Issa Hassan Sesay (born June 27, 1970) served as senior military officer and

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in the

Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...

and AFRC/ RUF forces in their insurrection against the government of

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 said to be

subordinate A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an importan ...

only to

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 ...

, the Battlefield Commander, and Johnny Paul Koroma, leader of the AFRC. Sesay is known as the commander who ordered the disarmament of the RUF, effectively ending the Sierra Leone Civil War. On 7 March 2003 he was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...

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 ...

for

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 other

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, including terrorizing civilians, collective punishments, unlawful killings, crimes against humanity, sexual violence, physical violence, use of child soldiers, abductions and forced labor, looting and burning, and attacks on UNAMSIL personnel. He pleaded not guilty at his initial court appearance. On 25 February 2009 Sesay was convicted for 16 out of the 18 charges he faced at the

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

. Along with former leaders Morris Kallon, who received 40 years, and Augustine Gbao, who received 25, Sesay was sentenced to concurrent terms on the charges, the longest being a 52-year sentence. An award-winning documentary by Rebecca Richman Cohen released in 2010 titled ''War Don Don'' follows the rise and fall of the rebel leader.

References

External links

Indictment before the Special Court for Sierra Leone
* 1970 births Living people Sierra Leonean military personnel People convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone People from Freetown Sierra Leonean people convicted of crimes against humanity Sierra Leonean people convicted of war crimes Revolutionary United Front politicians {{SierraLeone-mil-bio-stub