USA v. Roy M. Belfast, Jr. - Court of Appeals - 11th Circuit

Their difficulties began when the refugee trucks were stopped at the St. Paul
River Bridge Checkpoint, only about 150 kilometers by road to the southeast of
Voinjama, and in the northern vicinity of the town of Gbarnga. ATU soldiers
ordered the Sierra Leonean refugee passengers off the trucks and segregated them
by gender. Turay and Jusu were in a group that also included Albert Williams,
Foday Conteh, and Abdul Cole. ATU soldiers stripped Turay to his underwear,
and then searched and interrogated all of the men. Meanwhile, the refugee truck
on which Turay, Jusu, and the others had been traveling left the checkpoint without
them.
Soon thereafter, the defendant Emmanuel arrived at the checkpoint, shouting
and holding a pistol. He confronted the refugees and asked them if they were the
rebels who had attacked Voinjama. When none of the detained refugees answered,
Emmanuel killed three of them, including Williams, in front of the others;
Emmanuel made the three men kneel before him and then shot each of them in the
head while telling the other male refugees that they would be next. On
Emmanuel’s orders, soldiers dragged the bodies away; Jusu and Turay later saw
two of the victims’ severed heads displayed atop posts at the checkpoint.
The refugees, including Jusu, Turay, Conteh, and Cole, were then placed in a
small cell at the checkpoint. When they were taken out, ATU soldiers beat them
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