, an adviser to the commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has been reviewing the history of the Liberian civil war, said Friday by phone that the commission, along with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, have taken statements from people in Minnesota. She said no one has filed either a statement or complaint alleging Dwanyen was a warlord or was responsible for killing people.

Staff researcher John Wareham contributed to this report. Randy Furst • 612-673-7382