In a recent legal case, a French court handed down a 30-year prison sentence to former Liberian rebel commander Kunti Kamara for acts of violence against civilians and complicity in crimes against humanity.
These crimes took place between 1993 and 1994 during the First Liberian Civil War in Lofa County, in northwestern Liberia.
During the trial, the court heard 22 witnesses, 9 civil parties and 5 experts, according to Civitas Maxima, an organization working on the interests of victims of international crimes.
Kamara had already been sentenced to life in prison during a first trial in Paris in 2022. His lawyers welcomed the reduced sentence, but always pleaded their client’s innocence.
Aged 49, Kamara was arrested in France in 2018. He was a regional commander of the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO), a rebel group that fought former President Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front.
It is estimated that around 250,000 people were killed in repeated conflicts in West Africa from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.
In March, Liberia’s parliament approved the creation of a war crimes court. A truth and reconciliation commission recommended the creation of a special court to try those accused of crimes, but no action was taken.
It now remains for senators to vote on the bill in a country where some former warlords have held elected office.