French justice on Wednesday sentenced former Liberian rebel commander Kunti Kamara to 30 years of imprisonment, tried on appeal for acts of barbarism and complicity in crimes against humanity during the first civil war in Liberia (1989-1997). . This former commander was part of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy (Ulimo), which fought against Charles Taylor’s rival militia.
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Kunti Kamara had been sentenced to life imprisonment at first instance in Paris, at the end of 2022, at the end of an unprecedented trial which was held under the “universal jurisdiction” exercised by France, under certain conditions, to judge the most serious crimes committed outside its soil .
After three weeks of appeal proceedings, the 49-year-old man was found guilty on Wednesday of a series of “inhumane acts of torture and barbarity” against civilians in 1993-1994, including the ordeal inflicted on a teacher whose he would have eaten the heart, the killing of a woman described as a “witch” and forced marches imposed on the population.
According to the verdict rendered after more than eight hours of deliberation, this former Ulimo commander was also found guilty of having facilitated crimes against humanity through his indifference to the repeated rapes committed against two teenage girls who became sex slaves for soldiers under his authority in 1994.
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The court did not follow the requests of the public prosecutor, who had requested life imprisonment for acts of “ exceptional gravity for which Kunti Kamara is responsible “. Attorney General Myriam Fillaud stressed Monday that the accused exercised “ a power of command » and that he had not demonstrated “ no repentance “. She insisted on the need to “ fight against impunity regardless of borders » and asked the jurors to address “ a message to torturers around the world (…) France is not the last refuge of criminals against humanity “.
When the sentence was announced, the accused, a small figure huddled in a black down jacket, remained impassive.
Commanding officer
His lawyers, Marilyne Secci and Renaud Gannat, pleaded for his acquittal by attacking “ poverty » of the investigation and to “ the supremacy that we want to give to testimonies, 30 years later “, in “ the absence of concrete material evidence “. “ The court heard our arguments ” since the sentence is less than in first instance, they reacted on Wednesday, ” but we continue to support our client’s position which is to affirm that he did not commit the crimes for which he was convicted “.
It’s a decision historical » in a trial for a crime against humanity other than genocide, welcomed Me Sabrina Delattre, lawyer for Civitas Maxima and eight Liberian civil parties. She is “ important for the victims and the civil parties who for the second time were heard and believed “, It is “ a recognition of the guilt of the facts which is, in mirror image, a recognition of what they experienced “. It is also because the objective was “ to obtain justice that they do not obtain in their country », adds Me Delattre.
For us, what was really important was that there could be this trial, in conditions which are, in my opinion, quite exemplary. (…) The whole process was remarkably carried out. So yes, of course, it’s satisfying. Not only has justice been delivered to the victims, but what all the Liberians came to tell us in court is that it really has an impact.
Alain Werner, director of the NGO Civitas Maxima
Kunti Kamara had obtained political asylum in the Netherlands. He was then arrested in the Paris region in September 2018 after a complaint from the NGO Civitas Maxima. His name arose in the mid-2010s as part of proceedings initiated in Switzerland against another Ulimo executive, Alieu Kosiah. The latter was sentenced in June 2023 to 20 years in prison by a Swiss court which, for the first time, upheld the charge of crimes against humanity.
In Paris during his appeal trial, Kunti Kamara once again proclaimed his innocence. Several victims and witnesses from Liberia have, on the contrary, certified that he was indeed the “CO Kundi” – “CO” for “commanding officer” – who contributed to the reign of terror in the north of the country which had fallen into the hands of the Ulimo in the early 1990s, particularly in Lofa County.
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