March 2, 2023 [Liberia] Day 23: Kamatahun Hassala hearings begin
[editor’s note: closed brackets contain notes helping to clarify the text, they do not appear in the original testimony]
Witness Civilian 36 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 36
The prosecution began their questioning by asking about Civilian 36’s background during Liberia’s wars. Civilian 36 testified that he was living in Kiantahun. At the time, there was fighting in the area around his village, where Sierra Leonean and Liberian fighters, as part of government forces and the RUF, were fighting LURD rebels. Civilian 36 testified that there were no soldiers stationed in Kiantahun, but he saw government troops as well as RUF rebels there together.
Civilian 36 testified about an incident that took place in Kiantahun. Before beginning his testimony, he relayed to the court that recounting the story was “like pouring salt in the wounds”. The witness described how RUF rebels were hunting them, killing many people. Their commander, Gibril Massaquoi, gathered a lot of people together, took them to Kamatahun and burned them. Gibril Massaquoi was one of the RUF rebels. Civilian 36 had seen him himself in Kiantahun, and learned his name from his soldiers. Civilian 36 was not captured, but his sister was captured in Kiantahun and taken to Kamatahun – she had escaped, and told him what happened when she had returned. The witness recounted how his sister told him that the people were going to be burned. She had not seen the people being burned herself, but had later heard that the people that had been captured were indeed burned in Kamatahun.
According to Civilian 36, over forty people were taken from Kiantahun to Kamatahun that day. In addition to his sister, his wife was among those that were taken from Kiantahun to Kamatahun. His wife, however, was burned in Kamatahun. He estimated that the events took place in 2001 or 2002, when there was fighting all over. He further estimated that it occurred in August, on a Monday, as he recalled that he was on his way to do laundry. He did not however have a particular day that he did his laundry.
The witness further testified that the soldiers entering Kiantahun believed that the villagers were Muslims and that their guns would not work against them. For that reason, they collected people to burn them. He stated that Gibril Massaquoi was there, and he heard him giving orders to capture people. Civilian 36 described Massaquoi as speaking Krio, and that his soldiers called him Chief Gibril and Gibril. As the soldiers left Kiantahun with the people that had been captured, Massaquoi went with them to Kamatahun. After the people had been captured, Civilian 36 escaped to the bush.
The defense questions Civilian 36
The defense began by asking Civilian 36 about the names of other soldiers that were present in Kiantahun. According to Civilian 36, Gibril Massaquoi used many names, including ‘I Want to See Light’. He had three different names. The defense pointed out that in the lower court, the witness had testified that Massaquoi used the name ‘Second to God’. Civilian 36 responded that “this story will never end”, explaining that he may forget some things and remember other things each time he is asked to talk about the same events. According to Civilian 36, Massaquoi also had a Mende boy with him called Ansu, who was killed in Kamatahun. The defense pointed out that Civilian 36 had testified in the lower court that amongst the soldiers were Stanley, Zig Zag and Jalloh. The witness confirmed this, adding that these soldiers burned a house in Kiantahun. The defense also pointed out that he had told the lower court that Gibril and his bodyguards were speaking Mende instead of Krio. Civilian 36 responded that those two are both languages of Sierra Leone and Gibril Massaquoi and his men spoke both.
The defense then referred to when Civilian 36 had said to the lower court that over twenty people were taken from Kiantahun to Kamatahun. He responded that he had initially thought so, but as he had taken a look at a list, he realized that the number was much bigger. Civilian 36 testified that he cannot read or write, so he told his brother, who had gone to an Arabic school, to write a list of the people who had been taken to Kamatahun based on names that he gave him orally. He stated that he returned from exile in 2003, and this occurred in 2004. When the defense asked the witness if he could provide the list, he refused, stating that “whenever I hear names on that list or see names on that list, the tears come. I keep it hidden, for my future and for my children”. He accepted, however, to go back and submit a photograph of the list to the court.
According to Civilian 36, soldiers came to Kiantahun in the early morning. The defense referred to the police investigation, where Civilian 36 had given the precise date of August 13, pointing out that he had told the police that he could not remember the year, but now in the court of appeals had placed the events in 2001 or 2002. Civilian 36 responded that his cousin told him the date, month and the time of day after his police interview. He did not know whether his cousin had been interviewed for this trial, but stated that he was a school teacher and had been involved with Plan International.
Civilian 36 knew Civilian 50, saying that he is a farmer and lives in Kiantahun. He stated that they had discussed the incident, including the date August 13.
Next, Civilian 36 testified that he saw a boy being killed in front of the house of [REDACTED], where he is now buried. He was put on a mattress and burned. When the defense raised that he had said at the lower court that the boy was killed with a knife, Civilian 36 responded that there were two boys with the same name. One of them was killed on a mattress and the other was killed with a knife. Both of these killings took place in Kiantahun. When asked why he had not mentioned the other boy in the lower court, Civilian 36 responded that he had forgotten. The defense further pointed out that Civilian 36 had told the police that no one was killed in Kiantahun. Civilian 36 testified that this was an error, since people were in fact killed in Kiantahun: “they killed my brothers and they killed my people, then I will say they didn’t kill anybody?” According to Civilian 36, another of his cousins was killed in Kolahun.
Next, Civilian 36 gave the names of some of the people he knew that were killed in Kamatahun, including his mothers and two of his uncles. He explained that people in Africa might have two wives and if two brothers are married to different women, but they all live in the same house, both women can be called mothers. Civilian 36 confirmed that the other woman he had referred to as his mother was the wife of his uncle. Civilian 36 explained that his wife that he had described as having escaped from Kamatahun was his first wife, and after her death, he had got remarried to have two wives.
According to Civilian 36, his child also died in relation to the incident in Kiantahun. This child died in the bush, as he had “no support.” The defense referred to the lower court testimony, where the witness had testified that the child was with his mother. Civilian 36 repeated that the child was with him in the bush.
According to Civilian 36, there is a chalk board in Kiantahun. He could not say whether a date had been written on that chalk board, as it is in a school, and he had not been there.
Next, there was a lengthy discussion as to how the witness had been contacted by the Finnish authorities. Civilian 36 did not know anyone named Employee 1 or Interpreter 4. He did not know why Employee 1 had noted down his information in April 2019.
Finally, it was pointed out that the witness identified someone other than the defendant as Gibril Massaquoi from the series of photographs presented to him at his police interview.
Witness Civilian 43 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 43
The prosecution began by asking Civilian 43 where she had lived during the wars in Liberia. Civilian 43 testified that she is from Lofa and lived there during the war. There were soldiers from multiple groups in her village. The leader was Gabriel, Gibril Massaquoi. Civilian 43 learned this name as the soldiers came into their village and killed their people. Gabriel was the leader, everyone else was government troops. Civilian 43 was present in the village when the soldiers came. She testified to seeing the bodyguards of Angel Gabriel kill her parents and saying to bring other people outside the village back to the village.
The witness testified that Angel Gabriel and Gibril Massaquoi were the same person. She described how she was captured and put in a circle with other people. Gibril Massaquoi stood up and asked the people who had been captured whether they knew his name. “I can’t forget that name till I die”. She also explained that she heard the name Angel Gabriel during the war, and that he was the leader of the group that came to their village.
According to Civilian 43, it was Gabriel Massaquoi’s group that killed her parents. She described how she heard shooting before she came outside the house. The witness confirmed hearing Gabriel Massaquoi ordering his soldiers to kill people. Her parents had been killed before she and others came outside the house. As they came outside, they were tied and beaten by the soldiers. Many people were captured, they were beaten.
Civilian 43 described being taken to Kamatahun first. On their way, they passed by six different towns and in each town, more people were captured and added to the group. The leader, Gibril Massaquoi, came with them to Kamatahun. According to Civilian 43, he spoke Sierra Leonean English. There were multiple groups of soldiers and leaders, but Civilian 43 and the others were only under the control of Massaquoi’s group. She could not remember the names of any other soldiers or leaders that day, estimating that she was 5 or 6 years old at the time.
The witness then described what happened when they got to Kamatahun. When they got there, she saw people in a house with a tarpaulin roof. The people in the house were crying and the soldiers were saying that they would kill them all. As Civilian 43’s group was on the road later, they saw a building on fire and people crying next to it. They sat down and joined another group, this other group told them that “their turn would come tomorrow”. After the people had been burned, Civilian 43’s group continued to Vahun and Yandehun. She could tell that people were being burned, as she heard crying and shouting inside the house. There were soldiers surrounding the house. The witness confirmed that she heard the screams herself and saw the house on fire. She had not seen it being lit on fire, but her group was tied up in a line on the road next to the house.
Civilian 43 testified that Gabriel Massaquoi gave the order to burn the house. She did not hear him give the order, but stated that he was the leader of the group and they did whatever he told them to. She explained that he said that he was ‘Next to God’, and had heard him say this when she was tied up with the other people that had been captured. According to Civilian 43, he said “Anything I want to do I will do it, even if there’s no small soldier around”.
Civilian 43 repeated that as the house was burning, she was sat in front of it tied to the other people that had been captured in a chain. The group spent the night in Kamatahun. After Kamatahun, they were taken to Vahun, Popalahun, Yandehun and finally to Foya. They were being transported by the same group of soldiers.
Next, the witness described her escape. A woman who took pity on her, as a young child, took her to be hidden with a group of people that were hiding. This woman told another woman to escape with the witness at night and to take her through the bush back to her village.
According to Civilian 43, when they entered Kamatahun, Gibril Massaquoi was there and told them that his people were still inside the house and that he would burn the house. After that, the group saw the house on fire and heard people crying. Civilian 43 testified that the soldiers entered her village just before the sun came up, and there had not been any soldiers or fighting nearby before that day. The witness was not sure whether the war had been ongoing in Lofa before that morning. She clarified that her village, from where she had been taken, is called Kparwohun. The witness also clarified that the group of people that had been captured was not next to the house that was on fire, but was taken up a hill and could see the building on fire below. Angel Gabriel was not with them on the hill, he stayed by the house and small soldiers had taken them to the hill.
The defense questions Civilian 43
The defense began by asking about Civilian 43’s age at the time of this incident. She responded that she was 5 or 6 years old, but does not have a birth certificate, so is not certain how old she is. Civilian 43 remembered having told the Finnish police that she did not know her age at the time, since all those who were supposed to know her age had died. Civilian 43 testified that she woke up to shooting as soldiers entered the village early in the morning. As they heard the gunshots, her mother told them to get up. Her parents went to the door first and they were killed. Civilian 43 named some other people close to her that were killed during this attack on the village. She stated that she was so young at the time that she could not tell the difference between different relatives and friends in the community. She confirmed that her uncle and his wife/wives were also killed.
Next, there was a discussion as to the names that Civilian 43 had used to describe the leader of the group. According to Civilian 43, Gibril Massaquoi himself told his name to the crowd that had been put in the circle. She could not remember the name she had told the Finnish police during her interview. According to the defense, who also played an extract of her police interview, she had used the name Chief Gabriel, and the name Angel Michael before the lower court. The witness denied this, stating that perhaps the police had misunderstood her, but that she may have used the name Angel Michael. Civilian 43 then asserted that “the person who captured us was Angel Gabriel Massaquoi”.
Civilian 43 knew Kamatahun to be Kamatahun Hassala. She confirmed that it was daytime when they saw the house burning from the hill. The hill was not far from the building, it was located right before the entrance to Kamatahun. The house that was burned had a tarp roof. She testified that some of the people who had been captured went back down to the village afterwards, but did not go near the burned house. The witness could not say whether other buildings were burned in Kamatahun. She stated that when she returned after the war, she saw buildings that had been burned and broken into.
According to Civilian 43, child soldiers were using a name Charge the Bush at the time of the incident, but she could not remember what it meant. The defense pointed out that she had said in her police interview that Charge the Bush was the person who set the building on fire. Civilian 43 testified that she was not involved with Charge the Bush, as she was under the control of Angel Gabriel Massaquoi’s group. The defense further pointed out that Civilian 43 had said that Charge the Bush was one of Angel Gabriel’s bodyguards and that took her as a wife, which she denied.
On her escape, Civilian 43 testified that the woman who had taken pity on her showed her an older woman that she was to follow, and they escaped together towards Sierra Leone. They hid in the bush and slept in farm kitchens. Civilian 43 ended up in Mano Junction, Sierra Leone. The defense pointed out that Civilian 43 had told the police that she met a Kissi man and walked to Buedu, Sierra Leone. Civilian 43 responded that that was the same thing, as Buedu is also in Sierra Leone. She saw the Kissi man for the first time during the war and he went back home. The defense pointed out that she had told the police that she was assaulted on her way and the Kissi man died. The witness responded that she did not have knowledge of this.
Next, the defense asked Civilian 43 if she had ever seen Gabriel, Zigzag Marzah and Stanley together, which she denied. She was also asked about a situation where Gabriel had called a woman to him and said that she is going to be eaten. Civilian 43 responded that she did not know of such an event and could not remember saying so to the Finnish police. The defense further referred to the police interview, where Civilian 43 had said that upon hearing this, she and other women started to cry, that they did not see the killing took place, but saw the woman cut in pieces, that the body parts were sold and that Zigzag Marzah and Stanley were also present. Civilian 43 maintained that she had not witnessed such a thing. She stated that she had only told the police that she was on a farm and the commander, Angel Gabriel Massaquoi, came and took them to Kolahun.
Finally, the defense asked Civilian 43 how she had been contacted by the police. She explained that she met them when they came to her village. The police said they were looking for people, who’d had bad things happen to them during the war. Their leader was Interpreter 4, a Gbandi man, who told them to go to Kolahun and speak about their experiences. Civilian 43 relayed her experiences to Interpreter 4, a white woman and a white man. Civilian 43 had spoken about her experiences with the village chief before talking to the Finnish police. She stated that when she had spoken with the village chief, she had not used the names Gibril, Gibril Massaquoi, Angel, or Angel Michael, but Angel Gabriel Massaquoi. According to Civilian 43, the village chiefs were aware of what had happened to her before Interpreter 4 and the white people came.
Civilian 43 could not estimate how long it had been since the incident. She has no birth certificate. She was living in Bolahun when Interpreter 4 asked her to go to Kolahun for an interview. She could not estimate how old she is now.
It was pointed out that the witness did not identify Gibril Massaquoi from the series of photographs presented to her at her police interview.
Witness Civilian 50 is heard
The prosecution questions Civilian 50
The prosecution began by asking Civilian 50 where he had lived during the war in Liberia. Civilian 50 testified that he lived in Kiantahun village, Kolahun district, Lofa county.
He went on to describe an incident in April 2001, when soldiers came and killed an old man and took another man to Popalahun. That same Saturday, soldiers burned ten kitchens and two houses. Since that April, Civilian 50 and others ran “from one place to another”. They returned to Kiantahun in August. On 13 August 2001, Civilian 50’s son died and he went to a cemetery to bury him. As he was returning from the cemetery, a rebel group attacked Kiantahun. This group was a mixture of RUF and NPFL troops. Everyone in the village was captured. According to Civilian 50, one man said in Mende that they would kill all the people who had been captured. They started to tie up the men one after the other, but he himself was tied less tightly than the others. He described being hit on his head with the butt of a gun, from which he still has a visible scar.
Next, the witness explained that they were told that they would be taken to Kamatahun Hassala. They took bush roads from one village to another. In Kiantahun, there was a man who called himself Halagie Rebel. Once they got to Kamatahun, they slept there. The next morning, a group of soldiers came up to them and began introducing themselves. The next morning, the soldiers said that they would kill them all immediately. Civilian 50 explained that during this time he had interacted with the rebels and they had figured out that he could read and write. Before they had entered the village where the rebels were planning to burn them, Massaquoi introduced himself. Zigzag Marzah was also there. As they were putting people inside a house, one of the rebels called Civilian 50 out. The rebels wanted him as their secretary to keep statistics. Civilian 50 was brought an “academic weapon”, a pencil. He described watching as all the others were locked inside a house, the rebels set the house on fire and everyone inside was burned alive. Civilian 50 told the court that every time he has to remember these events, “it is like an old wound that is struck again with a knife and opened up again”.
According to Civilian 50, after his people had been burned alive, he moved with the rebels from one place to another, until they crossed the border to Sierra Leone. He explained that some of the group that was taken to Kamatahun managed to escape on the way, but that he was the only person that was taken all the way to Kamatahun who survived.
The soldiers that came to Kiantahun in April 2001 were comprised of RUF and Charles Taylor’s men. Civilian 50 understood the Sierra Leoneans speaking in Mende saying that they would kill them. He testified that the whole of Lofa county was at war at that point. He described how fighting in Lofa began in 2000, when RUF troops came to Voinjama and went back to Sierra Leone. The RUF and Taylor’s forces were fighting against Liberians, against LURD. He explained that in 2001, LURD was in Kolahun/Kulbah City, and the RUF/Taylor’s troops came to Kiantahun to fight against them. Civilian 50 speculated that they came to Kiantahun because the population in the village was Muslim, and that the soldiers believed that their weapons would not work against them, which is why they were taken to Kamatahun to be burned. According to Civilian 50, the route they took from Kiantahun to Kamatahun Hassala was not the shortest route, they took detours through different villages.
According to Civilian 50, the man speaking Mende in Kiantahun, who said that they would be all killed, was called Halagie Rebel. He was part of the RUF. The witness then showed the scar on his head to the court.
Civilian 50 further testified that the soldiers that came to Kamatahun Hassala the next morning were mostly RUF members who came from Vahun and Popalahun. According to Civilian 50, Massaquoi had not been in Kiantahun, they met him in Kamatahun. He explained that he figured out that he was a high-ranking officer from the way the other soldiers respected him. Massaquoi was surrounded by his soldiers when he introduced himself. The witness estimated that he did so to make them afraid of him. Civilian 50 knew that he was Sierra Leonean from the way that he spoke.
According to Civilian 50, Massaquoi was there when the building was set on fire: “that was their agreement, the RUF and Charles Taylor”. He stated that Massaquoi himself did not set the building on fire, but gave orders when the house was burned. While Civilian 50 did not hear him give the order, he testified that Massaquoi was in charge of the situation as one of the commanders. The witness continued, stating: “If I was a commander in a time of war and my subordinates did something I didn’t want them to do, I would stop them from doing it. But if I just shut up, then I’m responsible for what they do”. The witness did not know the namesof the soldiers that set the house on fire.He was not aware who the most senior commander was, but according to him, both Zigzag and Massaquoi were there when the house was burned.
Civilian 50 could not estimate the number of people that were burned inside the house. The prosecution showed him a piece of written evidence of a list of names. Civilian 50 recognized the list, he had written it during his hearing before the lower court. The witness explained that the names he’d written down were of the people who, on August 13, were captured, taken away, and killed. Those who had managed to escape were not on the list.
When asked whether he had witnessed other violence, he responded: “Whenever there’s a war, there’s a lot of destruction”. In Kamatahun Hassala, soldiers went to the bush and captured people, killing some and taking others to Sierra Leone.
The witness then described, in detail, the location of the house that had been burned, explaining that it was on the right side of the road coming from Popalahun.
According to Civilian 50, men, women and children were taken from Kiantahun to Kamatahun Hassala. He explained that around the time the house was burned, there were multiple occasions where women from Kiantahun and other places in the bush were raped in Kamatahun Hassala. According to Civilian 50, soldiers were “using their power” on them, and he heard shouting. Some of them were RUF and some of them were Charles Taylor’s soldiers. When asked about Massaquoi’s role, the witness reiterated the point that he had made earlier that a commander is responsible for what his unit does. He thought that Massaquoi was aware of what his soldiers were doing to the women, as he did not see him do anything to prevent it.
The witness testified that when he came to Kamatahun Hassala, he was there for a few days and it was chaos. Civilian 50 left with the rebels to Popalahun and then Sierra Leone, estimating that he reached Sierra Leone that same year. Civilian 50 remembered the date August 13 2001, because he had written it on a chalkboard on a wall. It was located in a house that had a separate room for the chalkboard. He had written the date down “so that the day would be remembered, because the soldier had said we’re going to kill you all”.
The defense questions Civilian 50
The defense began by asking Civilian 50 about the first time he saw Zigzag Marzah. The witness responded that he saw him in Popalahun, and people were talking about him. He also saw him again in the same place after the ‘massacre’. He testified that Zigzag killed people in front of him and ate some of their hearts. Zigzag also killed Civilian 50’s older biological brother. The defense pointed out that he had not mentioned that Zigzag had killed his older brother in previous hearings. The witness replied that if he could speak his mother tongue Gbandi to the court, he could explain the situation much better.
The defense also pointed out that Civilian 50 had only used the name Massaquoi at his police interview and did not use that name at all the last time he was in court. Civilian 50 explained that the man had two names, Angel Gabriel and Gibril, both being the same Massaquoi, and exclaimed that he did not see the issue as important. The witness used a well-known parable to explain his point: “if you tie the rope on the goat or bring the goat to tie the rope, is it not the same goat?”.
According to Civilian 50, the house was burned during the day. The soldiers wore mixed clothing, some had soldier trousers, some had berets, some were wearing ordinary clothes. Civilian 50 also clarified that he had not meant that soldiers forced themselves onto women. According to him, whenever there is war, women may be too afraid to resist, or they might think that when the soldiers have them, they will set them free later. Nevertheless, some of them were “used and killed”.
The defense pointed out that the last time he was in court, Civilian 50 had said that he was scared to use the name Massaquoi. The witness denied this. He asked why the same issue was being asked repeatedly, and reasserted that the same person had two names, just as he himself answered to different names on different days.
Civilian 50 testified that he did not go to Sierra Leone with soldiers, but with other civilians. As he had been making documents for the soldiers, he asked them for permission to leave and they let him go to Sierra Leone. The defense pointed out that Civilian 50 had testified in the lower court that he had gone to Vahun with the soldiers and then further to Sierra Leone. Civilian 50 denied this, saying that he went to Vahun and Sierra Leone with civilians. The defense further pointed out that in the lower court, he had said that the soldiers had asked him to come back to Liberia. Civilian 50 responded that “I had crossed the border to heaven, why would I come back to a war zone?”. The witness then described how he went to a refugee camp in Sierra Leone. He met some of his relatives there and told them about his experience. A white woman from Geneva wanted to take his picture, but he refused.
Civilian 50 testified that he might know Civilian 36 from Kiantahun, but he could not remember. The day of the hearing, Civilian 50 had not met any other witnesses in the case. He had spent the previous night in Monrovia, and was brought there by the people he was testifying for. He came from Lofa, in a car with other people, but he did not know who they were or why they were travelling to Monrovia. According to Civilian 50, there were four people in the car, including the driver, Civilian 43 and Civilian 45. The defense pointed out that the court had heard Civilian 36 earlier that day and he had told the court that he knows Civilian 50 well. The witness replied that “knowing me is one thing, but maybe our way of interaction is not the same”. He denied discussing the date, August 13, with Civilian 36. Civilian 50 could not remember whether Civilian 36 had been in the Kiantahun group that was captured.
Civilian 50 testified that he had written the list of victims that the prosecution had presented to him in Kiantahun. After he had gone to Sierra Leone, he thought about what had happened and wrote the list. He did not write it in one sitting, as the names came to him across different days. The defense pointed out that the last time Civilian 50 was heard in court, it was agreed that he would write a list for the parties of the trial. According to Civilian 50, the list the prosecution had showed him was the one he had written in Kiantahun, as the one he had written in court contained less names.
The defense showed the same list the prosecution had shown again. Civilian 50 confirmed that he had written that list, but could not remember when he had done so. He also stated that he had written a list for the Finnish police, which contained about fifteen names. After giving the list to the police, Civilian 50 thought about the matter and wrote the longer list. The last time he had been in court, he had brought this longer list with him, but he had not brought it this time. The witness was asked to write another list for the appeals court. There was a further lengthy discussion as to when and where the witness had written each of the lists. The president of the court then offered the court’s position and asked the parties to move on with their questions. Civilian 50 finally testified that he had the shorter list he had given to the Finnish police with him when he was drafting the longer list.
Civilian 50 testified that he does not know Employee 1. He did not know how Employee 1 had received his contact information in April 2019, over half a year before his police interview.
According to Civilian 50, when the soldiers arrived to Kiantahun on August 13 2001, he got to Kamatahun on the same day.
It was pointed out that the witness identified someone other than the defendant as Massaquoi from the series of photographs presented to him at his police interview.
