Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 1995 - Sierra Leone, 1 January 1995, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa024.html [accessed 17 September 2023]
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Hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed by insurgent forces, disaffected soldiers and government troops. Government troops tortured, ill-treated and extrajudicially executed captured or suspected insurgents. More than 200 political prisoners were detained without charge or trial during the year, including former government ministers, some of whom may have been prisoners of conscience. A trial of journalists charged with sedition and libel continued. Twelve soldiers were executed after being sentenced to death by court-martial. Armed opponents of the government committed gross human rights abuses, including deliberate and arbitrary killings. Political violence increased in many parts of the country and it was frequently impossible to establish whether government troops, soldiers who had deserted or insurgents were responsible for killings and other abuses. The National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC), headed by Captain Valentine Strasser, which came to power following a military coup in 1992, reaffirmed its commitment to hand over power to an elected government in early 1996. An electoral commission was established and a new constitution drafted. A referendum on the constitution, and legislative and presidential elections were scheduled for 1995. However, return to civilian rule was jeopardized by the deteriorating security situation: local elections did not take place as planned and voter registration was delayed. Although by the end of 1993 government troops had regained control of areas in the south and east previously held by rebel forces of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which had launched an attack from neighbouring Liberia in 1991, fighting intensified during 1994. Attacks by the RUF or other insurgents spread to the centre and north of the country, previously unaffected by the conflict, and were aimed largely at the civilian population, resulting in hundreds of dead and injured. Rape and mutilations were common. Thousands of people fled their homes, seeking refuge in displaced people's camps or neighbouring countries. During 1994 the identity and motives of those carrying out attacks became increasingly difficult to establish. Although the government invariably claimed rebel forces were responsible, there was evidence that many attacks were in fact carried out by disaffected soldiers, some of them deserters but others still serving soldiers. Many attacks appeared to be carried out for material gain, but it also appeared that some were carried out by factions within the army opposed to the NPRC. Some disaffected soldiers appeared to have joined RUF forces, whereas others formed separate armed groups. Individuals claiming to represent the RUF publicly claimed responsibility for an attack in the far north in November during which civilians, including two foreign nationals, were abducted. Following this attack the NPRC called for dialogue with the RUF; a meeting between representatives of the NPRC and the RUF was officially reported to have taken place in early December but there was a subsequent escalation in violence. The NPRC admitted that there were serious problems of indiscipline within the army: a number of soldiers were tried before courts-martial and some sentenced to death (see below). In July and August members of a Liberian armed group, the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO), which had been involved in operations alongside Sierra Leonean troops against the RUF, were disarmed and returned to Liberia, after complaints by traditional rulers in the southeast that they had attacked villages and looted property. Government troops extrajudicially executed captured rebels and people accused of collaborating with rebel forces. Victims were mutilated: severed heads were sometimes displayed on army vehicles. Rebels who surrendered in February in Buedu, Kailahun District, in Eastern Province, were reported to have been summarily executed by soldiers. In April some 30 people, including children, from the village of Dodo Kotuma, also in Kailahun District, who had been hiding in the bush were reportedly taken back to their village by soldiers and then to Buedu where 25, apparently suspected of collaboration with rebels, were shot dead by soldiers. As many as 80 Sierra Leoneans, an Irish priest, a Dutch doctor and his family were killed in an attack on Panguma, Kenema District, Eastern Province, in March. Although the attack was officially attributed to rebel forces, witnesses claimed that soldiers had been responsible for some of the deaths and property belonging to the murdered foreigners was later found in a soldier's home. An official inquiry concluded that two soldiers had contributed to the deaths through negligence but had not been directly involved; although arrested, they had not been prosecuted by the end of the year. There was uncertainty about the identity of those responsible for other incidents. Major roads were a particular target for attacks; the routes between Bo and Kenema in the south and Makeni and Koidu in the north became impassable without military escort. On 5 August a convoy was attacked by men in army uniforms near Matotoka; at least three, but possibly more, civilians were reportedly shot, women were reported to have been stripped and raped and others were abducted. On 25 August another convoy was attacked, again by men in army uniforms, between Matotoka and Makali, resulting in many deaths of both civilians and soldiers; Captain Nasiru Barrie was reported to have been beheaded. The timing and precision of these attacks suggested collusion by some soldiers with the attackers. Several journalists, in particular those covering the conflict, received anonymous death threats. Suspected rebels were tortured and ill-treated by soldiers, often in public. Prisoners were bound tightly, sometimes with both arms and legs tied behind them, beaten and mutilated. For example, four suspected rebels were reportedly taken to a military barracks in March following an attack on Koribundu, Bo District. Their hands and feet were reportedly bound with wire and rope and they were thrown to the ground and kicked. They were then suspended head down from iron bars and kicked. There were also reports of soldiers ill-treating civilians in areas not affected by armed attacks, for example, in Freetown, the capital. They appeared to act with impunity. At the beginning of the year some 170 political detainees were held without charge or trial in the Central Prison, Pademba Road, in Freetown. Some had been held for more than two years. By June the number had increased to over 200. They were held under legislation introduced by the NPRC which allows indefinite administrative detention without charge or trial with no recourse to the courts. Most were held on suspicion that they were rebels but others were accused of involvement in alleged conspiracies to overthrow the government in November and December 1992 (see Amnesty International Report 1993). More than 10 of those arrested in November 1992 remained held. Two soldiers arrested in December 1992 also remained detained, although a student arrested at the same time, Sahid Mohamed Sesay, was released in late December 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994). During the year, the authorities reviewed the cases of uncharged political detainees. Some, including Sorie Daffey, a 73-year-old trader held since October 1992, were released during the first half of the year; some 220 others were freed on 23 December when the government announced that there was insufficient evidence to keep them in prison. It was not clear how many detainees remained held at the end of the year. More than 20 former government ministers and others associated with the ousted government of former President Joseph Saidu Momoh were arrested in early May and detained in Pademba Road Prison where they were initially denied access to families and lawyers; one was reported to have been beaten by soldiers while in prison. Most had been arrested previously at the time of the coup in 1992 and detained without charge for periods of up to a year. Judicial commissions of inquiry, established in 1992 to investigate accusations of corruption by former government ministers, civil servants and state corporations, submitted reports directly to the NPRC. These reports were not made public but the NPRC subsequently published its decisions on the commissions' findings; it confiscated the property of some former ministers and ordered compensation to the state of sums alleged to have been misappropriated. Although the official reason for the arrests was non-payment of compensation, no criminal charges were brought and it appeared that some of those detained may have been held only because of their association with the former government and their suspected opposition to the NPRC. Most were released in August and September, others later in the year, but some were restricted under house arrest. At least two Dr Bu-Buakei Jabbie and Ahmad Edward Sisay were still in detention at the end of the year. The trial of four journalists on an independent newspaper, The New Breed, and a printing company manager continued. They had been arrested in October 1993 and charged with seditious publication and libel after reporting allegations of government corruption (see Amnesty International Report 1994). They were released on bail but their trial before the High Court in Freetown was repeatedly adjourned. Lawyers representing the five, who included Dr Julius Spencer, the newspaper's director, and editor Donald John, challenged the High Court's proceedings on the grounds that a fair trial had been jeopardized by pre-trial publicity, but the Supreme Court ruled in July that the trial could resume. However, defence lawyers subsequently withdrew, questioning the trial's fairness, and the defendants were redetained on 12 December after appearing in court without legal representation. After several subsequent hearings, the trial was adjourned until January 1995. Four foreign nationals arrested in October 1993 were detained until November. They had been arrested in Freetown on suspicion of involvement in a plot against the government and subsequently charged with treason (see Amnesty International Report 1994). A magistrate ruled in May that there was sufficient evidence to proceed to trial, although key evidence was not presented in court. In November the Attorney General announced that the government had decided not to proceed with the prosecution, giving no explanation. Twelve soldiers, including a 77-year-old warrant officer, were executed on 11 and 12 November after being convicted by courts-martial in Freetown of charges which included collaborating with rebels, armed robbery and murder. Other trials before courts-martial of soldiers accused of similar offences also took place. It emerged that courts-martial had passed 25 death sentences since the NPRC came to power in 1992. Defendants before courts-martial had no right of appeal to a higher court against conviction or sentence. The then Attorney General, Franklyn Bai Kargbo, resigned in September in protest against the use of the death penalty and subsequently left the country. There were no executions of prisoners sentenced to death by ordinary courts. Armed opponents of the government, including both RUF forces and disaffected government soldiers, were responsible for the abduction, torture and killing of hundreds of unarmed civilians. On 30 June some 60 villagers were killed at Telu Jaiama, Bo District, Southern Province; more than 20 others were seriously injured. Another 70 villagers were killed two months later at Telu Bongor, also in Bo District. Some of those captured during attacks were forced to join rebel forces; others were held as hostages. For example, on 7 November rebels attacked Kabala, Koinadugu District, in Northern Province, an area until then considered safe; at least 10 civilians were killed and others, including two British aid workers, were abducted. Radio messages by alleged members of the RUF claimed they were holding the two men and demanded arms and ammunition. The two were still held at the end of the year. Attacks intensified in late December. Dozens of people were reported killed in attacks around Bo and Kenema. For example, on 24 December many civilians were killed when rebel forces overran a displaced people's camp at Gondama, south of Bo, where an estimated 80,000 people had sought refuge; others drowned in the Sewa river attempting to escape. Five people, including prominent lawyer Patrick P. B. Kebbie, were killed in an attack on Kenema on 25 December. Amnesty International expressed concern that, although the government continued to blame rebel forces for attacks on unarmed civilians, there was evidence that some attacks had been carried out by serving government soldiers. Amnesty International also condemned the killings of civilians by rebel forces of the RUF and disaffected soldiers. In May Amnesty International called for the release of detained former government ministers unless they were to be charged and given a fair trial. It also called for the repeal of legislation allowing administrative detention without charge or trial and repeatedly called for a review of the cases of all other uncharged political detainees. The organization condemned the executions of 12 soldiers in November and urged that no further executions take place.
