MONROVIA, LIBERIA / WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States government has officially removed the late Liberian senator and former rebel commander, Prince Yormie Johnson, from its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) sanctions list, more than a year after his death.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Johnson’s name and aliases were deleted from the Global Magnitsky sanctions register on May 28, 2026. Treasury also announced the removal of 76 outdated sanctions targets, including deceased individuals and persons linked to inactive networks. However, officials did not specifically state that Johnson’s death was the sole reason for his delisting.
Prince Johnson died on November 28, 2024, at age 72 in Paynesville, outside Monrovia. He served as senator for Nimba County and maintained strong political influence in the region, where many supporters viewed him as a wartime protector.
The United States sanctioned Johnson on December 9, 2021, under Executive Order 13818, which enforces the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. The sanctions were tied primarily to allegations of corruption rather than any criminal conviction related to Liberia’s civil war atrocities.
At the time of the designation, the U.S. Treasury accused Johnson of engaging in pay-for-play schemes involving government ministries and organizations for personal financial gain. Authorities alleged that millions of dollars in government funds were diverted through corrupt arrangements and partially returned to participants. Treasury further claimed Johnson received payments as an intelligence source without providing reports and exchanged political support and electoral votes for financial benefits.
The sanctions notice also referenced Johnson’s wartime history, describing him as a former warlord linked to the 1990 killing of former Liberian President Samuel Kanyon Doe. Treasury cited findings from Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which identified Johnson in connection with atrocities committed during the first civil war.
Johnson became one of the most feared rebel commanders during Liberia’s conflict. In 1990, fighters under his command captured President Doe in Monrovia. Doe was tortured on video and later killed in one of the most infamous incidents of Liberia’s civil war.
Liberia’s two civil wars, fought between 1989 and 2003, claimed an estimated 250,000 lives and displaced more than one million people. Although the TRC recommended prosecution for Johnson and several other wartime actors, he was never tried before his death.
Despite his wartime legacy, Johnson successfully transformed his military influence into political power, becoming a major political kingmaker in Nimba County. Over the years, he backed several presidential candidates whose campaigns depended heavily on support from the county.
While his removal from the sanctions list officially ends the financial restrictions tied to his OFAC designation, it does not erase the corruption allegations or the longstanding accusations connected to his wartime role. His death also leaves unresolved questions for victims and survivors still seeking justice through Liberia’s proposed War and Economic Crimes Court.
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