MONROVIA—At Thursday’s appeal hearings for Gibil Massaquoi, the commander Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front, RUF of standing trial for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during Liberia’s first civil war, all three prosecution witnesses, who came from Lofa County, Liberia’s northwestern region provided harrowing testimonies, claiming he and his soldiers killed residents in a town called Kamatahum.
At the heart of the trial, prosecution witnesses told the Tampere District Court, which acquitted Massaquoi because prosecutors did not prove his alleged crimes “beyond a reasonable doubt” that he set fire to houses and brunt people, including men, women, and children alive, or directed his soldiers to do so— allegations also corroborated by Thursday’s witnesses.
“I can never forget that name Gabriel Massaquoi until I die,” said “Civilian 43.” “Because he damaged my entire life. It was his group that came to our town. They captured us and killed my mother and my father, then put us on a long rope and tied our hands to each other.” Read more
