A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Many statement givers reported that NPFL rebels targeted them because of their past or present
employment in either the Doe administration or the Tolbert administration. 55 Others stated the rebels
targeted them because of their membership in the NDPL, Doe’s political party. 56 A person’s affiliation
with a group need not have been close for perpetrators to target him or her. Individuals who had long
ended their employment with the government appear to have been targeted as aggressively as current
employees. One statement giver described such a targeted attack:
A cousin of my father was branded as the one who initiated President Doe
into the Poro Society Fraternity. Because of this, he was skinned alive by the
rebels. They did not kill him first. They began by cutting his face and then
peeled away his skin. By the time they got to his knees, he just died. His
crime was his association with the president. 57
Some statement givers suggested that even having an education or good employment could render
one susceptible to NPFL targeting. 58
Targeting Ethnic and Tribal Groups
Rebels frequently targeted people of the Mandingo ethnicity. Reasons for targeting Mandingos varied
and included the misperception that Mandingos were “foreigners,” had too much wealth, or were too
closely associated with the Doe government. 59 Membership in a particular ethnic group superseded
nationality, and the NPFL targeted Guineans and Malian Mandingos. 60 One Mandingo statement
giver summarized his and his family’s experience at the hands of NPFL rebels as they fled in their
truck in March 1990:
[A]fter proclaiming that they were there to liberate the country, [the rebels]
asked to which tribe my father belonged. When I replied that he was
Mandingo, they said, “You come down.” I complied and the rebels started
beating me up. My sister started crying. When the rebels accused me of being
a Mandingo too, I denied that I was and also denied that I had any relation
with my father. Rather, I alleged that my sister and I were just getting a ride.
But the rebels said, “We can’t believe this story.” They offered to let my
sister go but insisted that “you join us.” I was then beaten and tortured by
the NPFL…I overheard a young rebel say, “We killed that old man.” I never
laid eyes on my father again. 61
Mandingo, Krahn, Gio and Mano, which are commonly mentioned in historical accounts of the
conflict as targeted groups, were not the only ones identified as the victims of ethnically motivated
atrocities. Statement givers also gave accounts of abuse perpetrated against civilians because they
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Chapter Seven