A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Another statement giver described the full extent to which NPFL rebels pillaged:
Rebels attacked the village, ransacking houses, killing village people, stealing
property and then setting light to the houses. I was a trained midwife: the
rebels even took my medical equipment and supplies…As my house had
been destroyed, my family was forced to live in one room of the house. I
was left with nothing: my house was burned; my possessions stolen; and my
crops were burned. 35
The “taking of hostages” and threats
thereof are prohibited “at any time and
in any place whatsoever” during noninternational
armed conflicts. Art. 4(2)
(c), Protocol Additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949, and
relating to the Protection of Victims of
Non-International Armed Conflicts.
Restrictions on Movement
Several statement givers described how rebels abducted
them or a family member in exchange for ransom. 36 One
statement giver described how Taylor’s rebels abducted
her stepfather, forcing the family to pay $10,000 for his
return. 37 Another statement giver described how NPFL
rebels accused him of being on a reconnaissance mission
when he was actually just foraging for food. 38 The rebels
kept him in a jail in Seclepea until his father paid $1,500
Liberian dollars for his release. 39
The NPFL subjected residents of Greater Liberia to a myriad of restrictions on their movement and
privacy during the first few years of the war. 40 Travel restrictions and checkpoints were prevalent
in NPFL territory. NPFL fighters enjoyed wide freedom of movement and could visit Monrovia; 41
civilians, by contrast, needed to obtain a pass from G-2 (Taylor’s intelligence and administrative
center) to travel within NPFL territory. 42 One statement giver described how dangerous it was to
travel for both men and women. 43 A rebel group would draft a man into combat or kill him; women
would be at risk of attack and rape when
they ventured out alone or with children to
find food and firewood. 44
Checkpoints provided combatants a means
to target, extort, abuse, and terrorize
individuals. 45 Many people reported that
rebels demanded their clothes, food,
money, other property, or certain behavior
at border crossings and checkpoints as the
“price” of gaining passage without harm.
One statement giver described a checkpoint
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Chapter Seven