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Special Court Monitoring Program Update #64a
Trial Chamber I - RUF Trial
Covering week ending December 2, 2005
by Anna Stirnemann
Senior researcher
Summary
Witness Profiles at a Glance
Testimony in Accordance with Rule 92bis
Evidence at Trial
Summary
Eight prosecution witnesses were called to give evidence before Trial Chamber I this week. The testimonies of four witnesses were heard in closed session in their entirety. Once again the cross-examination appeared to be extensive, most of all for the last witness of this week, TF1-093.
Witness Profiles at a Glance
Witness TF1-029 is a category A witness who testified in English with the use of voice distortion. She was born in 1980 in Freetown and is a student at present.
Witness TF1-101 is 36 years old. The witness testified in Krio and with voice distortion. He had a WVS support person sitting next to him during the course of his entire testimony, due to physical disabilities he suffers.
Witness TF1-104 was called in support of documentary evidence submitted to the Chamber under Rule 92bis. He came only for cross-examination and was heard in closed session. He gave his testimony in English.
Witness TF1-097 gave evidence in Krio with the use of voice distortion. The witness was born in Bo and is now 37 years old.
Witness TF1-169 was the second witness to give his testimony according to “Rule 92bis” this week. The entire cross-examination was held in closed session. He testified in English.
Witness TF1-022 testified in Krio. He is 69 years old and is currently unemployed.
Witness TF1-093 testified as a category C witness and testified in Krio. The testimony was given in closed session in its entirety.
Witness TF1-054 was also heard in closed session. He testified in Krio.
Testimony in Accordance with Rule 92bis
Rule 92bis (A) provides that information in lieu of oral testimony may be admitted as evidence. In both cases of 92bis witnesses this week, the prosecution tendered the transcripts of the testimony they had previously given in the AFRC trial as evidence instead of questioning them in direct examination. The witnesses appeared before Trial Chamber I in order to be cross-examined by the defense on the basis of those statements previously given. Both witnesses were heard in closed session.
Evidence at Trial
The prosecution alleges that AFRC/RUF conducted armed attacks throughout the city of Freetown and the Western Area in January and February 1999, and that these attacks included unlawful killings of civilians, abductions, sexual violence, amputations, looting and burning.[1]
Witness TF1-029
Witness TF1-029 testified to events that took place on the Freetown Peninsula in 1999.
According to her testimony, the witness was captured in Wellington, where she was living by that time, together with 50 other civilians. An SLA soldier called Major Arif captured her. Following the capture, the witness was brought to Calaba Town. On the way, she saw the SLA/RUF soldiers burning houses and killing people.
In Calaba Town, Witness TF1-029 was allegedly raped by Major Arif ten times and taken as his bush wife. She stayed in the same house in Calaba Town together with him during two weeks. She heard of other women being raped and forced into marriages with SLA and RUF soldiers and described it in court as common practice that women would first be raped and then taken as wives.
According to the witness, the group of soldiers staying in Calaba Town included boys of around 13 to 16 years of age (the so called SBUs or Small Boys Units). During that time, she witnessed an ECOMOG soldier and a nun being killed on separate occasions. Two other nuns allegedly had their hands shot.
From Calaba Town, Witness TF1-029 was taken to Benguema with a group of SLA and RUF soldiers moved to that town in the Western part of the Peninsula. ECOMOG and the Kamajors attacked the group during the course of their journey. The witness stated that the SLA/RUF killed young children on their way to Benguema and that about another 100 civilians were captured.
Upon arrival, Major Arif is alleged to have raped her multiple times and she learned from other girls that SLA and RUF soldiers had also raped them. The witness also testified to the murder of a woman by Colonel Colbot (also written “Coal Boot” or “Cold Boot”, an SLA) in Benguema.
In March 1999, the witness was set free and left Benguema. She subsequently went to Four Mile with a group comprising 32 civilians. There, ECOMOG soldiers who took them to UNICEF picked them up.
Witnesses TF1-097, TF1-101 and TF1-022
All three witnesses gave similar evidence about events taking place in Kissy and in the Western part of Freetown in early 1999. In analogous statements all three witnesses described how the RUF entered the town in the early morning hours of 6 January 1999. All of them explained that they were able to identify the attackers who were carrying guns, cutlasses and axes as RUF fighters and two of the witnesses described that they were wearing red headbands. During cross-examination, Witness TF1-022 stated that some RUF did not wear uniforms, but the witness recognized them because they looked as if they had been living in the bush. They were “smelly” and did not dress very well. “They were nearly transformed into animals”, the witness said. According to the three statements, the RUF soldiers were going from house to house asking for money and threatened to set the houses in fire.
Witnesses TF1-101, TF1-097 and TF1-022 became victims of amputations carried out by RUF soldiers around 20 January 1999. They stated that by that time, the ECOMOG forces were moving forward and the RUF were about to pull out of the town.
Witness TF1-101
Witness TF1-101 was living in Kissy by the time the RUF allegedly attacked the town. According to the witness, he woke up at night and saw rebels all over the place. They were dressed combat clothing and were shouting. The soldiers carried guns, machetes and axes.
Five or six days later, when the witness went to town to buy some food, SLA soldiers at a checkpoint at Ferry Junction stopped him. Together with other civilians he was ordered to sit down on the ground where other civilians were placed. The SLA soldiers selected two individuals (one person of fair complexion and one person with dark skin color) out of the group of civilians to sacrifice them. The witness revealed that one of these men was stabbed and the blood was collected in a bowl, the other man was shot. After that incident, the rest of the civilians were sent away.
According to the witness, another checkpoint was established at Saroula. Witness TF1-101 reported in court about an argument between SLA soldiers and rebels. An SLA soldier addressed the rebels and said that they had only agreed to help the rebels to invade the city, but had not agreed to overthrow it. The SLA soldier announced that the SLA would not fight alongside the rebels unless they were paid for their efforts. “Captain Blood” is alleged to have ended the argument by promising that the SLA would receive their money.
The civilians were sent away and the witness went back home. He stated that a couple of days later, soldiers, two of whom were SLAs, came to his house. The soldiers spoke about a ceasefire agreement, but revealed that President Kabbah had refused to engage with them on this issue and had sent ECOMOG forces instead to fight the invaders. One of the soldiers commented: “We are all going to die together”. A woman among the fighters mentioned “Operation No Living Thing”.
The witness alleged that the soldiers then set his house on fire. He fled to his neighbor’s house where he hid in the cellar together with many other people. In the morning, seven rebels came and discovered them. One of them had a pistol, one had a gun, one an ax, and the last one carried a cutlass. The civilians were ordered to leave the cellar. A bunch of people were selected - the witness was among them -, and they were brought to the main road where they were ordered to sit down on the ground.
The soldiers brought a big log and told the civilians to place their hands on it so that they could amputate them. Some people were begging and subsequently the commander of the group of rebels shot and killed eight people. The witness heard him say that he “wouldn’t waste bullets again”. After the soldiers had smoked a joint, the rebel with the ax split the heads of five of the civilians who were sitting on the ground. Then the commander ordered them to cut off more civilians’ hands. The witness was the first to be called. They cut off his left hand with three blows and the right hand with a single blow.
When they were calling the next person, a commander came with his group. The rebels called him Rambo. Rambo ordered the civilians to be released and the seven rebels to be punished.
Testimony of Witness TF1-097
Witness TF1-097 began by describing an incident that happened in Tombu in December 1998. He reported an RUF attack commanded by “Captain Blood”. The witness was able to escape to the jungle, and later he went to Freetown.
According to the witness, it was three o’clock in the morning in Freetown on 6 January 1999 when the witness woke up and saw fire. The RUF had launched an attack on the town. A couple of days later, he sat on the veranda of his house together with some relatives and neighbors. They saw that fire was set on houses in the area, and a boy came with the message that ECOMOG were moving forwards.
On 21 January 1999, a man in combat uniform came across the veranda to his door. The witness was able to identify this person as the same “Captain Blood” who had attacked Tombo. The witness was then struck on his back and captured by “Captain Blood”. Blood then cut off the witness’ left hand and commented that the witness should go to President Kabbah to ask for a new hand.
The witness subsequently heard the screams of another civilian whose hand was being chopped off, and saw his own house set on fire by the rebels. He also witnesses an RUF soldier rape a number of women from his hiding place in the toilet at the back of his property.
When the witness left the place – it was still dark - he met other civilians who had also had their hands amputated. In the morning the witness went to Berry Street where he met ECOMOG. They sent him to the hospital.
Testimony of Witness TF1-022
Witness TF1-022 described incidents that took place on 22 January 1999. The witness was hiding in his house together with his family. He heard firing and saw that houses were being burnt. According to the witness, a man came to the gate of the neighbor’s house. His wife’s brother went to the man and begged the man to retrieve his relatives. When his wife’s brother turned around to go back to the house, he was shot in the back. The witness did not see the incident occurring, but he saw the injuries on the back of the boy: he revealed that the bullet broke some bones. The witness went together with five other persons to bring the boy to the hospital.
On their way to the hospital, they met seven RUF soldiers at Low Cost Junction. Assuming that the civilians were supporting ECOMOG, the rebels threatened them with death and forced them to lower the injured boy onto the ground. Then, they took money from the witness and told the civilians to undress. Subsequently they were brought to the commander. The boy was left behind lying in the sun. As they walked through Kissy, the witness saw bodies lying “in a pool of blood”.
When they met the commander, the latter ordered them to sit on the ground. The commander told three of his “boys” who were around ten years old to cut off the civilians’ hands. One of them had an axe, another had a cutlass. The boys wore red t-shirts and red headbands. According to the witness the fabrics they used signaled that they belonged to the RUF. According to the witness, another soldier pointed with his gun on the group of civilians. One civilian was ordered to place his hand on a log, and the boy with the axe cut it off. Then the witness was told to place his hand on the log and they struck against his arm three times. The amputated hands were placed in a bag. The commander then fired at a boy who was part of the civilian group.
Later, the civilians were released. The witness headed towards his home and his family.
On the way, he saw the RUF pulling out of the town. They were arranged in three lines: one line was formed by the commanders, the second by combats and the third line by women and children. The women and children were in the middle of the train to prevent them from escape.
After meeting his family, the witness went to the hospital where he heard that his wife’s younger brother had died.
U.C.B. War Crimes Studies Center, Sierra Leone Trial Monitoring Project Weekly Report no. 64a
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[1] See Prosecution RUF indictment, at paras. 52, 59, 66 and 82, counts 3 to 10. Available at: http://scsl-server/sc-sl/new/Documents/SCSL-04-15-PT-122-6181-6191.pdf; and http://scsl-server/sc-sl/new/Documents/SCSL-04-15-PT-12-6192-6202.pdf.