Martina Johnson
Facts
Faction | NPFL |
Nationality | Liberian |
Period of Activity | First Liberian Civil War |
Indictment | War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity |
Status | Conditional release |
Resources
Press Releases
External links
- JusticeInfo.Net (2020) – LIBERIA WAR CRIMES: BELGIAN INVESTIGATORS DRAG FEET ON MARTINA JOHNSON
- The Guardian (2014) – Martina Johnson’s Liberian war crimes trial is a milestone in quest for justice
- APNews (2014) – Belgium arrests Liberian ex-rebel commander
- Armed Groups and International Law Blog (2014) – Interview with Luc Walleyn, victims’ representative in the case against Martina Johnson
Martina Johnson is a former front line commander of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL). She was arrested in 2014 on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the First Liberian Civil War. She was arrested in Belgium, country where she resided since 2003.
This was the very first time an alleged Liberian perpetrator is criminally charged for crimes under international law committed in Liberia during the first civil war.
Liberian victims implicate Martina Johnson as having participated directly in mutilation and mass killings in late 1992 during the “Operation Octopus”, an infamous military offensive by the Charles Taylor’s NPFL on the capital Monrovia.
She was placed on conditional release shortly after her arrest. Belgian authorities still need to investigate on the ground.