A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Consequently, the accord not only elevated the NPFL into the political sphere, but also generated new
factions, such as the Liberia Peace Council (LPC), that were not bound to the peace negotiations. 308
In 1993, the LPC was launched. 309 An 800-person-strong, Krahn-dominated group headed by former
PRC minister George Boley, the LPC was composed of members of the AFL and Krahn fighters
of ULIMO. 310 By October 1993, the LPC had begun fighting the NPFL, 311 wresting from it control
over key areas in the southeast. 312 In March 1994, ULIMO split into two factions. 313 The ULIMO-K
faction was led by Alhaji Kromah, allied with Guinea, and dominated by members of the Mandingo
ethnic group. 314 The ULIMO-J faction was led by Roosevelt Johnson, allied with Sierra Leone,
and dominated by members of the Krahn ethnic group. 315 In turn, the Lofa Defense Force (LDF),
supported by Taylor, fought ULIMO-K in Lofa County. 316 All sides, including the new factions,
reportedly continued to carry out human rights violations.
There were still reports of ECOMOG soldiers committing human rights violations against civilians.
One statement giver reported how family members and friends told stories about how ECOMOG
troops violated people, raped girls, demanded bribes, and generally “took advantage of their power
to treat people poorly.” 317 Sources have described the looting by ECOMOG forces, which was so
widespread it led to the joke that ECOMOG stood for “Every Car or Moving Object Gone.” 318
Another statement giver summarized how a Ghanaian ECOMOG soldier commanded her to pick up
a wrapper dropped by a child she was accompanying:
When I did not immediately pick it up, he slapped me very hard in the ear.
When I spoke back to him, he pointed his gun at my face. People began
running in the street. I pushed the soldier and told him to kill me, but he
took his gun and left. I could still hear a high pitched noise in my ear as a
result of the slap. 319
There were reports of ECOMOG carrying out summary executions. One statement giver stated that
the Senegalese contingent of ECOMOG near Paynesville, a Monrovian suburb, would inspect youths
for rebel marks; if they found youth bearing such marks, the soldiers arrested and killed them. 320
These tactics compelled the statement giver to
join the NPFL out of fear for his life. 321 Another
statement giver witnessed the shooting of a man
who took money and food. ECOMOG soldiers
first shot him in the foot, felling him, then shot
him again. 322 In addition, statement givers stated
they witnessed ECOMOG troops humiliating,
torturing, and killing rebels whom they had
captured and taken into custody.
159
Chapter Seven
“No sentence shall be passed and no penalty shall
be executed on a person found guilty of an offence
except pursuant to a conviction pronounced
by a court offering the essential guarantees of
independence and impartiality.” Art. 6(2), Protocol
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of
Non-International Armed Conflicts.