A precedent has been set by the thirteenth witness in the recently-adjourned trial of three former commanders of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) at the UN-backed Special Court for war crimes in Sierra Leone. The witness, former Liberian Army General John Tarnue, is the first to testify in open court without the protective screen hiding his identity, thus breaking a norm established in the trials of both the RUF and Civil Defence Forces (CDF) defendants. The prosecution's only request was that the witness' current address would not be revealed in open court.
After much procedural wrangling, leading to a series of closed sessions, General Tarnue was finally allowed to testify against three former superior officers of the RUF, Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao. Tarnue told the court that he had been a soldier in the Liberian army and that he had surrendered to Charles Taylor's invading army when they overran the area where he was hiding. Taylor, he said, placed him in charge of training and recruitment. He revealed details of how the plan to invade Sierra Leone was drawn up and claimed that former Liberian President Taylor had helped supply RUF leader Foday Sankoh with arms, ammunitions and men to carry out the invasion. The witness also revealed that arms usually came in from Burkina Faso to Ivory Coast and were loaded into Mann Diesel trucks which then transported them across the border to Taylor's base in Gbarnga, Liberia. During the rainy season when the roads were bad, a helicopter would transport the arms packed in boxes with Arabic inscriptions, from Ivory Coast to Gbarnga, said Tarnue. According to the Liberian General, Taylor recounted how he had been solicited by and agreed to help the Burkinabe leader Blaise Campaore to assassinate his predecessor, Thomas Sankara.
Speaking in a determined voice, the witness told the court that he had been arrested and tortured by Taylor's son Chucky who was then head of the country's Anti Terrorist Unit (ATU). It was after this that Tarnue fled to Ghana for treatment. While in Ghana, believing that an assassination squad had been sent to track him down, he went underground. He made contacts with friends in the USA who put him in touch with the chief investigator of the Special Court Dr Allan White. White worked with FBI agents to remove him from Ghana to the country in which he now lives. He also said that they gave him money to settle his hotel bills and also to help his family to leave Liberia.
The Defence counsels chose to capitalise on the references to financial aid rather than to question him on his often graphic descriptions of meetings and encounters with Taylor and the RUF defendants. They alleged that he had received over $90,000 from the prosecution, which explained why he was so forthcoming with his testimony. This is the second time that allegations have been made about payments to witnesses. The first involved a prosecution witness in the CDF trial who hinted that he was given several thousands of dollars for his upkeep. Indeed, this appears to be one of the reasons why CDF defendant Chief Hinga Norman continues to protest that all witnesses should face the court openly, except for those who have been sexually assaulted. It is not yet clear whether the defence lawyers intend to raise issues about the ethical or unethical practice of witness remuneration.
Two other witnesses testified alongside General Tarnue. One of them, Sierra Leonean George Johnson, began to testify as a protected witness, but offered to continue in open court after a newspaper inadvertently revealed his identity. The second, the Liberian Hassan Bility, testified in the same vein as Tarnue, revealing the collaboration between Taylor and the RUF defendants. Johnson described the activities of the yet to be tried members of the Armed Forces of the Revolutionary Council (AFRC), including their meeting with Taylor in Liberia to secure the release of Johnny Paul Koroma, the then AFRC leader, from RUF custody. Johnson said Taylor tried to get the AFRC to work together with the RUF. At one point, Johnson alleged that RUF defendant Issa Sesay was threatening him in court, prompting remarks from the judges. Johnson was a key operative in the AFRC and the question of why he agreed to testify also touches on the issue of whether he had been promised payments, or not.