France sentences Liberian rebel to life in prison for war crimes
03/11/2022 15:47
PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Rights groups on Thursday
lauded the conviction in Paris of former Liberian rebel
commander Kunti Kamara, who was sentenced to life in prison for
atrocities committed during the West African country's first
civil war.
Kamara was found guilty on Wednesday of perpetrating torture
and "barbaric acts" in 1993, when he was part of a rebel group
known as the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy
(ULIMO) active during the conflict.
One of his lawyers, Maryline Secci, told Reuters in an email
on Thursday that she would appeal the sentence.
Kamara has maintained his innocence.
The Paris Criminal Court that delivered its judgement
also accused him of complicity in crimes against humanity
committed in 1994, the Paris anti-terrorism prosecution office
said.
Liberia endured conflicts that killed around 250,000 people
between 1989 and 2003, when ex-president Charles Taylor, who
seized power in a coup that sparked the rebellion, stepped down.
Thousands of people were mutilated and raped in fighting
that involved drugged fighters and child soldiers conscripted by
warlords.
A commission was set up in 2006 to probe crimes committed
during the war, but critics say its findings have been largely
not implemented.
Convictions have been rare and all prosecutions for serious
crimes have taken place outside Liberia, rights groups say.
Kamara was arrested in 2018 after an NGO brought his case to
the attention of French authorities. His trial was the first in
France involving grave crimes committed abroad that are not
linked to the Rwandan genocide.
It was possible because France recognises universal
jurisdiction over certain serious crimes, allowing for
prosecution regardless of where or by whom the act was
committed.
"The French court's verdict is a ray of hope that justice is
possible for the victims in Liberia," associate international
justice director at Human Rights Watch, Elise Keppler, said in a
statement.
During the four-week trial, witnesses described killings,
rapes, beatings and torture by members of ULIMO, which fought
against Taylor's army.
Another ULIMO member, Alieu Kosiah, was sentenced to 20
years in jail in Switzerland last year, while Taylor was
sentenced for war crimes in 2012, but only for acts in
neighbouring Sierra Leone. His son, Chuckie, was sentenced for
torture in Liberia by a U.S. court in 2009.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel in Paris;
Writing by Sofia Christensen;
Editing by James Macharia Chege and Bernadette Baum)
((Sofia.Christensen@thomsonreuters.com;))