Paris, France: Today, the Paris “Cour d’assises”, composed of three judges and nine jury members, confirmed the 2022 guilty verdict and found Kunti Kamara, former Liberian ULIMO rebel commander, guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity, and commission of simple and aggravated acts of torture and barbarism. Mr Kamara was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.
The appeal court found Mr Kamara guilty of rape and sexual slavery committed by his subordinates; subjecting a man to severe suffering and participating in the public eating of his heart; executing a sick woman who had just lost her baby, because she was accused of witchcraft; subjecting two men to forced labor in inhumane conditions; and torturing a civilian. The crimes were found to have happened between 1993 and 1994 during the First Liberian Civil War (1989-1996), in Lofa county, in north-western Liberia.
Following the verdict, the civil parties asked for 1 euro each in moral damages, as a symbolic gesture. The Court granted the request.
During the proceedings, from March 5 to 27, the Court heard 22 witnesses, 9 civil parties, and 5 experts testifying including psychologists and a psychiatrist. The majority of those who testified came from Liberia, and explained to the Court how life in Lofa was under ULIMO control. Contextual witnesses included former Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission chairs John Stewart and Massa Washington, war photographer Patrick Robert and documentarist Christophe Naigeon. Mr Kamara’s former brother in arms, Alieu Kosiah, also came to testify. He was convicted on appeal in Switzerland to 20 years imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity, notably for his involvement in some of the same acts for which Mr Kamara has been found guilty, including forced labor.
Civitas Maxima, which is also a civil party in this case, filed the criminal complaint in July 2018 that started the proceedings in France, as Mr Kamara was resident in the country. The trial decision where Mr Kamara was found guilty was appealed by the defense counsel shortly after the verdict in November 2022.
This is a historic case for both France and Liberia. For France, the Kamara case was the first universal jurisdiction trial not linked to the Rwandan genocide, and with the defendant present. It was only the fifth trial of this type to take place in France. For Liberia, this verdict confirms the first ever conviction for crimes against humanity linked to the Liberian civil conflicts.
The conviction for complicity in crimes against humanity is particularly meaningful – Mr Kamara was found guilty to have, knowingly, facilitated the preparation or commission by his soldiers of such torture or inhumane acts, including rape and sexual abuses.
Because of the historical relevance of the case, both the first instance proceedings and the appeal were recorded, and added to the French audiovisual archives of justice.
Civitas Maxima and the GJRP are grateful to Sabrina Delattre and Simon Foreman, who have represented the civil parties throughout the proceedings. We are also grateful to the French judiciary for allowing all the civil parties to travel from Liberia and testify again.
Civitas Maxima has been publishing brief, daily summaries of the hearings that can be found here. A lengthier, and more detailed trial monitoring will be available on our website in the next coming months. Trial monitoring for the first instance proceedings can be found here.
