March 16, 2023 [Liberia] Day 32: Child soldiers
Witness X4 is heard
The prosecution questions X4
The prosecution began by asking about X4’s participation in Liberia’s war. X4 testified that he was a child soldier under Charles Taylor. He was 13 years old in 2003 and was born on May 3, 1990. He fought in Montserrado, Monrovia during the war, in places like Freeport and Dwala. His general was General Shayray. The witness never found out who the enemy was, but the enemy was located in Dwala and they were trying to push them out of the harbor area. According to X4, the conflicts were called World Wars I, II and III and lasted until 2003. There were some foreign troops assisting President Taylor, who General Shayray told him were from Sierra Leone. X4 had gone with General Shayray to pick up a visiting general from Lofa, when he found out that he was a foreigner. This general’s name was Gibril Massaquoi. They picked him up from Voinjama in 2003. There were a lot of generals there, such as Benjamin Yeaten. They travelled to Voinjama by land, passing by lots of villages. X4 could only remember the name of Zorzor village as one of the villages that they travelled through. He could not remember where General Massaquoi was staying in Voinjama when they went to pick him up. They returned to Monrovia the same way, by land. General Massaquoi was first taken to White Flower, then by the Nigeria house and the radio station.
X4 learned the name General Gibril Massaquoi there, when it was announced that he was next in line from Benjamin Yeaten. He spoke in the same way Sierra Leoneans speak. X4 saw Massaquoi speak once, when an enemy fighter had been captured. Massaquoi came and killed him. The fighter was captured in Freeport and brought to Capitol Bypass, located near the University of Liberia. The witness confirmed that he witnessed Gibril Massaquoi kill the person himself. He could not remember the last time he saw Massaquoi. He had not heard or seen any news about Massaquoi being arrested in another country before he met one of the Finnish policemen. According to X4, General Massaquoi was also called Angel Gabriel. There were other soldiers from Sierra Leone in Monrovia during the war, but the witness only knew of Gibril Massaquoi.
The defense questions X4
The defense began by asking X4 about the time he went to pick up Massaquoi from Voinjama. X4 testified that he was told by General Shayray to go there. They went all the way to Voinjama town. Other soldiers went with them, such as General Gaddafi and Mosquito. X4 did not know General Mosquito’s real name. He spoke plain English but he couldn’t say whether he spoke with an accent or not. The defense pointed out that X4 had told the police that he was tasked to pick up Gibril Massaquoi from Kolahun, Lofa. He responded that he cannot remember all the details after 20 years. General Shayray, General Gaddafi and Benjamin Yeaten were Liberian. According to X4, Massaquoi was to be picked up so that he could help the President. As a child soldier, he was not given any additional information.
X4 testified that he knew about Sam Bockarie and the reason for picking up Gibril Massaquoi had something to do with his death. He could not remember Sam Bockarie’s war name. He could not remember the names of any other Sierra Leonean soldiers besides Gibril Massaquoi, as a child soldier he didn’t meet the more higher-ranking soldiers. The defense pointed out that the witness had told the police that he saw Massaquoi shoot two enemy fighters in Capitol Bypass. X4 responded that he could not remember the exact number of prisoners, but he could remember that Massaquoi killed a prisoner or multiple prisoners that day.
The witness then described how he was put in touch with the Finnish police. A friend of his had called and said that someone, Employee 1, wanted to contact him. Employee 1 then called him and said that there were people who wanted to talk to him about his experience as a child soldier. X4 gave the name of his friend to the court.
Finally, the witness testified that he heard Massaquoi speak when the captured enemy fighters were killed. Massaquoi told them to go and tell Jesus that Angel Gabriel sent them. This is how he learned the name Angel Gabriel.
It was pointed out that the witness identified the defendant as Gibril Massaquoi from the series of photographs presented to him at his police interview.
Witness X7 is heard
The prosecution questions X7
The prosecution began by asking about X7’s experience of the war in Liberia when Charles Taylor was in power. The witness testified that he had personal experience Charles Taylor’s rebellion and of the war in Sierra Leone. When Taylor arrived in 1990, X7 was in Lofa county, Voinjama. He and his father decided to go to Freetown, because his father was a soldier stationed at the border between Sierra Leone and Liberia. Before the war progressed, X7’s father was killed. He had two wives, so X7 moved to his stepmother’s home in Freetown. He stayed there until they heard that the RUF had come to Sierra Leone. X7 and his family were in Freetown when RUF arrived. He went into hiding because many people were being killed. His two sisters hid him in the house until one of them fell in love with a RUF general called Mohamed. She told Mohamed about the witness, who tried to get him to come out from hiding. He learned that X7 smoked and would bring him tobacco. Mohamed eventually managed to get him to come outside, and became like a brother to him.
Mohamed asked him what he could do and X7 told him that he used to work as driver. Mohamed told him that their chief had a Mercedes truck with no driver. The chief was called Gabriel. Two days later, Mohamed took the witness to see the truck so that he could drive goods to Lofa, Gbarnga and Monrovia. He went to see the truck, saw that it was in good condition, and by February 14, was on his way to Lofa. The chief had a place in Voinjama, called Tegboma Quarters. X7 would transport cocoa from Voinjama to Kailahun, Freetown and Guinea. In 2001, they came to Monrovia when Chief Gabriel came to meet Benjamin Yeaten and Charles Taylor. X7 testified that he was no chief himself, he was just a driver, but he was driving the truck. When they arrived in Monrovia, Gabriel had a Kissi girlfriend, who lived in Congo Town behind the Kiss FM radio station. They had a son. X7 testified that he was not present when Gabriel met with Charles Taylor and Benjamin Yeaten. The NPFL also used his truck and sometimes Benjamin Yeaten would ask for it to transport supplies to the front lines. X7 would drive to Koidu or Kailahun and would sometimes bring soldiers over to Freetown.
The witness testified that once, when Gabriel was in Tegboma, Voinjama, X7 went with Gabriel’s girlfriend and her friend to Voinjama, as they wanted to spend time with him. X7 left the women in Voinajma and went with Gabriel from Voinjama to Kolahun and Kailahun to the frontlines, and returned to Voinjama at night. The house in Voinjama had four bedrooms. One of the bedrooms was filled with arms and ammunition. A G4, a logistics person, was stationed in the house and took care of the room with the weapons. According to X7, the G4 had forgotten to lock the door and the two women had gone inside when searching for something to use for cooking. When they saw the weapons, they got scared. X7’s cousin had a Yamaha motorcycle at the house and was interested in Gabriel’s girlfriend. When the women discovered the weapons, they were scared because Gabriel used to beat his girlfriend. They asked X7’s cousin for help and he took them from Voinjama, to Zorzor and then to Gbarnga, where they spent almost two months before returning to Monrovia in March 2002.
X7 testified that he returned to Monrovia in March 2002 and Gabriel went to see Taylor and Yeaten. The witness was not present at the meeting. Another time in 2002, Gabriel and Yeaten had an argument because Yeaten wanted to use the truck. X7 had just driven a full day and a night and said that he was too tired to drive. Yeaten wanted to execute him, so the witness escaped and left the truck there. That was the last time he saw Gabriel.
According to the witness, Mohamed was one of the RUF generals and was under Gabriel. Gabriel was the spokesman for the RUF. X7 found out about Gabriel’s role in the RUF when Mohamed hired him to drive the truck. He also saw Gabriel multiple times on the BBC Focus on Africa program. He spent a lot of time with Gabriel, who was also called Angel Gabriel by the soldiers. Gabriel did not travel with X7 on the truck, he had his own jeep, but he often gave orders on where to drive. The witness received the truck in 2000 and began driving on February 14. He picked up the truck from Kailahun in Sierra Leone, where it had been parked. As of 2001, the NPFL was in control of the whole of Voinjama and Lofa area.
X7 confirmed that he came to Monrovia in 2001. They came to pick up cocoa and sandals for the soldiers to use. Gabriel Massaquoi came to meet Charles Taylor and Benjamin Yeaten in Monrovia, he was the RUF spokesman, the same person as Angel Gabriel. Most of his soldiers called him Angel Gabriel, but when he was interviewed on the BBC, he was Gabriel Massaquoi. They came to Monrovia in separate vehicles multiple times between 2000 and 2002. The last time was around the middle of 2002. At the time, there was fighting ongoing in the Cape Mount and Bomi direction. The was not fighting in central Monrovia at the time.
The witness further confirmed that Gabriel Massaquoi had a girlfriend in Congo Town, who used to cook for the soldiers and with whom he had a baby. X7 had met her multiple times. He found out about her and her friend visiting Gabriel in Voinjama, because they were with Gabriel in another vehicle while X7 was driving the truck in the same convoy. He continued with Gabriel to the frontlines when they had dropped the women off at the house in Voinjama. The witness did not go all the way the actual frontline, but dropped soldiers off nearby. Gabriel Massaquoi also came to the frontline when they were trying to reach Freetown in Sierra Leone. When he left, X7 left the truck to Monrovia, Congo Town, in front of Charles Taylor’s house. This was in the middle of 2002. He didn’t stay in Monrovia because he feared for his life, so he escaped to Yekepa, Nimba county. The fight between Massaquoi and Yeaten was the last time X7 saw Gabriel Massaquoi.
According to X7, Gabriel Massaquoi spoke English and Krio. He gave the name of the friend of Gabriel Massaquoi’s girlfriend to the court. The route that they took from Monrovia to Voinjama went through Zorzor, Yeala and Gbarnga. The witness testified that when he was driving for Gabriel Massaquoi between 2000 and 2002, enemy troops were in Lofa and at the Guinean border. The enemy at the time was ULIMO, there were also troops from the Liberian Peace Council and Black Berets. These groups were organized around 2001.
The witness testified that he had not heard any news about Massaquoi being arrested in another country before his police interview.
The defense questions X7
The defense began by asking about X7 moving to Freetown. The witness testified that he moved to his stepmother’s house. He picked up the truck in Kailahun, but the discussions about him receiving the truck took place in Freetown. Gabriel gave the keys to X7’s brother-in-law, who gave them to him. The witness recalled people dying and being killed before he picked up the truck. According to him, the RUF had killed people in Makeni. The defense referred to his police interview. The witness had said that he had witnessed a mass murder organized by Mosquito in Makeni, which he confirmed . The defense pointed out that X7 had testified in the lower court that this took place approximately a week before he received the truck and he confirmed this.
According to the witness, Mosquito was also called Master and was a general. The defense pointed out that X7 had testified in the lower court that he received the keys and the truck from his sister’s boyfriend two weeks after he had asked for work, and was told to transport the boss around. The witness denied this, saying that Mohamed did not bring the truck to him. He also clarified that he has two sisters, who both fell in love with different generals, the other one was called Issa Kamara. The defense pointed out that the witness had not mentioned the RUF general called Mohamed before, to which X7 responded that he had not mentioned Gabriel Massaquoi’s girlfriend and child before either.
X7 used to pick up cocoa from Kailahun and take it to the border between Liberia and Guinea. He testified that he never drove to Monrovia at the exact same time as Massaquoi: one would always arrive before the other. The defense referred to his police interview, where the witness had said that he had come to Monrovia at the same time as Massaquoi once. The witness could not recall this. He knew that Massaquoi came to Monrovia to meet with senior officials, such as Benjamin Yeaten or Charles Taylor, but he did not know what they spoke about. He explained that Massaquoi had a diplomatic mission because he used to talk with foreign officials. Massaquoi travelled to Monrovia with his bodyguards.
According to the witness, soldiers used the name Angel Gabriel for Gabriel Massaquoi. On the BBC, he was not called Angel Gabriel but by his full name, Gabriel Massaquoi. The defense pointed out that X7 had testified in the lower court that he had not heard any other name used for Massaquoi, and he had not mentioned any other name for Massaquoi in his police interview. X7 could not remember having testified so. He clarified that Gabriel Massaquoi was his full name and “Angel Gabriel was only his war name”. X7 had met Massaquoi four times. The defense pointed out that he had spoken of three times in the lower court, to which he responded that he perhaps didn’t count the last trip. The witness had been in Monrovia once when Massaquoi wasn’t there.
X7 could not estimate how long he had the truck for. When he received it, there was war going on in both Sierra Leone and Liberia. The defense pointed out that X7 had told the police that he had received the truck in November 2002. He responded that during his police interview, he could not remember the exact date, but he now knew the correct date because he had asked his sister. The defense also pointed out that the witness had not mentioned anything in the lower court about Massaquoi’s girlfriend and her friend escaping on a motorcycle from Voinjama. X7 responded: “The last time I was here, I said I was not going to say everything, that I was going to save some for another time. Some of us were afraid and we are still afraid, maybe other people may hunt us, you know we worked with those people who can harm us”. He continued: “I was a driver for Massaquoi and his friends and family are still around so not everything I will put outside”.
The witness testified that he does not know Mohamed’s last name. He confirmed that by referring to the man with the motorbike as his cousin, he meant a blood relative. The last time he saw Massaquoi in Monrovia was in the middle of 2002. The defense pointed out that he had told the police that he had seen Massaquoi in August 2003. He responded that this was in 2002, not in 2003. There was then a discussion as to the name of Gabriel Massaquoi’s girlfriend, as the witness had given a different name to the lower court. The witness responded that in Africa, people have two different names.
It was pointed out that the witness identified the defendant as Gibril Massaquoi from the series of photographs presented to him at his police interview.
Witness Y1 is heard
The prosecution questions Y1
The prosecution began by asking about where Y1 was born. Y1 testified that he was born in Sierra Leone and currently lives in Lofa. He had come to Liberia in 1999, when he was abducted by rebels. The commander of the rebels was called Gibril Massaquoi. The witness was abducted from his school in Kailahun, Sierra Leone. He could not remember when this happened as he was so young at the time. According to the witness, Gibril Massaquoi was the spokesman for the RUF. He was Sierra Leonean. Gibril Massaquoi was the one who abducted him. Y1 ended up in Liberia because the rebels went there. Gibril Massaquoi had many heavily armed men with him. They forced him to come to Liberia with them. He could not say why the rebels came to Liberia, or how old he was when they came. He was born in 1983.
Y1 testified that they came to Liberia through Vahun and continued to Monrovia. In Monrovia, he went to Benjamin Yeaten’s house. He was sent there by Gibril Massaquoi to protect Yeaten. Benjamin Yeaten was a four-star general. Gibril Massaquoi was also at Yeaten’s house but Y1 did not know what he was doing there. When they came to Monrovia, there was fighting ongoing in the city, towards Dwala and Waterside. LURD rebels were coming from Dwala towards Waterside, but they did not make it all the way to Waterside as Yeaten and his troops blocked them. Y1 testified that he also went to Waterside, he was often taken there by his commander, Gibril Massaquoi. There were other men under Massaquoi’s command at Waterside fighting against the rebels. When he was not in Waterside, he stayed at Twelve Houses on ELWA junction. All the soldiers from Sierra Leone, as well as Gibril Massaquoi, were stationed there.
The witness could not remember the route that they took from Vahun to Monrovia, nor how long it took. He could not remember how long after the battles in Dwala and Waterside that peace came to Liberia. He could not remember the last time he had seen Massaquoi, it had been such a long time since. He could not tell which dialect Massaquoi spoke. His soldiers used to call him Angel Gabriel. When the war ended, he did not see Massaquoi and “these men” at Waterside again.
The defense questions Y1
The defense began by asking about the commander with whom Y1 came to Liberia. He testified that his commander was Gibril Massaquoi. He also had another commander called Super. According to the witness, Sierra Leone was undergoing disarmament when he came to Liberia. The defense pointed out that Y1 had told the police that after the war in Sierra Leone, Superman said that he could not just sit and watch as the war was happening in Liberia and Superman took them to Liberia. Y1 responded that this was an arrangement between Superman and Gibril Massaquoi because they knew what was happening. He only knew that Superman and Massaquoi were “involved with the President.” Both Superman and Massaquoi brought him to Liberia.
The defense further referred to the witness’s police interview, where he had said that Superman abducted him. Y1 explained that he mentioned the name of Gibril Massaquoi, because Massaquoi and Superman moved together and Superman took orders from Gibril Massaquoi. He stated that Superman was killed for power. He could not remember when, but testified that it took place in Lofa. Superman’s death affected the leadership of his group “because of jealousy”. Massaquoi was with them the whole time he was in Sierra Leone and when he came to Vahun. The defense pointed out that the witness had told the police that after Superman’s death, they felt bad and wanted to go home. He had said that Gibril Massaquoi had come into the picture when they were in Vahun. Y1 confirmed this, that Massaquoi had first sent Superman and came afterwards. The witness testified that they spent a long time in Vahun. The defense pointed out that Y1 had testified in the lower court that he had spent over a year in Vahun, which he confirmed. Massaquoi was with him in Vahun, he used to come and go. The defense then pointed out that Y1 had told the police that he came to Liberia in 2000, possibly in March. He responded that he cannot remember the exact date. The defense also pointed out that Y1 had told the police he arrived the same month Superman was killed, which he confirmed.
According to the witness, Massaquoi was always with his men after Superman’s death, clarifying that he meant that Massaquoi never left for long. He would often go to Monrovia with Benjamin Yeaten and then come back to Vahun.
Y1 testified that he was involved in a car accident in Lofa. He could not remember everything but recalled that some people were killed and he was injured. He could not remember where it had occurred. Massaquoi’s vehicle was in the same convoy, in a vehicle in front of the one Y1 was in. Massaquoi was not involved in the accident. The defense pointed out that Y1 had testified in the lower court that the accident took place in Waterside, on the Old Bridge and had said that he was in the same car as Massaquoi. Y1 responded that he could not remember the location of the accident, but he remembered being in a car with Massaquoi. He then stated that he was in a different car to Massaquoi. According to Y1, the last time he saw Massaquoi was not related to the accident. The defense further pointed out that the witness had testified in the lower court that the accident was the last time he had seen Massaquoi. He responded that he could not remember everything, as it happened a long time ago.
Y1 testified that at some point, he moved permanently from Vahun to Monrovia. Massaquoi was not with him when he came to Monrovia. He came because the fighting brought them all to the city. He could not remember having heard of people being shot in a store in Waterside or Monrovia. The defense pointed out that the witness had mentioned in his police interview that he had participated in fighting on Waterside and if he or Benjamin Yeaten saw people looting, they would shoot at them. Y1 confirmed this and stated that Gibril Massaquoi was present when people were shot in a store. He testified that Massaquoi and Benjamin Yeaten used to do that. The defense pointed out that he had told the police that Massaquoi was not there, to which the witness responded that he cannot remember everything.
The defense pointed out that Y1 had said in his police interview that Massaquoi did not use any other names, to which he responded that he cannot remember everything. The defense further pointed out that the witness had said that he didn’t know anyone named Angel Gabriel. He repeated that he cannot remember everything as it happened a long time ago.
The witness described how his friend gave his contact information to Employee 1. He had mentioned another name to the police, who he confirmed was also his friend.
Finally, Y1 confirmed that he had only been in one car accident during the war. The accident took place in Lofa, not in Waterside.
It was pointed out that the witness was not asked to make any photo identifications at his police interview.
