Liberia: U.S. Embassy Accused of Arbitrary Dismissals

The life of Abraham Baryogar, not his real name, has been in total shackle since his arbitrary dismissal by the Embassy of the United States of America accredited near Monrovia.

This turn of events has had profound consequences on his life, resulting in the breakdown of his family, the discontinuation of his children’s education, and a downward spiral in his circumstances. Unable to provide for his household due to his job loss, Baryogar’s family has been deeply affected, plunging them into uncertainty and hardship.

“I’m living at the mercy of other people. If they don’t give it to me, I cannot eat. I can’t feed my family anymore,” he told the Daily Observer in an exclusive interview. “My once happy and loving family has been torn apart and brought down to zero.”

Baryogar said he was employed as a driver for the US embassy for over 8 years, but when he got dismissed “illegally and lost all severance benefits,” he reportedly went out of his mind -traumatized and has never recovered.

Baryogar was one of 13 employees dismissed by the embassy a few months ago on an accusation of sharing child-pornographic material via social media. He and his colleagues are seeking justice following allegations of arbitrary dismissal and misconduct during the investigation process. The employees have been vocal about their unfair treatment and lack of due process which, they claim, have resulted in dire economic conditions and personal hardships. Those who spoke with the Daily Observer requested to remain anonymous for now.

Being part of an informal WhatsApp group in which the child pornographic material was shared, the former employees claim that the Embassy accused them of using the Embassy’s Wi-Fi to distribute obscene video content.

The Daily Observer contacted the U.S. Embassy Monrovia via email for comment on this story. Mr. Robert Clarke, a strategic communications personnel of the Embassy’s Public Affairs Section, informed this writer via WhatsApp, saying: “The Embassy does not have a comment on the matter.”

The bigger picture?

On December 5th, 2023, Mr. Mac Davis, an employee of the US Embassy, allegedly shared a video on Facebook Messenger chat, leading to the suspension of his account by Facebook for violating their community rules.

Upon reviewing Davis’s account, Facebook discovered that he was an employee of the US Embassy in Monrovia and consequently reported his account to the embassy’s security team. Under the instruction from Chargé d’Affaires, Cathrine Rodriguez, the US Embassy security team, headed by Artem Starovoyt, promptly launched an investigation into Davis’s actions on Facebook. Davis claimed that the video shared on Messenger had been from his phone gallery, having been downloaded from a WhatsApp group named VIP Liberia, which he was part of.

Upon examining Davis’s phone and WhatsApp account, the security team found that the video had been posted in the VIP group on October 14th. Subsequently, they identified all group members, Baryogar and 13 others, and summoned them for a brief investigation to ascertain their awareness of the video.

While some members denied knowledge of the video, others admitted to viewing it and promptly deleting it. Following the investigation by the US Embassy security team, each accused group member had their Access Badges revoked, and they were placed on administrative leave pending further inquiry.

All 15 staffers were instructed to report to the headquarters of the Liberia National Police (LNP) for investigation.

Upon concluding their investigation, the police exonerated 13 of the employees, including Baryogar, noting that they could not be held liable for any crime, while two, including Davis, were held for further investigation.

The LNP informed the US Embassy that the accused employees from the WhatsApp Group could not be charged with any crimes related to distributing, keeping, or producing pornography videos. Consequently, the police issued clearances to 13 of the 15 accused individuals.

But before the police could complete their investigation, the accused individuals began receiving termination letters from the US Embassy.

The police report that exonerated the 13 employees

“We were shocked because we were not expecting this,” said Baryogar. “We were not given due process. If even they did not respect the police findings, they should have taken us to court and accorded us due process, but none of this was done and they just dismissed us arbitrarily.”

Baryogar was served his termination letter on December 12, 2023, while some of his colleagues received theirs in March, 2024. “Two or three of our colleagues are yet to receive theirs but were told that the same letters we received are the same letters awaiting them,” he said.

However, the absence of a stable income has led to Baryogar’s children being deprived of their education, adding to the distressing situation. To exacerbate matters, two weeks after his dismissal, Baryogar’s suffered a life threatening motor accident that left his left eye severely damaged, further diminishing his prospects of supporting himself and his family.

Compounding his misfortune, despite being cleared of wrongdoing by a police investigation, Baryogar’s and the 12 others who claim they were unjustly dismissed continue to seek justice for their unwarranted termination. The lingering “injustice” has added to Baryogar’s struggles, prolonging his ordeal and impeding his path to resolution and redress.

The men claim their dismissal violated the US Embassy’s own employee handbook rules. One of the counts under Separation for Cause states that an employee can be separated from work or dismissed for any “act described as a criminal offense under Liberian and/or U.S. laws, and proven in court…”

In their case, the matter did not go to court, but the police investigated and exonerated 13 of the 15 employees, while two were forwarded to court pending court trial.

A page from the U.S. Embassy’s employee handbook with reference to grounds for separation.

“We were never taken to court for due process as the handbook says,” one of the dismissed staffers said. “This is supposed to be the embassy of the most powerful nation that protects the weak and promotes human dignity, but this is far from the truth in our case. We are being unfairly treated and left alone on the way to die. This is so unfair.”

He urged newly appointed U. S. Ambassador, Mark Toner, to have a look into their case. “We want the new Ambassador to please look into this and give us justice. We believe that he can do the right thing,” he said.

Claims of harassment, intimidation during investigation

The dismissed employees also said that their rights were violated by the embassy during a summary investigation. They criticized the Regional Security Office (RSO) procedures for their handling of the case, including the confiscation of personal phones and demanding passwords from non-complainants, as well as brief interrogations leading to administrative leave.

Further concerns were raised about the cancellation of personal visas without notice and premature termination actions executed before the completion of the police investigation.

Key Lines in the Summary Investigation: The affected employees alleged the following:

RSOs brandished Weapons and held Motor pool staffers in a closed area while interrogating suspect Mac Davis, confiscating everyone’s private phones, including the non-accused (Tuesday, December 5, 2023) Took Private Phones of even staffers who were not part of the case and demanded passwords to access personal information (Tuesday and Wednesday, December 5-6, 2023) Had a brief interrogation with 13 non-accused lasting about 2 minutes or fewer each, concerning their involvement in the WhatsApp group chat while placing them on administrative leave pending investigation (Wednesday, December 6, 2023) RSO officers took away the bag of a non-accused from a vehicle with personal effects including a passport bearing a US Visa while canceling the non-accused’s Visa. All this was done in the non-accused’s absence. (Tuesday, December 6, 2023) Received a call from RSO Foreign Service National investigator at about 16:09 to report to the LNP HQ to give a Statement and obtain Police Clearance to return to work (Thursday, December 7, 2023) Artem Starovoyt revoked personal US Visas from non-accused while under administrative leaves with no notice sent informing them about the visa cancellation as common practice (Thursday, December 7, 2023) Two of the non-accused job vacancies were posted prior to receiving termination notices (Friday, December 8, 2023) While awaiting police findings and clearance, a personnel action of termination was executed for all 13 non-accused. (Friday, December 8, 2023) The US Embassy in Monrovia did not accord any due process to its former employees in violation of their privacy by forcibly taking away their personal phones and demanding passwords to the phones.

After reportedly terminating their jobs illegally, the US Embassy is said to be pursuing its former employees by writing negative Memorandums to potential employers who seek to hire their services.

“I got a job offer from CRS but was later turned down after CRS reached out to the Embassy,” another member of the group told the Observer. “I learned that a lot of terrible things were said about me.

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Another non-accused went through a rigorous process for Job Placement with IFAD just to be told that he did not meet the requirements as outlined after the Embassy refused to send a recommendation on his behalf.

“One of our colleagues was also turned down yet again by MSH during an interview. When asked why he left the Embassy, after he explained the ordeal presenting his police clearance, he was automatically turned down. How do they expect us to survive?” he asked.

Rights Activist, Vandalark Patrick’s, Wants Victims Reinstated

Human rights activist Vandalark Patrick’s is calling on the U.S. embassy to reinstate the dismissed employees as they were dismissed without due process. He expressed disappointment that the embassy refused to do what was needed after the workers were exonerated by the LNP–which also recommended reinstatement.

Patrick’s specifically criticized the actions of the Chargé d’Affaires at the American Embassy for the perceived unlawful dismissals, while expressing confidence in the ability of the current US Ambassador, Mark Toner, to swiftly investigate the matter and reinstate the affected individuals with their job benefits.

“I trust Ambassador Toner will do the right thing and have our brothers reinstated,” Patrick’s, founder and Executive Director of Campaigners for Change International, a rights advocacy group, said on Tuesday, September 10.

Human Rights Activist, Vandalark Patrick’s

He disclosed that he has reached out to various human rights organizations in the United States, including Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, and others, seeking their intervention in addressing the situation.

As a human rights defender, anti-corruption advocate, and sustainable development practitioner in Liberia, Patrick’s has been at the forefront of advocating for social justice and policy reforms for over fifteen years. His efforts have focused on fighting against corruption, promoting human rights, and empowering marginalized groups in Liberian society.

He called on the government, through the Ministry of Labor to intervene in the situation in order to bring relief to the distraught Liberians.

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