2004 Press Releases

Criminal Riots Endanger U.S. Diplomat Mission

June 14, 2004

Freetown
Contact: PAO Kevin Green
Tel: 226481

Last week, local papers reported an incident occurring on June 10, 2004 involving rioting and hostage taking by employees of security company Group 4 Falck.  This incident was a criminal effort on behalf of the ringleaders and their followers to extort money from Group 4 Falck.

During the course of the staged riot, the organizers and participants destroyed property, stole vehicles and attempted to murder the Managing Director of Group 4 Falck (a Kenyan national) and an American diplomat, using stones, machetes and pitchforks. Sierra Leone Police personnel were also in immediate threat for their lives.  Many of the individuals involved in this riot were Group 4 Falck personnel assigned to the U.S. Embassy.    
   
Senior Group 4 Falck personnel who organized the staged riot include:

1.    ABDULAI TURAY (ALSO KNOWN AS "BONGO")
2.    SAMUEL KAMARA
3.    KALVIN KING
4.    VICTOR SAVAGE
5.    HASSAN TARAWALIE1

Other Group 4 Falck personnel identified as being involved in this riot include
           
6.   ABDULAI CONTEH
7.   ABU ROGERS
8.   FODAY M. KAMARA
9.   SAMUEL CONTEH
10. PATRICK B. KOROMA
11. JAMES BANGURA
12. WILFRED D. BAKER
13. ALPHA BA
14. PHILIP ROBERT
15. ALUSINE MANSARAY
16. UNISA MANSARAY
17. KEMOH T. SHERIFF
18. SALLU KANU
19. BABAR TURAY
20. RAYMON KAMARA
21. IBRAHIM G. JALLOH
22. SIMEON SIMBO
23. ABU BAKAR BANGURA
24. PAUL A. KABIA
25. HASSAN SESAY
26. ALIE BADARA SESAY
27. SULAIMAN A. SESAY
28. ABDUL R. KAMARA 
29. CHRISTOPHE SESAY
30. OSMAN T. SESAY
31. ABU KANU

As this riot involved well over 100 individuals, other rioters are still being identified. 

Under direction of the ringleaders, the rioters falsely alleged Group 4 Falck owes them money due to a recent worldwide corporate merger with another security company.  The rioters also falsely claimed the Managing Director of Group 4 Falck had sold the company and was planning to leave the country with their money. The rioters also falsely claimed an American diplomat was a shareholder in the company, and was taking their money.  All of these allegations are lies told by the ringleaders in order to mislead their followers and the public and to justify use of criminal violence to extort money they were not entitled to.   

Group 4 Falck personnel are paid on time and are among the highest paid contract security personnel in Sierra Leone.  Several of the ringleaders instigating this riot earn more than most senior public officials.  Despite their well-paid positions and good conditions of employment, the ringleaders and other rioting guards stormed the residence of the Group 4 Falck Managing Director with the intent of murdering him.  An American diplomat responding to the situation was also physically attacked.  Serious attempts were made on his life by the rioters.  He and the Kenyan Managing Director were held hostage for approximately six hours.  Also attacked were two uniformed SLP officers assigned to the Embassy and an unarmed plainclothes officer responding to the riot.

The hostage-taking and rioting began at 7:15 am.  Police were called immediately and responded by 10:00 am.  Once there, police observed rioters as they destroyed property, stole vehicles and attempted forced entry for approximately 3 hours.  From the beginning, and in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the U.S. Embassy contacted the Government of Sierra Leone at all levels requesting assistance in ending the siege.  Certain officials intentionally withheld assistance.  The Vienna Convention states in Article 29 that “The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable … [t]he receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.”  The US Government strictly observes this article as it applies to all foreign missions operating in the US, including that of Sierra Leone.  In response to this matter, the U.S. Embassy will take appropriate administrative, legal, visa and policy actions concerning all culpable individuals.