Liberia: on the first day of his trial, Kunti Kamara continues to deny en bloc

Audio 01:28

Hearing sketch made on October 10, 2022, showing former commander Ulimo Kunti Kamara, at the Paris Criminal Court.

AFP - BENOIT PEYRUCQ

Text by: RFI Follow

4 mins

First day of hearing, this Monday, October 10, at the trial of Kunti Kamara.

Former commander of the rebel group Ulimo, during the civil war in Liberia, he is notably accused of complicity in crimes against humanity, torture and acts of barbarism.

He faces life in prison.

This is the first time that a case linked to the Liberian conflict, in the years 1990-2000, has been tried in France.

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With our special correspondent at the Paris Criminal Court,

The 48-year-old, 1.64-metre, rather frail man, seated in the plexiglass cube reserved for the defendants, firmly maintained his position, and vigorously denied all the charges.

“

,” repeated Kunti Kamara.

Firm position, as since the beginning of the investigation, and this, despite two hours of reading the indictment in which it is written that "CO Kunti", as some called him, and his men, would have tortured, beaten, raped residents of Lofa County. 

Document read by the president of the court, in which the procedure and the facts alleged here are summarized.

Acts to keep the population in terror and establish the authority of the Ulimo group, say the investigators.

Kunti Kamara and his acolytes would, for example, have subjected the ordeal of Tabé, where the victims have their elbows firmly tied behind their backs using cables, bringing out the chest to better open it with an ax and tear out the heart. .

"No proof"

For his lawyer, Me Marilyne Secci, we must not dwell on the charges.

Well, we will continue to bring the voice of our client, which indicates that he was only a simple soldier of Ulimo, that he never committed the actions for which he is accused.

So the charges are only what is stated today at the hearing. The case is quite different.

For all the facts with which he is charged, we have no proof in this file.

Shaved head, black jacket and T-shirt, the former rebel commander patiently listened.

Sometimes smiling at a few supporters in the room, and most of the time remaining impassive.

A rather technical first day, where the jurors were selected and the schedule specified.

The civil parties, represented by Me Sabrina Delattre, are now waiting to be able to tell their truths.

This is a very important trial, since Liberia is a country where total impunity reigns.

We are on the facts of extremely young women who have been raped, who are very traumatized;

about people who have seen their parents, friends, being murdered before their eyes;

on people who have been enslaved;

so it is very important that the voice of these people can be heard.

This historic trial, the images of which will be kept in the national archives, must last until November 4, and will pass on Tuesday to the personality examination of Kunti Kamara.

We expect, in a few days, the testimonies of victims who came especially from Liberia.

The trial is unique, with Kunti Kamara being the first warlord to stand trial, nearly two decades after Liberia's civil war ended.

►Read again: First trial in France of a former Liberian warlord

"Universal Jurisdiction"

Thierry Cruvellier

is editor-in-chief of justiceinfo.com, a site specializing in international justice issues.

Questioned by

, he observes that this trial has the merit of being held because it will allow the victims to express themselves.

He also thinks that the problem remains the political blockage in Liberia, in particular the pressure of former warlords opposed to any process of creating a special court.

This trial is important because there are very, very few others.

It is the result or the fruit of an absence of justice, fundamentally, in the country where the crimes were committed, Liberia, where there has been no criminal justice since the end of the civil wars, which were when even extremely deadly and traumatic for the country and the region.

As a result, the only remedies, they are found in trials like that, isolated, and which are organized according to this principle of universal jurisdiction, that is to say which gives countries the possibility of judging international crimes, very serious crimes, wherever they were committed.

Which is the case of France.

Thierry Cruvellier on the trial of Kunti Kamara

Guillaume Thibault

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