PARIS, France – The former Ulimo commander Kunti Kamara, on trial here for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Liberia’s civil wars, had his first chance to make a substantive response to the allegations made against him in the first five days of this trial. Under questioning from the judges, civilian lawyers and prosecution lawyers…
Journalism
“No Doubt Whatsoever, That is Him” Victim Tells Paris War Crimes Court
By Prue Clarke PARIS, France – The trial of Kunti Kamara for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Paris took a dramatic turn late Friday as the presiding judge in the trial asked a witness if the man he had described committing multiple atrocities, including killing four members of the victim’s family, was in…
Kamara Defense Challenges Absence of Forensic Evidence; French Reveal a Second Liberian Case
By Prue Clarke with New Narratives PARIS, France – Day four of the war crimes trial of Kunti Kamara looked closely at the investigations in France and Liberia that produced evidence prosecutors are using in the case against the former commander of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia. Two Liberian leads in the…
A Culture Of Impunity Reigns, Former TRC Commissioner Tells Paris War Crimes Court
PARIS, France – Day three of the war crimes trial of Liberian Kunti Kamara was all about setting the scene of Liberia’s civil war and the history that led up to it for the jury of six French citizens and three judges who will decide this case. The court heard from three witnesses including French photographer…
Kamara Admits Falsifying Travel Documents To Escape Europe As Police Closed In; Role of the Mandingo Community in France Under Scrutiny
PARIS, France – It didn’t take long for prosecutors to catch Kunti Kamara in multiple traps in day two of his war crimes trial Tuesday. The former colonel with the United Liberation Movement of Liberia insisted repeatedly that he had not been trying to flee Europe when he was arrested in January 2020 carrying a…
Trial Of Liberian Rebel For War Crimes Begins In France
PARIS, France – Though the charges being considered in the trial that got underway here today are “barbarous” according to prosecutors, day one was a quiet affair with the presiding judge of the three-judge panel drawing from a box the names of the jurors who would join them in deciding the fate of former rebel Kunti…
Kunti K War Crimes Trial Begins In France
PARIS, France —The trial of Kunti Kamara, a former battlefront commander for the United Liberation Movement of Liberia, began Monday at the French Court of Appeals for crimes against humanity, torture and acts of barbarism allegedly committed in Liberia between 1993 and 1994. Known as “Kunti-K” among other war names, the 48-year-old is being prosecuted…
Swiss Court Announces Appeal Dates for Convicted Liberian War Criminal Kosiah
The Swiss Federal Criminal Court has announced dates to hear the appeal of convicted Liberian war criminal, Alieu Kosiah. In June 2021 the Court sentenced Kosiah to 20 years in prison for war crimes during Liberia’s first civil war in June 2021. The Court, in the Alps town of Bellinzona, will hold hearings on Kosiah’s…
UK Police Arrest a Man for Alleged Role in Liberia’s Wars
By Anthony Stephens, New Narratives Senior Justice Reporter United Kingdom police have arrested and detained a man in his 40s on war crimes charges for his alleged role in the Liberian civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s. The arrest of the man, whose name is being withheld by UK Metropolitan police, “follows a…
US Court Orders Thomas to Pay $84m to Victims of Lutheran Church Massacre; An Angry Thomas Condemns the Ruling
MONROVIA – A US court has ordered Moses Thomas, the former Armed Forces of Liberia commander found liable for the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church massacre, to pay $US84 million to four victims of the brutal killings that caught the world’s attention in 1990. By Anthony Stephens, Senior Justice Reporter with New Narratives An estimated 600 people,…
US Arrests Top AFL Commander on Charges Related to Liberian Civil War
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives United States authorities have charged Moses Wright, one of the most important figures in the turmoil that engulfed Liberia in the late 1980s and 90s, with immigration fraud and perjury related to his actions during the Liberian civil war. The indictment alleges Wright, 69, a cousin of late Liberian…
NPFL General on TRC “Most Notorious” List Dies; Angry Victims Say He Escaped Justice
***CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story carried an image of a family member of Melvin Sogbandi. FrontPage Africa and New Narratives regret the error *** By Eric Opa Doue, Senior New Narratives Justice Reporter JUAH TOWN, Grand Bassa – James Diggs broke down in tears when he heard the news of the death of Melvin Sogbandi….
One Year Since President Weah Declared Rape a National Emergency Activists Say Nothing Has Changed
President Weah promised to set up a special committee to look into sexual and gender-based crimes. He promised a special prosecutor to handle rape cases, a national sex offender registry, and a national security task force to handle sexual and gender-based violence. The president said he had allocated $US2m in emergency funding to the problem.
But a year on, nothing has been heard of the committee or government plans to address the problem. Activists are bitterly disappointed….
Moses Thomas found responsible in US court
It was one of the most shocking events of the Liberian civil war. In April 1900 troops with then-President Samuel Doe’s Special Anti-Terrorist Unit shot and hacked to death 600 people including babies taking refuge in Monrovia’s St Peters Lutheran Church. Images of the carnage were broadcast around the world. The massacre kicked off a…
LGBTQ+ Liberian Fired From High Profile US Job
One of the most high-profile Liberians in the United States has lost his job after being caught up in the sexual harassment scandal that took down New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Alphonso David, 50, was the head of the Human Rights Campaign, the most powerful group lobbying for the rights of LGBTQ Americans, until last…
Lawmaker Salaries Among The Highest In The World Despite Smallest Economy
By R. Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives It will come as no surprise to most Liberians that they are getting poorer. The average Liberian now lives on just $570 a year, down from $650 in 2013 according to the World Bank. That makes Liberia among the ten poorest nations in the world. It may surprise…
Snail Farming: Cheap, Nutritious and Forest-friendly
Snails are highly nutritious according to experts. They are rich in calcium, a mineral associated with healthy bones and teeth. No one knows when the people of Liberia began eating snails. The nutritious mollusk found growing wild in forests and swamps, has been in the diet for as long as anyone could remember. But before…
Will Liberia Finally Ban Female Genital Cutting?
Listen here: Liberia is one of just three West African nations where female genital cutting is legal. New Narratives’ Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds strong resistance to the bill from traditional leaders and little political will to challenge them. At the same time membership of traditional societies is plummeting.This story was a collaboration with Ok FM…
As Membership Plummets Traditional Leaders Resort to Kidnapping, Forced Genital Cutting, and Extortion
In part two of this two-part series with New Narratives, Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds Liberians are abandoning the Sande traditional society leading some leaders to resort to kidnapping and forced cutting. MOUNT BARCLAY, Montserrado – Deborah Parker was 15 when she was sent to a “Bush school” run by the Sande traditional society in her home…
A New Bill to Ban Female Genital Cutting Looks Set for Defeat Even as Liberians Abandon the Practice
Liberia is one of just three West African nations where female genital cutting is legal. In this two-part series with New Narratives Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh finds strong resistance to the bill from traditional leaders and little political will to challenge them. At the same time Sande’s membership is plummeting. MOUNT BARCLAY, Montserrado – 18-year-old Dearest is one…
Fishing Industry Offers Big Opportunities but Challenges Linger
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives WEST POINT BEACH, Monrovia – Food is getting scarcer in Liberia. People can feel it every day in rice shortages at the market and higher prices. The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have played a role but the biggest factor is climate change and it’s only going to…