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A fighter from Charles Taylor's NPFL on rivals of the Liberia United Liberation Movement for Democracy (ULIMO) during the civil war in Liberia in May 1996. By CHRISTOPHE SIMON (AFP / File)
Swiss prosecutors on Tuesday announced an unprecedented indictment for war crimes against a Liberian accused of murder and rape during the first of two consecutive civil wars in the country.
The investigators also examined a dozen other cases for "war crimes, genocide and / or crimes against humanity," prosecutors said.
The Attorney General's Office (OAG) has declared that it has for the first time presented an "indictment related to international criminal law" in the country's criminal court.
"The suspect is charged with violating the laws of war as a member of a military faction in the context of the internal armed conflict that took place in Liberia between 1989 and 1996," the group said in a statement.
He was accused of being a former commander of the Liberia United Liberation Movement for Democracy (ULIMO), without identifying the suspect.
Liberia, the oldest republic in Africa, was devastated by two civil wars that killed an estimated 250,000 people between 1989 and 2003.
ULIMO was created to fight a rebel force led by the warlord-turned-president, Charles Taylor.
Taylor is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence for aiding and abetting rebels who have committed atrocities in neighboring Sierra Leone.
OAG said it received several complaints from Liberian nationals in mid-2014 against the suspect.
They accused the man of committing or ordering killings, rape and other acts "aimed at enslaving and terrorizing the population of Lofa County between 1993 and 1995".
Once the authorities determined that the man was in Switzerland and had been living in the country for several years, they opened a war crimes investigation against him.
Although the OAG has not confirmed the name of the man, evidence indicates that he is Alieu Kosiah, a former senior leader of Liberian rebels suspected of war crimes arrested in Switzerland in early 2015.
The nearly five-year investigation was made "particularly complex because of Liberia's lack of cooperation" and the alleged crimes were committed years ago.
On March 22nd, the indictment was finally filed, accusing the man of having ordered or participated in the killings of civilians and soldiers who were not in a situation of fight.
The indictment also alleged that he had "desecrated" a corpse of a civilian, raped a civilian, ordered cruel treatment for civilians, recruited and employed a child soldier, ordered several lootings and ordered and / or participated in the forced transport of goods and ammunition by civilians ".
Since 2011, he has reported receiving more than 60 cases involving allegations of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, said the OAG, but most of them did not meet the legal requirements and had to to be abandoned.
A dozen criminal investigations are still ongoing for "war crimes, genocide and / or crimes against humanity," the text adds.
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