Human Rights Watch opfordrer Sierra Lione til at retsforfølge Ibrahim Bah, en senegaleser, der af flere FN-arbejdsgrupper er bleve identificeret som Charles Taylors våbenleverandør.
NAIROBI, 19. Juni 2013: The Sierra Leone authorities should open a criminal investigation of a suspected arms supplier for his alleged involvement in international crimes during Sierra Leone’s civil war. This would be Sierra Leone’s first purely domestic prosecution in relation to war crimes or crimes against humanity committed during its 11-year armed conflict, which ended in 2002, claims Human Rights Watch on their website.
Ibrahim Bah, also known as Ibrahim Balde, is a Senegalese national who allegedly provided arms and materiel to the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), according to a United Nations panel of experts and the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. The RUF committed widespread and systematic abuses against civilians characterized by murder, mutilation, amputation, torture, rape, and forced abductions during the war.
“Ibrahim Bah was allegedly involved in arming and supporting Sierra Leone’s rebels, who committed massive atrocities during the country’s 11-year civil conflict,” said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Now that Bah has been located in Freetown, Sierra Leone authorities should promptly open a criminal investigation.”
The Sierra Leone government and the UN established the hybrid international-national court, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, in 2002 to prosecute those “bearing the greatest responsibility” for crimes committed during the conflict. However, the tribunal is winding down operations. One of the hoped-for legacies of the Special Court is that it has helped build capacity in Sierra Leone to prosecute international crimes domestically, including those committed during Sierra Leone’s armed conflict. Numerous Sierra Leoneans have worked as investigators, prosecutors, and defense counsel at the court.
