Sierra Leone

Blood diamond rebels found guilty of murder, rape and mutilation

Article published on the 2009-02-25 Latest update 2009-02-26 11:08 TU

Abubakar Kargbo had his armed amputated when the RUF captured Freetown
(Photo: Sylvain Savolainen)

Sierra Leone's war crimes tribunal has found three former rebel leaders guilty of war crimes committed during the 1991-2001 civil war. The three senior commanders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have been on trial for over five years for ordering and carrying out a spree of killings, rapes and mutilations including the recruitment of child soldiers.

Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao faced 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The charges included murder, rape, sexual enslavement, cruelty, using child soldiers and attacks on UN soldiers during the civil war.

Other counts included involvement in a joint criminal enterprise with former Liberian president Charles Taylor to control the diamond fields of Sierra Leone to finance their warfare.

They all denied having ordered and carried out a spree of killings, rapes and mutilations.

But the court did not agree, finding Sesay and Kallon guilty on 16 counts and Gbao guilty on 14.

Only about five family members turned up to watch the verdict, although 50 seats had been reserved for them.

About 120,000 people were killed and tens of thousands mutilated in the civil war of 1991-2001.

Ahmed Yusu Mambu, chair of the Sierra Leone war amputees association, told RFI how the RUF treated him after he helped his daughter escape from one of their fighters.

"They said to me, ‘Put your hands on the root of the mango tree,' " he says. "And they placed my hands on the root of the mango tree. The left hand first was amputated and then the second hand."

The fighters left Mambu, expecting him to die and set his house on fire. But he and his wife managed to find help and he survived.

Sentence will be passed in about three or four weeks, after the accused have had time to appeal, says correspondent Kelvin Lewis.

 

Meanwhile, the court continues its prosecution of Charles Taylor, the former president of neighbouring Liberia.

The chief prosecutor of the Special Court, Stephen Rapp, says Taylor may walk free because the court is running out of cash.

“If one ran out of money, it would be very difficult for the judges to hold the accused in custody, since it would be impossible to hold a trial”, Rapp told RFI.

This would be a violation of his rights, and he might have to be released, Rapp said. “That prospect should focus the mind of the international community.”