Sierra Leone upholds stiff sentences for rebels

Sierra Leone's UN-backed tribunal upheld Monday sentences of up to 52 years in prison for three former rebel leaders in its last ever judgement to be handed down in Freetown.

Although the court accepted certain grounds for appeal by the defendants, the five-judge panel confirmed the sentences for Issa Hassan Sesay (52 years), Morris Kallon (40 years) and Augustine Gbao (25 years).

The three men were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing a decade of rapes and killings during the country's brutal civil war, which ended in 2001.

The decision of the panel of international and Sierra Leone judges was welcomed by acting prosecutor Joseph Kamara. Related article: Key dates in the 1991-2001 war.

"It is significant for us because it brings closure and brings justice for the people of this country," Kamara told AFP in a phone interview from Freetown.

The RUF case has also created legal history as it is the first time an international court handed down convictions for forced marriage as a crime against humanity and for attacks against United Nations peacekeepers, Kamara recalled.

The RUF appeal is the last judgement the court will hand down in Freetown as its only remaining case, the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, is being held in The Hague for security reasons.

In Sierra Leone, the court is now expected to close its doors eight years after the end of the civil war, keeping only a skeletal team to deal with the Taylor trial and the wrapping up of all remaining issues like transfer of the convicts to serve their sentences in other countries.

"It feels like the closing off a chapter in a long, long textbook but certainly there is still outstanding work to do including the Taylor trial," prosecutor Kamara said.

For the prosecution, the outcome of the RUF trial could have a significant impact on the trial of Charles Taylor in The Hague. The Liberian former president is accused of masterminding the terror campaign waged against the people of Sierra Leone by the RUF and AFRC rebels.

Monday's ruling is "helpful" because it includes "certain issues that impact the Taylor trial such as the issue of joint criminal enterprise" the acting prosecutor explained.

In February this year the trial chamber ruled that the RUF leaders formed a joint criminal enterprise and went on a spree of killings, mutilations and rapes in order to gain control over Sierra Leone's lucrative diamond mining regions.

The rebels used so-called blood diamonds to fund the fighting.

The verdict said the RUF established control by "terrorising the civilian population" through mass killings, rape and so-called "short sleeved and long sleeved amputations".

During the conflict RUF rebels were notorious for asking victims to choose between short sleeves, meaning amputation of the arm at the shoulder, or long sleeves, amputation of the hand at the wrist.

The confirmation of the convictions of the RUF leadership as part of a joint criminal enterprise with a chain of command will boost the prosecution's case against Taylor, since he is accused of being at the head of that enterprise.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established by the United Nations in 2002 to try those who bear "the greatest responsibility" for the atrocities during the civil war.

The conflict left 120,000 people dead and tens of thousands mutilated. The rival factions routinely raped women and forced them to become so-called bush wives of rebel soldiers. Many children were snatched by rebels, drugged and forced to fight as child soldiers.

Since 2004 the court has tried leaders of the three main factions in the war: the Civil Defence Forces (CDF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the RUF. With Monday's appeals judgement in the RUF case all these cases will be completed.