March 31, 2023 [Liberia] Day 41: Defense witnesses provide context
Witness Defense 12 is heard
The defense questions Defense 12
The defense began by asking how the witness got to know Gibril Massaquoi. Defense 12 responded that Gibril Massaquoi is his biological brother. He testified that Mr Massaquoi was in Lunsar in early 1999. He had been arrested in 1998 by the AFRC and was released when the West Side Soldiers attacked Freetown and freed the prisoners. Massaquoi then escaped with [REDACTED] to the mountains and went to Lunsar via Makeni in early 1999. The witness estimated that Massaquoi was released from prison in mid 1998. In early 1999, he was in Lunsar and Makeni with his friend Dennis Mingo, aka Superman. At the time, Foday Sankoh was in Lomé, Togo and he called Superman as he was trying to reach Issa Sesay. Superman had to leave Makeni because of an assignment he received from Foday Sankoh. Near Makeni, he met with Issa Sesay’s troops. Due to a misunderstanding between Superman and Issa Sesay, the two groups began fighting each other. Defense 12 could not say whether Gibril Massaquoi had been involved in the fighting. After Superman returned, he decided to send Gibril Massaquoi to Lomé to meet Foday Sankoh. This was the early phase of the peace process and Foday Sankoh wanted to know what was happening on the ground, as he was in Lomé. This was the first quarter of 1999. The Lomé peace agreement was signed some point after the meeting between Massaquoi and Sankoh.
Defense 12 further testified that when Foday Sankoh returned to Sierra Leone, he asked Gibril Massaquoi to be his personal assistant. Before this, Gibril had been a frontline commander in the RUF, stationed around Makeni and Lunsar. When Sankoh appointed him as his personal assistant, Gibril Massaquoi left all frontline functions and became an administrative person. The witness was a frontline commander in the RUF himself, stationed around Bombohun and Kailahun. He found out about Gibril Massaquoi’s whereabouts through radio messages. Every command post had a radio receiver and information was passed across different fronts. For example, the witness learned through the radio that Gibril Massaquoi had been appointed a special assistant to Foday Sankoh and that he had been relieved of all frontline responsibilities.
The witness explained that Gibril Massaquoi worked as Sankoh’s special assistant in Freetown, at Sankoh’s residence on Spur Road. He went to Freetown in October 1999. He moved with his family – his wife, Elisabeth Mansaray, and children. Elisabeth moved from Bo to Freetown and Gibril moved from Lunsar. Defense 12 went into detail about Gibril’s work as a special assistant. He was responsible for the RUF’s correspondence and for sending all the material related to the peace process. He was in charge of the RUF’s documentation and information management. He worked almost every day of the week, especially on weekends and Sundays. At the time, the witness was working for UNAMSIL in Bo County as a ceasefire observer. He travelled regularly to Freetown to give reports and information. On these trips to Freetown, he usually met with Gibril Massaquoi. He estimated that he travelled to Freetown monthly.
Gibril Massaquoi’s assignment as a special assistant included travelling. The witness recalled Massaquoi and Sankoh travelling to South Africa once, estimating that this was in early 2000. According to Defense 12, Gibril worked on Spur Road until Sankoh’s residence was attacked on 8 May 2000. He was not there on the day of the attack, but he heard from VHF radio that Sankoh’s residence had been attacked and RUF members had been killed in the attack. Foday Sankoh had been arrested and some people had escaped to the mountains with the security forces chasing them. The witness named some of the people present at the residence during the attack: Foday Sankoh, Denis Mingo, Gibril Massaquoi, Captain Musa from UNAMSIL and Abdul Swaray. Gibril was among those that escaped to the mountains and the witness heard on the radio that he managed to go to Lunsar via Makeni. The witness described the consequences of the attack: “The peace process did not hold, because the leader was captured, and from that time also there were a lot of disturbances against the peacekeeping forces that were in Sierra Leone”. Many UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone were harassed and their equipment was stolen as it was felt that they were not protecting the RUF. The RUF and UNAMSIL blamed each other for the attack and the international community finally forced the RUF to return to the 7 July agreement that had been signed in Lomé.
After the attack on Sankoh’s residence, Foday Sankoh never returned to lead the RUF. Issa Sesay became the leader of the organization soon after Sankoh’s capture in a meeting in Kailahun, around mid-2000. The witness testified that Gibril Massaquoi and Issa Sesay did not have the best relationship at the beginning, as Issa had once arrested Gibril in Makeni and he was only released with the help of UN troops. When Foday Sankoh returned to Spur Road after the signing of the Lomé agreement, their relationship improved. When Issa Sesay had been elected as the interim leader of the RUF, he called all RUF senior members and commanders to a meeting in Kono in September 2000, where Gibril Massaquoi was appointed the head of the RUF external delegation. The witness named other members of the delegation: Defense 20, Defense 05, Abdul Razak and Defense 14. The task of the external delegation was to get the peace process back on track. This meant that the delegation needed to meet with ECOWAS leaders and to resign the peace agreement Foday Sankoh had signed, since he had been arrested and was not in charge of the RUF anymore. The delegation left for Monrovia in October 2000 to have a meeting with ECOWAS leaders. The delegation came to Monrovia because it was safe there at the time and they could travel easily from Monrovia to wherever they were needed.
Defense 12 could not tell how long the delegation stayed in Monrovia, but he knew that the delegation had some preliminary talks with ECOWAS before going to Abuja. It was thought that President Charles Taylor thought would be able to influence the RUF into returning to the peace negotiations as he had been accused of supporting them in the past. The witness learned of the delegation’s activities in Monrovia through the RUF’s radio system. From Monrovia, the delegation went to Nigeria, where the Abuja I agreement was signed on 10 November 2000. The Abuja I agreement was a 30-day ceasefire between the RUF and the Sierra Leonean government. Gibril Massaquoi was the head of the delegation and travelled to Nigeria. Defense 12 could not tell how long he stayed there. After signing the ceasefire agreement, he returned to Sierra Leone, where he was involved in the tripartite negotiations between the UN peacekeepers, the Sierra Leonean government and the RUF. The witness speculated that the delegation went through Monrovia after the Abuja negotiations on their way to Sierra Leone. He could not remember whether Massaquoi returned to Monrovia after he had participated in the tripartite negotiations.
The witness also testified about his own activities in Liberia between 1999 and 2003. Before the beginning of the disarmament process and the signing of Abuja II in May, rebels attacked the Liberia-Sierra Leone border. Defense 12 and Defense 03 were tasked by Issa Sesay to bring reinforcements to NPFL troops in Liberia. They went through Koindu in Sierra Leone and met the NPFL troops in Mendekoma, Liberia in early 2001. They brought about 70 armed men to reinforce the NPFL. They met the commander in Mendekoma and handed over the troops they had brought. Defense 12 could not remember the name of this NPFL commander. He testified that he did not participate in combat in Mendekoma or elsewhere in Liberia, this was the first time he had been to the country. He estimated that he spent two days in Mendekoma and returned to Sierra Leone after completing his mission. He confirmed that the armed men that he and Defense 03 handed over to the NPFL commander were RUF. He also confirmed that before this, there had been RUF troops in Liberia. A commander, Eagle, had been sent by Issa Sesay to attack the rear around Voinjama. Eagle’s other flank between Foya, Mendekoma and Sierra Leone was open as the NPFL did not have enough men to secure the area and that is why Issa Sesay ordered Defense 12 and Eagle to bring troops to Mendekoma.
Defense 12 did not know if there were any other RUF commanders in Liberia when Eagle was stationed there. He had heard that Eagle was fighting in Kolahun, Foya and Vahun. According to Defense 12, Eagle was in Liberia because the peace process was almost at the disarmament stage and there were “distractions” coming towards Sierra Leone. Eagle was ordered to conduct a flanking attack, to prevent these distractions or soldiers from reaching Sierra Leone. This was in May 2001.
Defense 12 did not know if Gibril Massaquoi had fought in Liberia. Gibril Massaquoi was one of the leaders of the tripartite meetings that were held in almost all regional and district headquarters in Sierra Leone, to better convince the fighters to give up their weapons. Disarmament started in Lunsar in 1999 on Foday Sankoh’s orders and continued in May 2001. The tripartite meetings were held in order to get the disarmament ongoing again. The witness testified that he was disarmed in Tongo Fields in 2001. Disarmament continued throughout 2001, and in 2002 there were elections in Sierra Leone.
According to the witness, Gibril Massaquoi stayed in Freetown after returning from Liberia. He could not remember the exact time of Massaquoi’s arrest in Makeni, but recalled that the UN flew him to Freetown after the arrest. The second time Gibril was in Freetown, he lived in Kissi, Thunder Hills. The witness estimated that he moved there in late 2001. Gibril lived there with his family, consisting of his wife and children, whom the witness named. At the time, Defense 12 was living in Bo, Tongo Fields and Freetown. Every time he was in Freetown, he would meet with Gibril, estimating that this was about twice a month. They also met once in Waterloo and twice in Bo, when Gibril came to visit on family business. Gibril participated in the paramount chief elections by assisting the campaign of their eldest sister, Defense 18. In late 2001, the RUF became a political party and Gibril Massaquoi was participating in these arrangements in Freetown. Gibril also had a fishing project in Gbondapi, sponsored and financed by the DDR for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. He was looking for land to acquire and staff for the project. The project was never implemented as Gibril was taken by the Special Court as a witness to a secure location and Defense 12 had not seen him since. Defense 12 could not say where the Special Court took Gibril.
Defense 12 testified that he personally saw Gibril Massaquoi participate in the campaigning of the paramount chief elections. The Massaquoi family had almost monthly meetings about the campaign, which Gibril attended. The Sierra Leonean 2002 general elections took place around the same time as the paramount chief elections. According to Defense 12, Gibril Massaquoi was also involved with the general elections, as the RUF had been transformed into a political party and Gibril was responsible for making arrangements for the party. The witness was not aware of any other role Gibril Massaquoi may have had in these elections.
According to the witness, Gibril Massaquoi was living with his wife Elisabeth Mansaray, his children and Michael Bona, his cousin, at the safe location the Special Court had arranged for him. Gibril Massaquoi also had a girlfriend, Defense 13. The witness could not tell when Defense 13 and Gibril Massaquoi had met, nor for how long their relationship lasted. They had a son, but he could not say when the son was born.
According to Defense 12, Gibril Massaquoi was also called Gaffa, which was his code name. Every commander in the RUF had a code name. Gaffa was a code name used in Sierra Leone. The witness had not heard of a person called Angel Gabriel. He knew Sam Bockarie, the second in command in the RUF after Foday Sankoh. According to the witness, Sam Bockarie left the RUF and escaped to Liberia in December 1999 when he refused Sankoh’s orders. Gibril Massaquoi did not move to Liberia with Sam Bockarie. Gibril Massaquoi never had armed troops under his command in Liberia, as all of his frontline responsibilities ended in 1999 when Sankoh asked him to be his special assistant. The witness testified that: “When you are an assistant, you do not carry arms or take part in armed battle, you are more of a civilian in administration”. When Issa Sesay was the leader of the RUF, Gibril Massaquoi did not have armed troops under his command.
The prosecution questions Defense 12
The prosecution began by pointing out that Defense 12 had told the Finnish police that when Gibril went to Lunsar after the 8 May 2000 attack, he had troops in Lunsar under his command. The witness responded that he remembered telling the police that Superman was the battlefield commander in Lunsar, and Gibril was with him. With Superman as the commander in Lunsar, he couldn’t say that another commander could be present. The witness explained that the attack on Sankoh’s residence was caused because NGOs and civilians in Sierra Leone did not believe that Sankoh was committed to the peace process and they wanted him to move faster with it. He confirmed that the RUF attack on the UN peacekeepers took place immediately after the attack on Sankoh’s residence. When the prosecution pointed out that, according to public sources, the attacks against the UN peacekeepers took place before the attack on Sankoh’s house, the witness responded that he could not tell whether it occurred before or after. According to Defense 12, the RUF looted the property of UN peacekeepers and took them as hostages.
Defense 12 testified that the peace process was on shaky ground after the 8 May 2000 attack was because the Lomé agreement no longer existed. When Sankoh was arrested, the RUF no longer had a centralized leadership. The senior members met in Kailahun and Issa Sesay was appointed the interim leader of the organization. According to Defense 12, there were some RUF members who thought that there was no reason to continue the peace process after the attack and this was the reason for the peace process being threatened. The RUF was also pressured by the international community and ECOWAS, which led to Sesay’s appointment and the creation of the external delegation.
The witness could not tell the exact route the external delegation took from Sierra Leone to Monrovia, only that they travelled through Kailahun in Sierra Leone. Gibril Massaquoi had not mentioned the route they took. Defense 12 could not say whether there was fighting going on in Liberia when the delegation travelled to Monrovia. Monrovia was chosen because ECOWAS leaders thought that Charles Taylor would have the best chance of getting the RUF back to the peace process.
According to Defense 12, Issa Sesay ordered him to bring reinforcements to Mendekoma and told him that the peace process was on track and that the RUF was facing a lot of international pressure to disarm, while their flank was being destroyed. That is why Defense 12 and [REDACTED] were told to bring the reinforcement troop to Mendekoma and to hand them over there. At the time, the NPFL was fighting LURD rebels. Battles were going on when Defense 12 arrived with the troops to Mendekoma in early 2001. He described that Mendekoma had been burned down. He could not tell which party, LURD or NPFL, had burned the village. According to the witness, Eagle was sent to Liberia because Issa and the RUF leadership were thinking that leaving their flank vulnerable would only create harm for civilians. Eagle was sent to Voinjama to cover the RUF’s flank and to protect Sierra Leone from attacks in order to secure the peace process. Issa Sesay was afraid of the LURD rebels attacking Sierra Leone. The troops withdrew when they heard that the peace process was underway.
The witness could not remember for how long Gibril Massaquoi stayed in Monrovia with the external delegation before going to Abuja. He could not remember whether Gibril had been to Monrovia after he left Abuja and had returned to Sierra Leone. When asked how he could know that Gibril could not have commanded troops in Liberia when he could not remember his whereabouts, Defense 12 explained that Gibril was busy with the tripartite meetings after his return to Sierra Leone: “How can I say for a high-profiled diplomat who has been in a peace process to be a warlord at the same time?”
Defense 12 could not remember for how long Gibril Massaquoi stayed in Makeni before he was arrested by Issa Sesay in late 2001. After Gibril returned from Abuja, he lived in Freetown and participated in the tripartite meetings. In 2001, Defense 12 himself lived in Tongo, Kenema District, Sierra Leone. He met with Gibril once in 2001 in Tongo and once in Makeni. The witness’ knowledge of Gibril Massaquoi’s whereabouts was based on the peace process: “His movement was based on the peace process, because that was the time the peace process was fragile and RUF was forced to go back and at that time it was hell on him as the duty of the leader of the external delegation.” He estimated that the paramount chief elections in which Gibril helped his sister to campaign took place in 2001 or 2002 and the preparations for the fishing project took place around the same time. He testified that he was not in the same town as Gibril, whom he said was living in Freetown in 2002, while he lived in Tongo, Bo and Freetown. The chiefdom in which the elections took place is called Gallinas Perry.
The witness confirmed that he had not heard of a person called Angel Gabriel. He remembered having spoken of this name with the Finnish police, who had asked him if Gibril was called Angel Gabriel. He recalled telling the police that he does not know why people call Gibril Angel Gabriel and he explained to the court that his family had been following the trial and the news being published online and in print. Defense 12 did not have any information as to Charles Taylor’s relationship with the RUF.
Defense 12 could not remember exactly what happened when Gibril was taken by the Special Court. He only knew that Gibril was being protected as a witness. Information about Gibril’s co-operation with the Special Court spread because some of his family went with him and some didn’t.
Witness Defense 05 is heard
The defense questions Defense 05
The defense began by asking Defense 05 how he knew Gibril Massaquoi. Defense 05 testified that he met Gibril Massaquoi during the war in Sierra Leone in 1991. He was abducted in his home region and later met Gibril Massaquoi. Gibril Massaquoi returned from Lomé in 1999 and stayed with Defense 05 and others in Freetown. Gibril was a part of a delegation throughout the war. The Lomé meeting was held in 1999, it was a peace agreement signed with Foday Sankoh. Defense 05 had not been to Lomé himself, but he met Foday Sankoh in Abidjan. After the Lomé agreement signing, Gibril Massaquoi went to Freetown, where he worked as a special assistant to Foday Sankoh. Gibril Massaquoi worked on Spur Road, Defense 05 also worked and lived there at the time. Gibril Massaquoi arrived at the office every morning and stayed until 10, 12 o’clock. They saw each other every day. They both worked there until the attack on 8 May 2000.
The witness named the people present in the office on 8 May 2000 including himself, a Nigerian, Captain Musa, Gibril Massaquoi and Foday Sankoh. They first received word that there had been an attack against the UN, which led to Foday Sankoh, Mr. Papay, sending a delegation to Lunsar to find out what was happening. They heard on the radio that the UN had gone to disarm RUF members in Makeni and shooting had broken out. They also heard that UN peacekeepers had been taken as hostages by the RUF. According to Defense 05, Foday Sankoh was very worried about the situation. As a reaction to this, people began attacking the office on Spur Road. The witness saw four bodies. They could not leave the building because they were being shot at. Finally, they managed to escape from the backyard over the fence. Those who escaped included Gibril Massaquoi, Foday Sankoh, Superman and some other men. Some others were arrested. They all went together at first but later they got separated. Defense 05 met Gibril Massaquoi in Makeni after spending three weeks in the bush. The witness heard that Foday Sankoh had been shot in the leg and was arrested during the attack.
Defense 05 testified that after the attack and Sankoh’s arrest, everyone was confused and did not know what to do. This ruined the earlier peace agreement signed by Sankoh. Everyone began attacking the RUF: Sierra Leonean Army, the kamajaro. Foday Sankoh never returned to lead the RUF, Issa Sesay was appointed as the new leader. This took place in 2000 in a meeting in Kono. Defense 05 participated in the meeting, with Gibril Massaquoi, Superman and Morris Kallon. A delegation was also appointed at the meeting, as Issa Sesay had been contacted by Charles Taylor who had asked for a peace negotiation. This was how Abuja I and II got started. Gibril Massaquoi became the leader of the delegation and Defense 05, Abdul Razak and Defense 14 went to Monrovia. They travelled to Monrovia because Charles Taylor had contacted the RUF for the negotiations. They travelled in late 2000, during the rainy season. They travelled from Koindu to Foya, Voinjama, Kolahun and Monrovia. This was the only route they knew to be secure. RUF soldiers secured the route, led by Eagle in Voinjama. Defence 05 was with Gibril Massaquoi in Makeni and Eagle was in Kailahun when Eagle was tasked to clear the road to Foya. The witness knew of Eagle’s movements through radio. He was not sure if Eagle was the only RUF commander in Lofa, but when they got there, they were told that Eagle was the commander. The witness explained that he did not see anything during the journey, because he was sick and stayed in the car. He could therefore not say if there were any other RUF commanders in Lofa at the time. The witness could not remember how long it took for Eagle to clear the road for the delegation.
According to Defense 05, the delegation met with Eagle in Voinjama. They were not attacked during their travel to Monrovia. They left from Kono in the morning and arrived in the evening. In Monrovia, they stayed in a guest house. The next day, Gibril Massquoi, Issa Sesay, Morris Kallon and Defense 14 went to a meeting with Charles Taylor. After the meeting, Issa, Defense 05 and Morris Kallon returned to Sierra Leone, while Gibril Massaquoi, Defence 14 and Abdul Razak stayed in Monrovia, as they were the actual delegation. The witness explained that Gibril Massaquoi used to go back and forth between Sierra Leone and Monrovia as the delegation leader. He participated in Abuja I and Abuja II negotiations. He could not tell when Gibril Massquoi returned to Sierra Leone after he had left Monrovia. The witness did not attend the Abuja I meeting. These negotiations were about disarmament and Foday Sankoh’s release. The delegation was travelling back and forth and meeting ECOWAS leaders. The witness could not tell the exact timings of these trips, but estimated they took place in late 2000. He could not remember when the disarmament process began in Sierra Leone, but it was after the peace process. Defense 05 himself disarmed in Kono.
Once disarmament started, Defense 05 met with Gibril Massaquoi in Makeni. He met Gibril Massaquoi whenever he went to Makeni. Defense 05 also met Massaquoi in Makeni after the completion of the disarmament process. The first elections were held in Sierra Leone in 2001 or 2002, after disarmament. Defense 05 met Gibril Massaquoi before the elections, but not after them. After the elections, he met with him in Freetown in a place called Light.
According to Defense 05, Gibril Massaquoi had a code name, Gaffa. When he was discussing the name Angel Gabriel with the Finnish police, it was the police who brought up the name Angel Gabriel. Defense 05 knew Sam Bockarie. He knew that Gibril Massaquoi and Sam Bockarie had problems with each other. Bockarie left Sierra Leone to go to Liberia after the Lomé agreement, as he did not want to disarm. Gibril did not go with him, he was in Spur Road, Freetown.
The prosecution questions Defense 05
The prosecution began by asking about Gibril Massaquoi as a commander in the RUF. According to Defense 05, Gibril Massaquoi was a commander with Superman in Northern Sierra Leone before the first peace agreement in 1996. He remained a commander until a ceasefire during the AFRC regime, when Johnny Paul Koroma overthrew President Tejan Kabbah. The prosecution pointed out that the witness had told the Finnish police that Massaquoi had been a frontline commander between 1999 and 2000 in Makeni and Lunsar. He replied that Gibril Massaquoi became a frontline commander again after the 8 May 2000 attack, when they returned to Makeni. Defense 05 testified that there was a satellite phone at the Spur Road office, which Gibril used to relay messages to and from Foday Sankoh.
Defense 05 confirmed that he had heard that the RUF had taken UN peacekeepers hostage. He could not remember when Gibril Massaquoi returned to Sierra Leone after the delegation had travelled to Monrovia. They did not travel through Vahun on their way to Monrovia, but travelled through Koindu, Foya, Kolahun, Voinjama. According to Defense 05, Eagle cleared the road for the delegation. He described the road clearing as a military operation of resisting attack and pushing the enemy away but could not give any further details. Charles Taylor’s soldiers were in Lofa and they were attacked, but the witness did not know by whom. Eagle went to Lofa with armed soldiers. Charles Taylor had contacted Issa Sesay for the peace negotiations and Eagle’s operation was related to this. Eagle’s and Taylor’s troops were fighting side-by-side against the same enemy to clear the road.
Defense 05 did not know for how long Gibril Massaquoi stayed in Monrovia after he had gone to Sierra Leone and returned to Monrovia. Defense 05 testified that Defense 09 was the caretaker of the guest house in Monrovia. He was staying at the guest house and taking care of those staying at the house. Defense 05 did not remember seeing a person called Ibrahim Bah in Monrovia.
The prosecution pointed out that Defense 05 was asked by the Finnish police if he has heard of Angel or Angel Gabriel and he said that Angel was Gibril Massaquoi’s code name. Defense 05 replied that he did say this to the police, but when he was thinking about the issue at home, he remembered that Gibril’s code name was Gaffa instead. The prosecution pointed out that Defense 05 had earlier testified that the police brought up the name, to which Defense 05 replied that he was asked whether he knew that Angel Gabriel was Gibril Massaquoi.
Defense 05 confirmed that Gibril returned to being a frontline commander in the Makeni-Lunsar area with Superman after the 8 May attack. Superman was the senior out of the two. The witness then repeated some of the different places that Gibril Massaquoi travelled to during the peace process.
