War in Lofa County does not
justify killing, torture and abduction
(Amnesty International)
The Perspective
April 30, 2001
"One of the ATU [Anti-Terrorist Unit] members told the others: He is going to give us information on the rebel business. They took me to Gbatala. I saw many holes in which prisoners were held. I could hear them crying, calling for help and lamenting that they were hungry and they were dying (Testimony of a young man detained at Gbatala military base in August 2000.)
Amnesty International is calling on the Liberian government to ensure that widespread torture, including rape and killings by the security forces of unarmed citizens suspected of supporting Liberian armed opposition groups are immediately stopped.
In a report published by Amnesty International today -- Liberia: War in Lofa County does not justify killing, torture and abduction the organization details the findings of a recent visit to the country and also calls on armed opposition groups based in Guinea immediately to end abductions of civilians and other abuses in Liberia.
"The fighting in Lofa County has been marked by widespread human rights abuses. The international community must act urgently to stop these abuses, including by interceding with the Liberian government and requesting the Guinean government to use its influence over Liberian armed opposition groups based in its territory," Amnesty International said.
Since the renewal of armed incursions from Guinea into Lofa County in July 2000, the human rights situation has progressively deteriorated. Women and girls fleeing the outbreak of hostilities since February 2001 have been arrested at checkpoints and gang-raped by Liberian government forces. In early April 2001, a pregnant woman was grabbed near Zorzor, Lofa County, by an officer of the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), a special government security unit. She was repeatedly raped until being released a few days later. ATU officers beat her and stamped on her stomach, as a result of which she lost her baby.
Since mid-2000, dozens of civilians have allegedly been deliberately
killed on suspicion of backing armed incursions from Guinea, and
more than 100 civilians, mostly Mandingos, have been tortured
by the ATU and other government forces. Unofficial detention centres
include the military base in Gbatala, central Liberia, recently
investigated by the UN as a training base for the Sierra Leonean
armed opposition Revolutionary United Front
(RUF), responsible for widespread killings, abductions, mutilations
and other abuses in Sierra Leone. Other suspected dissidents have
been held and tortured at the ATU cells behind the Executive Mansion,
the office of the presidency in Monrovia, the capital.
According to testimonies and other evidence gathered by Amnesty International during its three-week visit to Liberia in February 2001, civilians suspected of backing the dissidents are held in holes - some filled with dirty water - dug in the ground, at the military base in Gbatala. Prisoners are kicked and beaten including with gun butts; some have had plastic melted on their bodies or cigarettes extinguished on their skin and others have been forced to roll in mud, walk on broken glass with their bare feet or eat hot pepper. Suspects are regularly tabied, which means that their arms are tied together so tightly behind their backs that their elbows touch. The victims met by Amnesty International delegates still bore scars and marks of torture and were visibly traumatized.
In early April 2001, in response to significant military advances in upper Lofa County by the armed opposition groups, President Charles Taylor reportedly announced that a 15,000 force composed of former fighters of his warring faction, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), would be assembled to fight in Lofa County. The NPFL, as well as other former warring factions, was responsible for widespread human rights abuses during the 1989-1996 civil war. Amnesty International calls on the Liberian government to ensure that these forces do not carry out further human rights violations.
As a result of renewed fighting in Lofa County in July 2000
and pending further UN sanctions on Liberia, currently under discussion
internal repression and intolerance by the government of any form
of scrutiny by Liberian human rights organizations, journalists,
students and opposition members has reached alarming levels. The
security forces have used a wide range of methods including rape
and other forms of torture to
silence government critics. Since July 2000, human rights defenders,
journalists or political opponents have been continuously arbitrarily
arrested, tortured or forced to flee the country. During one of
the latest crackdowns, on 21 March 2001, more than 40 university
students, often on the front-line in promoting and defending human
rights in Liberia, were held incommunicado and beaten with gun
butts, kicked and humiliated by members of the Special Operation
Division (SOD) and the ATU. Female students were raped.
Background information
Following the publication in December 2000 of a UN report containing
detailed evidence of Liberian military support to the RUF and
the illicit trade of diamonds from RUF-held areas through Liberia,
the UN Security Council on 7 March 2001 reiterated the 1992 ban
on arms transfers to Liberia. It also introduced a new ban on
diamond exports from Liberia and travel for senior officials.
The ban is due to come into effect on 7 May 2001, unless Liberia
complies with the UN Security Council's demands which include
ceasing military support to the RUF, expelling RUF members from
Liberia and ending the import of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone.
For more information please call Amnesty International's press
office in
London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW
web: http://www.amnesty.org