Kunti Kamara, a.k.a. Kunti Kumara,
June 18, 2021, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', retrieved October 15, 2022 Kunti K.,Willsher, Kim
"Former Liberian rebel charged with war crimes awaits Paris trial: Kunti Kamara charged with torture, cannibalism and complicity in crimes against humanity during civil war between 1989 and 1996,"
October 10, 2022, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', retrieved October 13, 2022"War Crimes Trial begins in France for former Liberian rebel"
October 10, 2022, Liberia Public Radio, retrieved October 13, 2022"Suspect of Crimes Against Humanity Arrested in France"
press release, September 7, 2018, Civitas Maxima, retrieved October 13, 2022 Colonel Kamara, CO Kamara ("Commanding Officer Kamara")Vidalie, Anne
"Liberian rebel leader Kunti Kamara opens in Paris,"
October 10, 2022, ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', retrieved October 15, 2022 or Co Kamara, whose real name may be Awaliho Soumaworo,van der Kraaij, Fred
"Kunti Kamara / Awaliho Soumaworo"
''Liberia: Past and Present'', retrieved October 13, 2022 is a former Liberian rebel militia commander who participated in the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War was the first of Second Liberian Civil War, two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread Political cor ...

as a leader in the

United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy The United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) was a pro-government militia that participated in the First Liberian Civil War (1989–1996). ULIMO was formed in May 1991 by Krahn and Mandingo refugees and soldiers who had fough ...

(ULIMO).Corbet, Sylvie; and Jonathan Paye-Layleh
"Paris trial opens over crimes against humanity in Liberia"
October 10, 2022,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

in ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', retrieved October 13, 2022 (also a
"Paris Trial Opens Over Crimes Against Humanity in Liberia,"
in

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

)Baboolal, Samara (

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

)
"War crimes trial against Liberian rebel commander Kunti Kamara commences in France"
October 10, 2022, ''

JURIST A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

'',

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

, retrieved October 13, 2022 In 2018, he was arrested in France—under the doctrine of

universal jurisdiction Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows Sovereign state, states or International organization, international organizations to prosecute individuals for serious crimes, such as genocide, War crime, war crimes, and crimes against hu ...

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 charged in a French court for acts of barbarity including

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

and complicity in crimes against humanity during that Liberian war, and put on trial starting October 10, 2022, in a Paris court."First Liberia civil war trial for crimes against humanity opens in France"
October 10, 2022,

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

, retrieved October 13, 2022"Liberia: Trial Of Liberian Rebel For War Crimes Begins In France,"
October 11, 2022, ''

Front Page Africa ''FrontPage Africa'' is a Liberian daily newspaper founded in 2005 by Rodney Sieh. As of 2012, it had a circulation of 1,500. ''FrontPage Africa'' has received international recognition for its investigative journalism, and the ''Christian Scie ...

'', retrieved October 13, 2022 The trial was the first of its kind in France against an alleged Liberian war criminal. In November 2022, Kunti Kamara was found guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity, and acts of barbarity, during 1993 and 1994, and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Paris court in France."Kunti Kamara condamne a la reclusion a perpetuite au termed un proces historique,"
November 3, 2022, ''

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...

"French court sentences Liberian ex-rebel commander to life in prison,"
November 2, 2022,

France24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

, retrieved November 3, 2022Willsher, Kim
"French court convicts former Liberian rebel commander over atrocities: Kunti Kamara given life sentence for complicity in crimes against humanity"
November 2, 2022, ''

,'' retrieved November 4, 2022

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

"Liberia: French Court Hands Liberian Rebel Kunti Kamara Life Sentence for War Crimes,"
November 3, 2022, ''

All Africa ''allAfrica'' is a website that aggregates and produces news primarily on the African continent about all areas of African life, politics, issues and culture. It is owned by AllAfrica Global Media, a multi-media content service provider and the l ...

,'' retrieved November 4, 2022 The trial began on March 6, 2024.

"LIBERIA Crimes contre l’humanité au Liberia : un ancien commandant rebelle jugé en appel à Paris"
March 5, 2024, retrieved March 7, 2024

Biography

Origin and nationality

Kamara was born in December 1974 in

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 ...

. He is a Liberian with Dutch nationality through citizenship acquired in the early 2000s. He is reportedly of the Mandingo ethnic group.Bjurström, Lena
"Liberian case in France: 'Too complicated to be tried by whites',"
October 24, 2022, '' JusticeInfo'' retrieved November 25, 2022

First Liberian Civil War

Background

The

(1989–1996) was, in combination with the immediately following

Second Liberian Civil War The Second Liberian Civil War was a civil war in the West African nation of Liberia that lasted from 1999 to 2003. The war was mainly caused by transition failures after the First Civil War, especially the peace-building process which would res ...

, one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern African history, with an estimated 250,000 people—mostly civilians—killed, many in massacres. Many more were maimed, raped, tortured or exploited as forced labor. Many children were forced into combat. Allegedly, the wide range of atrocities were committed by all sides in the conflict."Liberia: A Culture of Impunity Reigns, Former TRC Commissioner Tells Paris War Crimes Court"
October 13, 2022, ''

''. Retrieved October 15, 2022

Kamara's involvement

During the War, Kamara was (by his own admission) a local commander of the

(ULIMO) – one of the three rebel militias fighting against the

National Patriotic Front of Liberia The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) was a Liberian rebel group that initiated and participated in the First Liberian Civil War from 24 December 1989 – 2 August 1997. The NPFL emerged out of rising ethnic tensions and civil unrest du ...

(NPFL) of Charles Taylor. Kamara has admitted to being a battlefield commander, of about 80 soldiers, during that war – saying that he did so to defend himself against the NPFL. In 1993–1994, while not yet 20 years old, Kamara allegedly commanded a ULIMO unit in the northwestern Liberian region of

Lofa County Lofa is a county in the northernmost portion of Liberia. One of 15 counties that constitute the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has nine districts. Voinjama serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring . A ...

where he was allegedly complicit "in massive and systematic torture

long with Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

inhumane acts" – including allowing and abetting, with his authority, rapes and sexual torture, and also compelling people into forced labor in inhumane conditions (including keeping women as sex slaves). In one specific incident – later cited as evidence of his involvement in cannibalism – he allegedly was involved in cutting open a victim's chest with an

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

, so the victim's heart could be extracted and eaten. Kamara has denied all the charges. In 1994, ULIMO split into two factions: the ethnic-

Krahn The Krahn are an ethnic group of Liberia and Ivory Coast. This group belongs to the Kru language family and its people are sometimes referred to as the Wee, Guéré, Sapo, or Wobe. It is likely that Western contact with the Kru language is the p ...

ULIMO-J, and the ethnic- Mandingo ULIMO-K (headed by Alhaji G.V. Kromah). Kamara was a commander in ULIMO-K.

Wars' end and aftermath

The war was followed shortly by the

(1999–2003), ended by the 2003 flight of Liberian President Charles Taylor to

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, and the 2003 Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) enforced by the

United Nations Mission in Liberia The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the ...

and

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

."Liberia profile – Timeline"
''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'', retrieved October 15, 2022 A national

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

(TRC), and Liberian courts, failed to bring any of the guilty responsible to trial, so the international community began to consider trying alleged Liberian war criminals in foreign countries, under the doctrine of

, which asserts that crimes against humanity, wherever they are perpetrated, can be prosecuted and punished in any other country in the world, regardless of the accused's nationality or their country of residence. Charles Taylor was convicted in a court in

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 first head of state convicted of war crimes since the

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Biography

Origin and nationality

First Liberian Civil War

Background

Kamara's involvement

Wars' end and aftermath

Postwar life

Arrest, indictment and trial

Arrest and indictment

Trial

Conviction and sentence

Precedent

References

External links