allAfrica.com: Liberia: Witness Tells of Rapes, Killings, Amputations and Looting in Life As Rebel Captive (Page 1 of 3)

Liberia: Witness Tells of Rapes, Killings, Amputations and Looting in Life As Rebel Captive

The monitors of former President Charles Taylor's trial report for www.charlestaylortrial.org

Witness Tells of Rapes, Killings, Amputations and Looting in Life As Rebel Captive

Prosecution witness TF1-028, testifying behind a screen and with voice distortion, today told the court a horrific tale of abduction and captivity at the hands of rebels.

In response to some of the witness's testimony, the defense objected to the court's hearing evidence of crimes not specifically covered in Charles Taylor's indictment. After hearing a response from the prosecution, the judges reaffirmed a previous decision and overruled the objection. In the morning, the witness became overwhelmed with emotion and broke down twice, necessitating court adjournments. When prosecution questioning ended in the late afternoon, the defense began its cross-examination. Court sat for an extra half hour to make up for the morning adjournments and a brief afternoon adjournment after the witness complained of a headache.

Rape of children

The witness testified that she lived in Karina, Bombali district (in western Sierra Leone) at the time of the 1998 ECOMOG intervention. One morning "junta" forces came to the town. "Junta" is another name often used for the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and sometimes for their Revolutionary United Front (RUF) partners who controlled Sierra Leone from May 1997-February 1998. The witness's brother and his 12-year old son were beaten by the soldiers, and molten plastic was dripped all over the brother's body. In addition, the witness said, the soldiers beat many other people and raped young girls. She recounted the rapes of two nieces, seven and eight years old. The witness said that the rebels returned that night and looted houses, explaining that this was "Operation Pay Yourself".

After the soldiers left, the witness said that another group of RUF and AFRC, some of them Liberians, arrived in Karina and stayed for two weeks. She said they looted property, and then told the court that "RUF and juntas" had raped her 13 year-old daughter and 12 year-old niece. When Prosecutor Shyamala Alagendra asked how she knew this, the witness broke down in tears. Court adjourned for 20 minutes. When the session resumed, the witness explained that she knew because the girls had been damaged in their vaginas and were bleeding. After two weeks, she said, the rebels left Karina, but promised to return.

She then recounted a morning three days later, when she saw flames and smoke from a nearby burning village even though it had rained all night. When she began telling of the rebels return to Karina, Defense Counsel Morris Anyah rose to object.

Evidence not charged in the indictment

Although the judges had already issued a ruling on the issue, perhaps in anticipation of a possible later appeal, Anyah said he wanted to register his objection to evidence being heard about crimes that were not charged in Taylor's indictment. Specifically, he noted that the only charges against Taylor relating to Bombali district had to do with looting, not with other crimes the witness was describing.

Lead Prosecutor Brenda Hollis responded by saying there were three reasons that this evidence was relevant and admissible. She said that the court had taken judicial notice of the fact that there had been an armed conflict in Sierra Leone, but had not taken judicial notice of widespread and systematic crimes - crimes against humanity. Hollis said that this evidence showed that the crimes that have been charged in Taylor's indictment were part of this larger attack, part of the crimes against humanity. Secondly, she said that the evidence showed that the crimes charged were part of a campaign of terror conducted by the same individuals, not rogue acts by rogue commanders. Hollis said it was important to show continuous involvement by the same individuals whom the prosecution alleges were co-actors with Taylor in a Joint Criminal Enterprise. Finally, she said that evidence of additional crimes were relevant to Taylor's knowledge that crimes were occurring in Sierra Leone.

After brief deliberation, Presiding Judge Teresa Doherty stated that the judges were reaffirming their previous decision on the matter and overruling the objection.

Abduction from Karina

The witness testified that her daughter called her to a window, from where they saw rebels walking by with a man whose arm was amputated and a group of naked women, among them her sister-in-law. Her sister in law was bleeding in the face. The witness attempted to escape to the bush with her children and her sister's four-year-old child strapped to her back, but she was accosted by juntas at the edge of the village. As the witness recounted that the rebels stripped her naked, she began crying but court proceedings continued. She was beaten with a sword, and tied together with her sister-in-law and sister, both of whom were also beaten with cutlasses. They were taken to the mosque area in the village, where she saw here uncle lying on the ground. She said he had been hacked on the neck. When her other uncle asked the juntas why they had done this, a soldier hacked him in the face, killing him. At this point in the proceedings, the witness again began crying, and the judges allowed an officer of the Witness and Victims Section to sit with her. Asked whether she had said anything after watching her uncle killed, the witness told the court she had said "our family is finished". The three bound women, including the witness, were then taken towards another building. As they approached, she saw her brother lying on the ground in death throes, having repeatedly been hacked in the neck. As she related the account, the witness again broke down crying. Court adjourned briefly.

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