9 May 2008
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The monitors of former President Charles Taylor's trial report for www.charlestaylortrial.org
Former RUF Officer Testifies About Extensive Links Between Taylor and AFRC/RUF
Crime-base witness TF1-028 completed her testimony this morning, and the prosecution called its next witness, Karmoh Kanneh. Kanneh was forcibly recruited by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) at the beginning of the war and later became an officer. He offered testimony today linking Charles Taylor to the RUF in various ways: as its most senior commander, a recipient of diamonds mined through forced labor in Sierra Leone, a contact for ammunition purchases in Burkina Faso, and as an instigator of attacks by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and RUF on Kono and Freetown.
Outside the courtroom, the Special Court for Sierra Leone announced today that Taylor's former vice president, Moses Blah, is scheduled to take the witness stand next week. Blah has received a subpoena from the prosecution. The testimony is expected to begin on Tuesday, depending on when the prior witness finishes. Chief Prosecutor Stephen Rapp himself will lead Blah in his testimony.
Witness TF1-028 concludes her testimony
The day began with Defense Counsel Morris Anyah continuing his cross-examination of protected prosecution witness TF1-028, a woman who testified that she had been abducted by rebels in 1998 and held for over a year. Anyah alternately highlighted the witness's testimony that most of the forces in the group that abducted her were AFRC and not RUF, called into question the clarity of her recollection, and sought to discredit her testimony and that of a previous witness by pointing to a possible conflict in their accounts.
Anyah covered the following main points:
Court went into a brief private session requested by Anyah so that he could conclude his cross-examination by asking questions that would reveal the identity of the witness.
When the proceedings resumed in open session, prosecutor Shyamala Alagendra conducted a brief re-examination of the witness:
Prosecution calls its next witness: Karmoh Kanneh
Prosecutor Julia Bailey called the next witness, who had agreed to have his protective measures removed and testify openly by name. The witness said his name was Karmoh Kanneh, and that during the war he had been called "Eagle".
Kanneh testified that when rebels came to his village in 1991, he was abducted with 16 others and sent for military training. They were told that if they tried to escape, they would be killed. Kanneh said the training had been conducted mostly by Liberians who belonged to Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL). Kanneh said the training commanders told him that they were there to assist RUF leader Foday Sankoh so that afterwards "they could hand the war to us". The witness said the training camp had about 500 trainees who had been captured, including men, women, and about 50 children between the ages of 10 and 15. In the six-week training, they learned how to use a gun, set ambushes, attack, and "make an area fearful". Kanneh explained that this meant clearing a town of all of its inhabitants.
The witness said that following his training, he was sent with a group following a Liberian commander to attack the southeastern Sierra Leonean town of Joru. After defeat there, and continuous pressure by government soldiers, the witness's group came to Zimmi, where he described seeing a number of RUF commanders, including Liberians and a Gambian who had entered Sierra Leone through Liberia. From Zimmi, the group retreated to Bo Waterside, on the Liberian border. There, RUF leader Foday Sankoh complained to the soldiers that the NPFL members who had come were no longer fighting, and instead focused on looting. The witness said that after a short posting in a nearby village, his group was attacked and they again retreated to Bo Waterside, and then into Liberia.
Direct evidence of Taylor organizing the RUF
In Liberia, the group went to Bomi Hills. Kanneh testified that a number of commanders were there, and that Sankoh joined them. Then, he said, Charles Taylor arrived. Taylor and Sankoh addressed the 500 RUF troops in formation. Kanneh said that Taylor told them he had come with armaments and ammunition and that they should prepare to return to Sierra Leone. According to Kanneh, Taylor then divided the RUF group into two, naming the group of 250 fighters into which the witness was placed "Black Gaddafa". The witness said that Sankoh then addressed the group, reiterating everything Taylor had told them. Kanneh said that the Sierra Leoneans in Black Gaddafa were called "junior commandos", denoting that they were the first group of RUF trained in Sierra Leone.
According to Kanneh, Taylor and Sankoh told the group that the mission of Black Gaddafa was to sabotage the movement of the enemy in Sierra Leone by setting up ambushes and making areas "fearful". The witness said that Taylor and Sankoh ordered them to attack the enemy, and if they came to villages where there were no enemy soldiers, they should remove all the civilians from them. It should be noted that these alleged events precede the jurisdiction of the Special Court and the temporal scope of Taylor's indictment.
From Bomi Hills, the witness returned to Sierra Leone as a member of Black Gaddafa in early 1992. The group set a successful ambush and captured ammunition from the Sierra Leone Army, then based in Mano River. He said he left at the end of 1992, and the group was no longer known as Black Gaddafa.
Becoming an RUF officer
Kanneh said that the RUF established a base in the totality of Sogbewema Chiefdom in Pujehun district. He remained there until the end of 1993, involved in keeping guard and setting ambushes on a highway. From this base, the witness said he was called to join Foday Sankoh at his headquarters in Zogoda. Sankoh made the witness a Leftenant and made him commander of a company of over 200 RUF fighters. The witness spent a year there, maintaining defensive positions.
Kanneh was then sent to Peyama, where he joined RUF commander Sam Bockarie ("Mosquito"). He said Bockarie had been demoted from colonel to sergeant for killing a soldier without an investigation, and was now the battalion commander in Peyama. After a month, in 1995, the witness moved with Bockarie to the town of Ngiema, in Kailahun. Kanneh said he served there as a crack-force commander, to reinforce troops under siege by the enemy.
Another link to Taylor
Kanneh testified that while in Ngiema, Foday Sankoh came from peace talks in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. According to the witness, Sankoh told the assembled forces that a peace had been signed but the war was not over because times of peace meant preparing for war. Sankoh promoted Kanneh to captain, and gave Bockarie back his rank of colonel. Following the general meeting, Sankoh convened a meeting of senior officers that Kanneh said he attended. Other commanders present included Bockarie, Issa Sesay, Jungle, AB, and FOC. Kanneh said that at this meeting, Sankoh gave Bockarie his satellite phone, saying that he was leaving for Libya and that now Bockarie would take instructions from Charles Taylor. Further, Sankoh introduced Jungle to the commanders as Taylor's representative to the RUF.
Account of RUF diamond mining for Taylor
The witness said he went with Bockarie to Benguema following the AFRC coup (in May 1997), and accompanied Bockarie on daily trips into Freetown, where Bockarie participated in meetings as a member of the ruling council. After a month on another assignment in Freetown, the witness was taken by Bockarie on a mission to clear the Bo-Kenema highway of enemy Kamajor fighters. In a village called Koribundu, the RUF group killed captured Kamajors and looted property from civilians. They successfully cleared the Bo-Kenema highway, and waited in Kenema until AFRC leader Johnny Paul Koroma sent them a helicopter full of ammunition. The RUF group under Bockarie then proceeded to clear the road of enemies all the way to the Liberian border at Bo Waterside. After he returned with Bockarie to Kenema, they were sent to take Tongo Field, a diamond mining area.
Kanneh said the group of RUF he was with took Tongo Field, and he remained there for a month. After taking the area, he said he heard Bockarie call Taylor on the satellite phone to inform him. Kanneh said that Taylor thanked Bockarie. During that month, Kanneh said he was involved in ensuring that civilians did not escape and that enemies were repelled. Civilians were forced to dig diamonds for the AFRC and RUF for two days a week, and were beaten if they refused. On four days a week, when civilians and soldiers were nominally allowed to mine for themselves, if a civilian found a large diamond, it would be taken by the rebels anyway.
Kanneh said some diamonds mined by the civilians were given to the AFRC. At one point, the AFRC diamond commander fled with over 1,000 diamonds and was never found. Other diamonds were taken to Sam Bockarie. The witness said that during the month he was there, he was twice summoned with other officers to Bockarie's residence to assist in packaging diamonds. After counting the diamonds and putting them in parcels, on both occasions Bockarie called Charles Taylor on the satellite phone. After he told Taylor the number of diamonds, he passed the phone to Jungle, who confirmed the number. Kanneh explained that over a satellite phone it is possible for others in a room to hear the person on the other end. He said he heard Taylor thank Bockarie, and tell him to give the diamonds to Jungle to be brought to him. After both of these conversations, the witness said that Bockarie sent an escort with Jungle to the Liberian town of Foya, from where a helicopter took him to Monrovia.
End of the junta period
After a month in Tongo Field, Kanneh said he was assigned in the rainy season of 1997 to brigade headquarters in Kenema with Bockarie. Kanneh kept defensive operations and was also available for other operations. The witness named a number of other RUF and AFRC commanders who were present in Kenema. He remained in there until the ECOMOG intervention in Freetown dislodged the AFRC/RUF regime in February 1998. As ECOMOG forces were advancing on Kenema from Bo Waterside, the witness withdrew with Bockarie. At Baima, Bockarie promoted Kanneh to Leftenant Colonel and made him a battalion commander. At this time Bockarie was the acting leader of the RUF because Foday Sankoh was in detention.
Account of Bockarie issuing Taylor's orders to the AFRC/RUF
The witness said he remained in Baima until the end of 1999, and that Bockarie moved on to establish a headquarters in Buedu, 40 miles away. However, the witness said he often visited Buedu and saw Bockarie.
Kanneh recalled one eight-hour meeting convened by Bockarie with over 600 RUF commanders and fighters in around June 1998. It was held outside Buedu, in deep forest, out of fear of ECOMOG air raids. Senior commanders present included AFRC leader Johnny Paul Koroma, Gullit, Jungle, Issa Sesay, Eddie Kanneh, AB, FOC, SYB Rogers, Superman, Morris Kallon, and Akim Turay. According to Kanneh, Bockarie reported that he had just returned from seeing Charles Taylor in Monrovia.
Bockarie stated that Taylor had made decisions and sent messages:
Karmoh Kanneh's testimony continues tomorrow morning at 9:30.
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.
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