By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – In a press release issued today, the Special Court for Sierra Leone announced the sentences for two former leaders of Sierra Leone’s Civil Defense Forces (CDF) militia following their convictions in August for war crimes committed during the country’s civil war.

Moinina Fofana, who was convicted on 4 counts of an 8-count indictment, received sentences of 6 years for murder, 6 years for cruel treatment, 3 years for pillage, and 4 years for collective punishments.

Allieu Kondewa, who was convicted on 5 counts received 8 years for murder, 8 years for cruel treatment, 5 years for pillage, 6 years for collective punishments, and 7 years for conscripting or enlisting child soldiers.

Prosecutors had requested longer sentences, but Presiding Judge Justice Benjamin Itoe pointed to a number of mitigating factors which led to the reduced sentences.  These factors included the CDF’s efforts to restore Sierra Leone’s democratically-elected government which “contributed immensely to re-establishing the rule of law in this Country where criminality, anarchy, and lawlessness … had become the order of the day.”

The case has been controversial, as correspondents have said that many in Sierra Leone see the CDF as a force that fought a noble cause and defended the population against brutal rebel groups such as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

The sentences for both men are to be served consecutively, meaning Fofana will serve a total of 6 years and Kondewa will serve a total of 8 years.  The sentences will run from 29 May 2003, the day from which they were both taken into custody by the Special Court.

A total of 13 people have been indicted in connection with the war, including the former Liberian president Charles Taylor.  Taylor is currently on trial in The Hague due to fears that a trial in West Africa would jeopardize the peace.  In July, the Court handed down its first sentences against three senior members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.  Three of those indicted have since died before any verdicts were delivered.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Jail for Sierra Leone self-defence duo – 9 October 2007

Reuters Africa – Sierra Leone jails pro-govt militia chiefs – 9 October 2007

Awareness Times – Sierra Leone’s Special Court sentences CDF indictees to Six Years and Eight Years in Prison – 9 October 2007

For more information on the Sierra Leone Special Court, please see the following Impunity Watch reports: Sierra Leone Court’s Recent Verdicts Against Former CDF Leaders; Sentencing of Three Former Leaders of Sierra Leone’s Armed Forces Revolutionary Council; Forced Marriage a War Crime?.  For more information on Charles Taylor, please see: Charles Taylor Trial Delayed Until 2008; Charles Taylor Appointed New Lawyer; Charles Taylor Trial Update; Charles Taylor Ends Boycott