March 10, 2023 [Liberia] Day 28: Women raped in Kamatahun
Civilian 22
Prosecution questions the witness
The witness began his testimony by recounting that the war first arrived in Kamatahun Hassala in 2001 to 2002. Civilian 22’s family was in Sierra Leone, but he had stayed. Soldiers forced them to build a bridge, but as they were working on it, other soldiers attacked. On that day, there were many commanders present in Kamatahun, including 50 and Stanley. The witness explained that Kamatahun is really close to Sierra Leone, and that there were plenty of roads that crossed there, including a road in the bush, which was used by Stanley as well.
Civilian 22 recounted how many people had been killed in Kamatahun. A house had been burned with people inside it – those who died were all from different villages, not from Kamatahun. He added that the RUF soldiers and the government soldiers “were almost one people.” Civilian 22 said there was also another commander, Angel Gabriel. One day seven women were brought to Kamatahun. Once there, they got them naked, they tied them, and Angel Gabriel ordered to kill them. They were taken to the blacksmith kitchen, where they were murdered: before that, they had been crying, and after that, there was silence. The witness explained that him and other civilians buried the bodies sometime after, as the war was going on. For example, Zigzag Marzah had killed more people in other parts of town. He added: “That was my home, and I was forced to be there with them.” The witness stated that the soldiers looted zinc from Kamatahun and took it to Sierra Leone.
Asked how the witness knew that the people who had been burned in the house were from different villages, the witness explained that even though they were all from different villages, they all belonged to the same ethnicity, and he had known them.
Civilian 22 explained that he knew that RUF troops were present because they spoke differently than Liberian soldiers: Creole, and among themselves, Mende.
Regarding the burning of the house, he did not know how many people were burned, nor did he know why this happened. He didn’t know exactly who had burned it, as there were many commanders. He had not been close enough to see it happening, but he had seen, from the top of a hill, the smoke, the flames, and heard the people crying.
Regarding the incident that saw women being brought to Kamatahun, he reiterated that the commander who had given the order to kill them was Angel Gabriel, he had heard him himself, in Creole. He said that the soldiers and the women were in the house together, and he could hear the women crying. He knew the exact number because he saw them himself.
He knew of Angel Gabriel’s name in the same way that he knew other commander’s names, like Benjamin Yeaten aka 50.
The witness shared that children that had been murdered were taken near the blacksmith’s kitchen. He had not seen how the children had been killed them, but he regularly saw bodies of young children, rotting.
Defense questions Civilian 22
The witness described the hill from which he saw the house burning, He explained that after he saw the smoke and he heard the cries, he didn’t do anything, as he did not have any power – if he had any, none of this would have ever happened.
He knew that the year of the incident was 2001/2002 because LURD had attacked in 2001, and that nobody had told him that. The defense counsel pointed out that during the hearings at the lower court, the witness had said that he had been told that the events occurred in 2001. The witness responded he did not remember. He could also not remember exactly what season it had been when the house had been burned down. The defense counsel pointed out that during the first instance proceedings, Civilian 22 had said that it had been during planting season, in May. The witness explained that when LURD attacked they had been planting rice.
Civilian 22 said, unless he was making a mistake, that it took them about 1 week between the burning of the house and the burial of the remains. The defense pointed out that when the witness had spoken to the police, he had said that they buried them the day after. Civilian 22 responded that he did not remember exactly, but that they had dug a hole and put them all in it.
He could not say for how long Angel Gabriel had been in Kamatahun for, as he had left him there. Civilian 22 stated that sometimes Angel Gabriel would come and go, but so did the witness, as the soldiers forced him to go to other villages and come back. He estimated that he had seen Angel Gabriel from a week to a month. The defense pointed out that during the lower court proceedings, the witness had said that he had seen him for three months. The witness answered saying this is why he had given an estimation, as he couldn’t really tell for how long.
He could not really remember an organization called LAPS coming to Kamatahun after the war, but he remembered that someone from the TRC had come to tell them to “forget” what had happened there. They had not asked them any questions; they had just come and talk to them as a group. The witness pointed out that maybe the people from the TRC had spoken to the elders, but not with him nor others.
Civilian 22 had showed the burial of the women to white people twice, but he had also learned that white people had come once to see the burial when he had been at the mosque.
He said that he had not really talked about what had happened during the war to anyone, besides when he had been younger and people were lecturing him about the past, and when white people came to question him. He did not know at the time that those people were from Finland, and they had come with a drone to film.
On the matter of what type of clothing Angel Gabriel’s soldiers were wearing, Civilian 22 responded that not everyone was using a uniform: sometimes you could see some wearing them, others were wearing navy-blue t-shirts.
Civilian 40
Prosecution questions the witness
The witness explained that in 2001-2002, Kamatahun was attacked by LURD forces. Of GOL, there were many commanders, like Stanley, and 50. He was taken by LURD forces to Popalahun, and then back to Kamatahun. Once back there, soldiers had ordered the civilians to form a line. Angel Gabriel, who was a commander, told his soldiers to kill a boy who had been in the line with the witness. Civilian 40 stated that the soldiers took the heart out. They were then ordered to carry loads to Vahun, and those who could not were put in a house. The house was then burned.
Civilian 40 stated that Angel Gabriel was the commander of the government troops, and that Stanley and 50 were not there when these orders were given. His soldiers were from Sierra Leone, he knew that because they spoke Creole and Mende. He learned about his name because before he gave orders, Angel Gabriel called it out. The witness had heard Angel Gabriel ordering his troops to kill the boy from the line – he couldn’t say why he had been killed, just that “they used to kill the people for no reason.” The boy had his throat slit, and his heart taken out – the heart was then taken to Angel Gabriel.
The witness shared an episode where women were taken to jail. The women were stripped and he heard them crying – Civilian 40 shared that he thought they were being raped. He stated that Angel Gabriel gave the order, as he was the commander at the time. He thought that because “any woman you the man you naked a woman and you carry her in the room and she’s crying its true you are raping that woman.” They had been carried to the blacksmith’s kitchen – he had seen the bodies the day after, passing by. He did not want to describe how the women had been killed – but the Court insisted for the witness to describe what he saw. Civilian 40 shared that some appeared to have been beaten, and some others had sticks shoved in their vaginas.
Regarding the incident where the house was burned down, Civilian 40 stated that he had seen and heard Angel Gabriel giving the order. He could not estimate how many people had been inside, about 40 or 50.
The witness had only heard Angel Gabriel speak Creole and did not know if he had any other names.
Civilian 40 confirmed that he had also carried loads to Vahun, including ammunition. Any of the soldiers could have ordered civilians to carry loads, including small boys. The reason why civilians were moved was to do forced labor.
Defense questions the witness
Civilian 40 explained that first they had killed the 7 women, then the house was burned. The defense told the witness that during the lower court hearings, Civilian 40 had said that Angel Gabriel had put people in a house and ordered it to be burned, and his soldiers were standing by so that nobody could escape. The witness responded that this is how things had happened. He had also shared, during the first instance proceedings, that the house had been burned before the women had been killed, the next day. Civilian 40 responded that he did not have a computer, and that he was recounting things as he remembered them happening.
Regarding the boy that had been killed, he had been a civilian, but accused by the soldiers of being LURD. About this, the witness had said to the police, in 2019, that Angel Gabriel had ordered for the LURD soldiers to be killed, and for his heart to be cut out. Witness 40 had said this because this is what they had accused the boy of being, but he did not know if that was true or not.
Regarding the women, he did not know which villages they were from exactly, just that they had been near Kamatahun. The defense pointed out that the witness had said that the women had been from a specific village, but he could not remember stating that. The defense also reported that the witness had said to the police that the women had been killed with gunshots, and some had their throats cut. Civilian 40 said he had never said that the women had been shot.
He could not remember how long Angel Gabriel was in Kamatahun for, just that he had been there for a long time. The witness had ran away from Kamatahun, but returned there after the war ended, in 2003-2004.
To end the testimony, the witness described the soldiers as wearing yellow t-shirts, with “navy group” written on it.
