Allieu Kondewa is a former traditional doctor in the

Kamajors The Kamajors were a group of traditional hunters from the Mende ethnic group in the south and east of Sierra Leone (mostly from the Bo district). The word "Kamajor" derived from Mende "kama soh", meaning traditional hunter with mystical powers, ...

tribe and military commander of the

Civil Defence Forces The Civil Defense Forces (CDF) was a paramilitary organization that fought in the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002). It supported the elected government of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah against the rebel groups Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Arme ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. He was born in the

Bo District Bo District is a district in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. It is one of the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone. Bo District is the second most populous district in Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the city of Bo, which is a ...

and lived served until his arrest and subsequent trial by the

Special Court for Sierra Leone The Special Court for Sierra Leone, or the "Special Court" (SCSL), also called the Sierra Leone Tribunal, was a judicial body set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations to "prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibi ...

Trial and conviction

Kondewa's trial began on 3 June 2004 and was tried alongside his fellow ranking members of the CDF, Moinina Fofana and

Samuel Hinga Norman Samuel Hinga Norman (January 1, 1940 – February 22, 2007) was a Sierra Leonean politician from the Mende tribe. He was the founder and leader of the Civil Defence Forces, commonly known as the Kamajors. The Kamajors supported the government of ...

. On 2 August 2007 Kondewa and Fofana were convicted of the

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

, violence to life and mental suffering,

pillage Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

, and

collective punishment Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group or whole community for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member or some members of that group or area, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends a ...

s. Kondewa was further found guilty of the war crime of the use of

child soldiers Children in the military, including state armed forces, non-state armed groups, and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical adv ...

. Kondewa was acquitted of related charges of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

and the war crime of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. On 9 October 2007, the Court sentenced Kondewa to eight years imprisonment."Jail for S Leone self-defence duo"
''BBC News'' 9 October 2007. Kondewa has appealed his conviction to the Court's Appeals Chamber.

Notes

External links

Sierra Leonean military personnel Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean people convicted of war crimes People of the Sierra Leone Civil War People from Bo District {{SierraLeone-mil-bio-stub