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Swiss give Liberian ex-warlord 20 years

June 18, 2021

Alieu Kosiah is the first Liberian to be convicted of war crimes committed in Liberia. He commanded a group that perpetrated grave atrocities, the Swiss federal court finds.

https://p.dw.com/p/3vB2M
The Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland, archive image.
Alieu Kosiah became the first person to be convicted in connection with crimes committed during Liberia's civil wars of the late 20th centuryImage: Katerina Sulova/CTK Photo/dpa/picture alliance

The Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland found Alieu Kosiah, 46, guilty Friday of war crimes perpetrated during the first of Liberia's two civil wars, sentencing him to 20 years.

The case is noteworthy as Kosiah is the first person to be convicted anywhere in the world of war crimes that occurred during either of Liberia's two civil wars which took place between 1989 and 2003, and killed 250,000 people.

Former president of Liberia Charles Taylor was convicted of war crimes in 2012 but for atrocities he committed in neighboring Sierra Leone, not in Liberia proper.

Universal justice and the case against Kosiah

Kosiah was arrested in 2014 in Switzerland under the principle of universal justice. Swiss courts can try anyone accused of crimes against humanity regardless of where the crimes occurred following the passage of a 2011 law.

On Friday, he was convicted of 21 of the 25 charges against him stemming from his time as commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO), which fought against ex-president and convicted war criminal Charles Taylor's forces.

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Kosiah's crimes include a litany of horror including participating in the killing of 17 civilians and two unarmed soldiers, the use of rape as a weapon of war, deploying child soldiers, pillaging and looting, and repeatedly inflicting cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment on civilians.

While he denies the charges, the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland in the southern city of Bellinzona sentenced him to 20 years, minus the six and a half years he has already spent in custody. 

A military soldier hitches a ride on the hood of a car on the way to a frontline position, in Monrovia, Liberia, Nov. 17, 1992.
Liberia fought two civil wars in rapid succession, between 1989 and 1997, and then 1999 and 2003Image: Hassan Amini/AP/picture alliance

Liberia after war

The Liberian civil wars are noteworthy for their ample use of intoxicated and often child soldiers, mutilations of victims and survivors, and the use of sexual violence including rape as a weapon of war.

While the civil wars ended in 2003, the main drivers of conflict, ethnic tension and income inequality, remain very much intact.

Many of the commanders fled the country after 2003 but those who were in power during the civil wars have retained positions of economic and political influence in Liberia.

ar/msh (AFP, Reuters)