Sierra Leone: War crimes court convicts RUF rebels

The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) convicted three Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel leaders of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao were among the "most senior leaders of the RUF." They were involved in a joint criminal enterprise with former Liberian president Charles Taylor to control the diamond fields of Sierra Leone. The diamonds were used to finance Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war (1991-2002).

The three were convicted for crimes committed by the RUF rebels, including the mutilation of civilians, sexual violence and the use of child soldiers during Sierra Leone's war. Sesay and Kallon were found guilty of 16 of the 18 charges, while Gbao was found guilty of 14. Sentencing is expected in two weeks.

Long awaited

The verdict was eagerly awaited by victims who still bear the psychological and physical scars of the rebels' atrocities. A crowd of around 200 people milled around the courtyard in Freetown to hear the verdict from the public gallery.

"The trial of RUF leaders for these crimes is vital for victims and for building respect for the rule of law in Sierra Leone," said Corinne Dufka, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher on West Africa.

"There is a great need for the activities of the Special Court, which is a chapter of the war, to be quickly concluded so that the nation can move on," Sierra Leone's president, Ernest Bai Koroma, said last week.

Last Freetown case

The trial of the RUF rebel leaders began in mid-2004. The rebels' founder and long-time leader, Foday Sankoh, known as 'Pa' to his often drugged and drunken child fighters, died in UN custody in 2003 before seeing the courtroom.

An indictment against a fifth battlefield commander, Sam Bockarie, was also withdrawn in 2003 because he was killed in Liberia.

The RUF case is the last of the three special court trials held in Freetown. Proceedings in two other cases are complete, including appeals.

There is one more trial, in The Hague. Charles Taylor, who is indicted for training and funding the RUF rebels, is being tried in the Netherlands because of fears the case could trigger fresh violence and that Taylor might escape from the court prison in Sierra Leone.

One suspect, former AFRC leader Johnny Paul, is still on the run.

Horrors

The RUF was notorious for using the so-called Small Boys Units - child soldiers forcibly recruited and issued with AK-47 assault rifles - who had a reputation for cruelty among the civilian population. They wielded their machetes to maim thousands of victims, chopping off hands and legs or carving the initials RUF into the bodies of their victims.

By the end of the war in 2001, some 120,000 people had been killed while tens of thousands were left mutilated.

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