Swiss court jails Liberian commander in war crimes case

A Liberian child soldier fighting for Charles Taylor's government forces in July 2003 during the civil war Keystone / Nic Bothma

A Liberian commander has been sentenced to 20 years in jail in Switzerland’s first war crimes trial in a civilian court.

Alieu Kosiah, 46, had faced 25 charges including killings of civilians, rape, recruiting a child soldier and an act of cannibalism.

Court documents showed Kosiah was convicted on all but four of them, with acquittals for attempted murder of a civilian, accessory to the murder of a civilian, an order to loot and recruitment of a child soldier.

Kosiah was arrested in 2014 in Switzerland, where he had been living as a permanent resident. A 2011 Swiss law allows prosecution for serious crimes committed anywhere, under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

He had denied all the charges and told the Federal Criminal Court he was a minor when first recruited into the conflict.

The court said in an emailed statement that the 20-year sentence was the maximum it was allowed to give under Swiss law.

“No mitigating circumstances were taken into account in the sentencing. A deportation from Switzerland was also ordered for a period of 15 years,” it said. Kosiah was also ordered to pay compensation to seven plaintiffs, it added.

Human Rights Watch called Friday’s sentencing a “landmark”.

“Switzerland’s efforts on this case should help mobilise wider accountability in Liberia as this shows that these crimes can be prosecuted. I see this as an opportunity,” the group’s Elise Keppler said.

Anonymous witnesses

About 15 Liberians had been due to testify against Kosiah, including one whose brother was allegedly beaten to death with batons by rebels under Kosiah’s command. Another alleged he had been forced to serve as a child soldier for Kosiah.

Lawyers for the victims requested that they remain anonymous to prevent retaliation in Liberia.

Liberia has not prosecuted war criminals from its 1989-2003 conflict in which hundreds of thousands of people died. Only a handful of Liberian war criminals have been tried in international courts. They include former president Charles Taylor, who was convicted by a UN court for war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone and is now jailed in Britain.