The monitors of former President Charles Taylor's trial report for www.charlestaylortrial.org
The Prosecution continued its direct examination of Perry Kamara regarding RUF operations in the late 1990’s.
RUF Attacks on Civilians
Kamara’s testified concerning his travel to Rosos from Koinadugu in the company of Alfred Brown, another senior radio operator, to establish effective communications. They traveled with a group of 250 AFRC-members, 60 RUF-members and an unknown number of STF-members. The RUF fighters were divided into the “Red Lions,” the big “umbrella unit” of the RUF and a Cobra battalion, which served as bodyguards of Superman (a.k.a. Dennis Mingo).
On September 1, 1999, the group left Koinadugu for a 21 day trip to Rosos. Chief in command was “05″ (Kamara did not recall his real name). They traveled in a zigzag pattern, due to the threat of detection by governmental troops. There were other threats facing the men, including as air raids by ECOMOG. Those air raids were reported with special radio codes by a station in Buedu.
Kamara remembered three towns that they entered — Karina, Bendembu and Mateboi. Actions were taken to cause fear among the civilian population, including the destruction of towns, abductions of civilians, and the amputation of limbs to set an example. People who refused to carry things for the troops were killed. In Mateboi, the fighters gathered the civilians together, selected a person they wanted to have, and killed those who were not selected. Instructions came from Mosquito (a.k.a. Sam Bockarie), who received his instructions from someone else, but Kamara was unable to identify who that person was. Kamara communicated every 5-6 hours with Said Moussa and Mosquito.
Kamara identified the main radio locations in Sierra Leone in mid-1998 on a map, which included Bendugu, Koinadugu, Kabala and Kukuna.
In Rosos, Kamara testified that there were two missions carried out, including (1) an attack on Kukuna on September 28th where they killed almost all the civilians and burned down the town, and (2) a mission where Kamara was not present due to an injury.
Attack on Freetown
In November, Said Moussa came to Rosos. He wanted to separate from the RUF and the AFRC and start a new movement, and he had a plan to attack Freetown. In early December, the group left for Freetown and traveled ”guerilla-style.” During their trip, Said Moussa was killed near the city of Benguima by an explosion. Gullit replaced him as commander.
In late December, they arrived into the neighborhood of Freetown, and Gullit made contact with Mosquito for advice on how to proceed. Mosquito told him to wait until the other commanders, including Superman, were in place. But on January 6, 1999, they attacked Freetown, despite the instructions they had received from Mosquito.
Kamara explained that the troops entered Freetown by traveling through the main road from Waterloo, Hastings, Cossotown, to Freetown. They were divided into groups, each with a commander. Different physical targets were identified and assigned to different groups, including the national stadium and the prisons. Kamara and his group went to the Pentemba-route, the maximum security prison located in Freetown. The group was detailed to release all imprisoned RUF and AFRC fighters and they succeeded in their mission. The group of individuals that were released included JS Momo, the former president, Massaka, senior member of the RUF, and Steve Bio, a businessman and friend of RUF. The high level prisoners were taken to the state house where Gullit and other officers were staying. The state house became a free zone.
The released fighters were more aggressive in killing and amputating hands. SLA and ECOMOG forces were killed if they refused to join the groups. Mosquito said there was no prison for ECOMOG, so these soldiers were killed at the “cotton tree” near the state house. In their attempts to stop ECOMOG, the troops set roadblocks and destroyed bridges that could be used for advancement. These actions were performed throughout the country, but the situation was the worst in the eastern part of Freetown.
Kamara monitored all information exchanged in Freetown and reported this information to Mosquito. Gullit had told Mosquito previously that he successfully occupied Freetown and told him about he released prisoners. Mosquito told him to act as a military man and to take care of the released prisoners. Everyday situation reports were sent to Mosquito, who said it was important to keep the region fearful. Another message stated that Gullit’s group should come to Waterloo to meet troops of Superman and others to reinforce them.
Mosquito ordered Gullit to send troops to attack Cossotown under the lead of Superman and Morris Kallon. Gullit did not do this. Cossotown was attacked however, but they did not succeed. There was one man, Rambo, a Red Goat, who bypassed ECOMOG forces and reached Freetown with 15 men. These men joined the groups in Freetown. Gullit ordered that everything has to be burned that could not be taken along. Rambo wanted to stay in Freetown and he did so with many men, while the rest was going to Waterloo. One of the men that stayed with Rambo, was called Striker, of the Red Lamb battalion, with his fighters. Kamara was unable to identify the total number of men that stayed. Mosquito ordered Rambo to leave Freetown for the purpose of reorganizing and in the light of the status of the released prisoners (that should be brought before Mosquito). Rambo and Striker with their manpower stayed in Freetown, the eastern part, Texaco. The other groups went to Waterloo to regroup.
Kamara stayed with his group for two weeks in Freetown, before they returned to Waterloo. Afterwards, he heard through the commercial radio, what was happened there including the raping, killing, amputations, and abductions of civilians and the burning of homes in the area. The main commanders in Waterloo included, Gullit, Issa Sesay, Superman and Kallon. From Waterloo, there were two attacks initiated on Cossotown, without success. The groups withdrew from Waterloo. Kamara returned via Waterloo to Lunsar and Makeni to join Superman.
Kamara was then shown a map entitled “primary radio locations January 1999.” The following locations were identified: Buedu (Mosquito’s headquarters), Koidu-Sefadu (base of Kallon), Makeni (combined headquarters RUF), Lunsar (Superman’s base), Freetown (Gullit’s base) and Waterloo (reinforcement base).
Rambo and his group eventually left Freetown and joined forces with a group traveling from Waterloo to Massieka. The prisoners that were released from the Pedemba road were taken to the city of Makeni. All happened under the administration of Mosquito and Sesay.
Rambo offered clarification regarding the person he identified as Rambo, indicating that the Rambo he described in his testimony on Tuesday is not the same person he was referring to in his testimony today. The one referred to here is “Rambo Red Goat.”
Kamara explained that Massaka was released in Freetown. He was in communication with Mosquito in Buedu at that time and he reported on the military situation in Freetown. There was also communication between Superman, Gullit, Sesay and others.
Kamara received messages when Mosquito went to Liberia to arrange for the transportation of weapons and ammunition. During move to Freetown, Kamara did not receive information in this respect.
Forced Diamond Mining in Koidu
The Prosecution sought to focus on the situation in Koidu that occurred after the invasion of Freetown. Kamara explained that there was diamond mining which occurred in order to get more weapons from Charles Taylor. Civilians were forced to do the mining and Mosquito ordered Sesay to organize it. He recalled the arrival of two white men in the mining field who were in the company of RUF fighters and had come from Liberia. Kamara did not recall their names.
Mosquito wrote a letter indicating that he was no longer an RUF member in 1999. Issa Sesay was stationed in Kono. During Sesay’s administration, the diamond mining was more effective due to use of machines and the profits were for RUF. In the beginning the civilians did not benefit at all, but later they received a part of the profits from the gravel.
Sankoh brought the diamonds that were produced during Sesay’s leadership to Freetown, until problems with the UN occurred. Sesay traveled with the diamonds to Liberia to deliver them to Charles Taylor. He continued to travel with these deliveries from May 8, 2000 until the time of disarmament. Sesay brought from Liberia, petrol, diesel, engine oil and food.
After Issa Sesay captured a dozen UN peacekeepers, he received a message from Charles Taylor to transfer them to Liberia. He arranged for the transfer and a helicopter from Liberia came to collect the captured peacekeepers. This helicopter also delivered ammunition that was to be used, together with arms and ammunition from UN soldiers, against the UN troops as indicated by Charles Taylor.
Kamara testified that the RUF fought on the request of Charles Taylor in Liberia. This occurred in 1993 and again in 1999, after the return to Freetown, in the fight against Guinea for Charles Taylor. Taylor asked the RUF to fight along the Guinean border in south Liberia. Guinea was also attacked from Pamelap, Sierra Leone. Superman was killed in the Liberian action and after this, the RUF no longer participated in fights for Charles Taylor.
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Defense Cross-Examination
Before the commencement of the cross-examination, there was a short private session on procedural matters with regard to the privacy of Kamara.
On cross-examination, defense counsel established that, as a member of the RUF, Kamara engaged in looting and thieving himself and also took part in burning houses. He did this because of the orders he received.
Defense counsel questioned Kamara about inconsistent statements in which he referred to encounters he had with Charles Taylor. Kamara admitted that he did not see Taylor in Bangor although he stated this in an earlier statement to the Prosecution. Kamara confirmed that he saw Taylor only two times.
Kamara belonged to group known as the Black Gadaffa, and he stated that General Gbong was the leader of this group. Defense counsel questioned Kamara’s knowledge of the Black Gadaffa, and observed that they were a renegade group within the NPFL who were against Charles Taylor, the head of NPFL. Kamara explained that he was unaware of this and further stated that Gbong and Charles Taylor cooperated with each other.
Defense counsel asked about the code names for Taylor (”Ebony”) and Sankoh (”Toyota”). Kamara confirmed that these were the code names he had heard during the war. Defense counsel pointed out that Kamara had identified a different code name for Charles Taylor in an earlier statement to the Prosecution. Kamara answered that the code names changed over time. Defense counsel asked if Sankoh and Taylor communicated in English. Kamara stated that codes were used so it was incomprehensible for outsiders.
At this point, the Court adjourned until tomorrow.
Copyright (c) 2003 Open Society Institute. Reprinted with the permission of the Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019 USA, www.justiceinitiative.org. or www.soros.org.
