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Kunti Kamara (aka Kunti K.,[1][2] whose real name may be Awaliho Soumaworo[3]) is a former Liberian rebel militia commander, who participated in the First Liberian Civil War, as a leader in the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO).[4][5]
In 2018, he was arrested in France -- under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity -- and charged in a French court for acts of barbarity including torture, cannibalism, forced labour and complicity in crimes against humanity during that Liberian war, and put on trial starting October 10, 2022, in a Paris court.[4][1][3] The trial was the first of its kind in France against an alleged Liberian war criminal.[4][2][5][1]
Biography
Origin and nationality
Kamara was born in December 1974, in Liberia.[1] He is is a Liberian with Dutch nationality.[1][3]
First Liberian Civil War
During the First Liberian Civil War (1989-1996), Kamara was (by his own admission) a local commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO)[3] -- one of the three rebel militias fighting against the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) of Charles Taylor.[1] 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.[4]
In 1993-1994, while not yet 20 years old, Kamara allegedly commanded a unit in the northwestern Liberian region of Lofa County where he was allegedly complicit "in massive and systematic torture [along with] inhumane acts"[4][1][3] -- including allowing and abetting, with his authority, rapes and sexual torture, and also compelling people into forced labor in inhumane conditions. In one specific incident, he allegedly was involved in cutting open a victim's chest with an ax, so the victim's heart could be extracted and eaten.[4][1][3]
Kamara has denied all the charges.[1][4]
In 1994, ULIMO split into two factions: the ethnic-
Arrest and trial
Kamara was arrested in France in 2018. He was released due to a procedural error, but put under investigation, and rearrested in 2020 while reportedly attempting to leave the country.[1][6]
He was indicted in a French court, November 2020, for war crimes during the Liberian war. His trial was set to begin November 8, 2022, but began October 10, 2022.[4][5]
Kamara has denied all the charges.[1][4]
According to multiple sources, his arrest was the first in France in which a ULIMO member was charged with international crimes allegedly committed during Liberia’s civil wars,
References
- ^ The Guardian, retrieved October 13, 2022
- ^ a b c "Suspect of Crimes Against Humanity Arrested in France," press release, September 7, 2018, Civitas Maxima, retrieved October 13, 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g van der Kraaij, Fred: "Kunti Kamara / Awaliho Soumaworo," Liberia: Past and Present, retrieved October 13, 2022
- ^ Washington Post, retrieved October 13, 2022 (also at "Paris Trial Opens Over Crimes Against Humanity in Liberia," in Voice of America)
- ^ a b c d Baboolal, Samara (University of Nottingham): "War crimes trial against Liberian rebel commander Kunti Kamara commences in France," October 10, 2022, Jurist, University of Pittsburgh, retrieved October 13, 2022
- ^ "Q&A: Justice for Civil Wars-Era Crimes in Liberia," April 1, 2019, Human Rights Watch, retrieved October 13, 2022
Category: History of Liberia Category: Liberian rebels Category: Liberian people Category: Dutch people Category: Universal jurisdiction Category: International law Category: War crimes Category: War crimes trials Category:Civil wars