The Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), also known as the Anti-Terrorist Brigade, was a
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
force of the government of
Liberia
Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
, established by then-President Charles Taylor in 1997–98.
Chuckie Taylor
Charles McArther Emmanuel (born February 12, 1978), also known as Chuckie Taylor, is an American-Liberian former soldier and war criminal. He is the son of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia.the executive mansion, the international airport, and to provide security for some foreign embassies. It was a special forces group consisting predominantly of foreign nationals from
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
and
The Gambia
The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
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 ...
.
The ATU had no legal basis for its existence, and was not under the command of the Ministry of Defense. The ATU absorbed Taylor's most experienced NPFL civil war fighters, including undisciplined and untrained loyalists.
Sam Bockarie
Samuel Sam Bockarie (2 October 1964 – 5 May 2003), widely known as Mosquito, was a Sierra Leonean politician and army commander who served as a leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Bockarie was infamous during the Sierra Leone Civ ...
(alias Mosquito), and Brig. Gen. Abu were named as being among the ATU's senior personnel in a report issued in October 2001. According to a report from the UN Panel of Experts on Diamonds and Arms in Sierra Leone, issued in December 2000, a former SADF officer, Fred Rindel, trained up to 1200 ATU personnel between September 1998 and August 2000, when Rindel cancelled his contract following negative media attention.
During 2002 ATU members increasingly were involved in criminal activities such as theft, looting, and murder in
Monrovia
Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...
. More than in the past, the perpetrators were apprehended; however, cases against them remained unresolved at year's end. Two ATU members arrested in November 2001 after looting a private residence in Monrovia were released during 2002.
There were many unlawful killings by security forces during 2002. For example, on June 19, an ATU officer and presidential guards opened fire on a taxicab in Monrovia and killed a 6-year-old child and critically injured his mother and the driver. President Taylor ordered an investigation of the incident, which was ongoing at year's end. In September Lt. Isaac Gono, a driver attached to ATU chief Charles Taylor Jr.'s command, was beaten to death by his colleagues as a disciplinary measure for denting a vehicle. Two soldiers were arrested and held for court martial. The trial was opened; however, it later was suspended for unknown reasons, and the case was pending at year's end.
Former Deputy Minister of Labor Bedell Fahn and four members of the ATU arrested for torturing two Nigerian men to death in October 2001 were tried during 2002. Fahn was sentenced to 10 months in prison; however, in September he was released. Two ATU members were acquitted and the other two were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The National Transitional Government of Liberia disbanded the ATU,United States Department of State accessed February 2009 as part of Liberia's larger post-war demobilisation process.
See also
*
Republican Guard
A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...
*
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, thei ...
References
Works cited
* {{Cite journal
, url = https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/921AB38267D93372C12572AB0049D39D-HRW-conflict%20analysis-mar05.pdf
, title =Youth, Poverty and Blood: The Lethal Legacy of West Africa's Regional Warriors
, last=
, first=
, authorlink =
, date = March 2005
, journal =
, publisher =
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, issue = 5(A)
, volume = 17
, location =
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...