Is it necessary to deny everything if one is accused of international crimes? OPINION. They are accused – and convicted – of war crimes and crimes against humanity in West Africa, but do not recognize them, even partially, explains lawyer Alain Werner. Unless their lawyer, like François Roux, accompanies them on the path of asking […]
This month’s round-up highlights diverse international cases, including the trial of 11 men for a 2009 massacre in Guinea and a groundbreaking petition in Indonesia seeking to hold Myanmar’s junta accountable for human rights abuses. Notable arrests and trials related to war crimes also unfold across various regions.
Martina Johnson was allegedly involved in mutilations and mass killings during the first Liberian Civil War. Thirty years later, Johnson has yet to stand trial. In October 1992, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) forced hundreds of mostly intoxicated child soldiers to attack Liberia’s Capital Monrovia. They were part of “Operation Octopus”, a four-month-long […]
The plaintiffs were four survivors of the ruthless mass killing at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church on 29 July 1990. The church, adorned with Red Cross and UN flags, served as a shelter while it continued its religious services before it became the site of an inhumane massacre.
Momentum for Justice in Liberia On Wednesday April 7, 2021, a Finnish court concluded the Gibril Massaquoi case hearings in Monrovia, Liberia, which began on February 23. 21 days of hearings, during which 55 witnesses were heard and interrogated by Finnish prosecutors and defense lawyers. Gibril Massaquoi, former RUF (Revolutionary United Front) spokesman and commander, has been charged […]
The Case of Liberian Child Soldiers There are a number of international legal instruments intended to safeguard children. These include the UN Declaration on the Rights of Children, stating that “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care”, as well as the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the two […]
The Massaquoi trial Q&A The Finnish trial of Sierra Leonean national, Gibril Massaquoi, started in February in Finland but hearings of victims and witnesses will be conducted by Finnish judges in Liberia and then in Sierra Leone. This trial is spurring a lot of discussion and debate, not only because it sits within the broader […]
This article first appeared on LeTemps on the 8th of February 2021. How far should suspected war criminals who denounce others be protected? Finland has decided Gibril Massaquoi, who the press has dubbed “the Judas of Sierra Leone”, did not see his own arrest coming, having so masterfully caused the arrest of his former brothers […]
Finland has demonstrated its support for the victims and for the fight against impunity Liberia was the theater of one of Africa’s most brutal conflicts – the first and second civil wars of 1989-1997 and 1999-2003, respectively. The wars not only destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Liberians, but eventually spilled into neighboring […]
Liberian history in the making: groundbreaking decision regarding Gibril Massaquoi’s trial An international war crimes trial has commenced in Finland today, in the Pirkanmaa District Court, concerning atrocity crimes allegedly committed and incited by Gibril Massaquoi in far-away Liberia. Unlike most war crimes trials in front of domestic courts, which are de-facto very distant from the time […]
