A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

families, 409 killing, 410 and seeking revenge. 411 Tactics used previously throughout the war, such as
forced cannibalism and tabay, were again employed to terrorize the population. One statement giver
described how NPFL rebels sought to inflict this punishment on him and his family on April 6:
They cut my grandfather’s throat and cut his heart. We were all forced to
drink his blood. They cut off my grandfather’s head and were going to make
us eat it. I cried, “No, no.” 412
Another statement giver, who was aligned with Doe loyalists, described how NPFL rebels arrested
him, told him that he would not live to tell the story, and tabayed him. 413 Numerous statement givers
witnessed or were subjected to tabay. 414 One statement giver described this treatment as being so
painful and harmful that a tabay victim “would only have about an hour to live.” 415
“Violence to the life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons,* in particular murder as well
as cruel treatment such as torture, mutilation or any form of corporal punishment” and threats thereof
are prohibited at all times and places. Art. 4(2)(a), Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12
August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II)
(1977).
*“Persons” indicates those who are not taking a direct part in or those who are no longer taking part in
hostilities. Id. at Art. 4(1)
As discussed above, the third battle for Monrovia featured atrocities and targeting similar to those
in the preceding hostilities. 416 This time, however, statement accounts revealed the role of the new
factions in perpetrating these and other abuses. One statement giver described the role of the LPC in
assaulting, abducting, and sexually abusing him because he refused to give them water. He summarized
his experience:
In April 1996, during the third battle for Monrovia, I was near the Governor’s
mansion selling cold water…Fighting broke out. Several men in a truck
passed and demanded that I give them water. When I refused, they slapped
me, hit me, and beat me. When I still refused, they grabbed me and put me
in a pickup truck. I still have a scar on my nose from where I was hit with a
rifle butt by the men in the truck. The men, who were with the LPC, took
me to a dark house where I was required to entertain them. They would beat
me and use me as their “playboy.” I spent several months in the house with
the LPC and they threatened to make me fight for them. 417
In the chaos, the fighters used extortions to obtain goods for themselves. One statement giver
described how ULIMO-J rebels demanded money from her father. When he could not provide it,
166