Special Court for Sierra Leone - international criminal law - crimes against humanity - war crimes - recruitment and use of child soldiers

摘要

In June and August 2007, the Special Court for Sierra Leone released its first two judgments in what have popularly been referred to as the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Civil Defence Forces (CDF) cases. These judgments are the first at the international level to address the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Both judgments resulted in a number of convictions, along with some acquittals. In the AFRC case, Trial Chamber II unanimously found Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara, and Santigie Borbor Kanu guilty of eleven counts of the crimes against humanity of extermination, murder, rape, and enslavement, and of the war crimes of acts of terrorism, collective punishments, murder, outrages upon personal dignity, mutilation, pillage, and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years into an armed force or group or using them to participate actively in hostilities. The accused were acquitted of the crime against humanity of other inhumane acts, and the majority dismissed counts relating to the crimes against humanity of sexual slavery and other inhumane acts (forced marriage). Additional acquittals were registered in the CDF judgment. In that case, Trial Chamber I unanimously found Moinina Fofana and Allieu Kondewa not guilty of crimes against humanity. The chamber also unanimously found the two accused not guilty of acts of terrorism as a war crime. A majority of the chamber found Fofana and Kondewa guilty of the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, pillage, and collective punishments. In addition, a majority of the chamber found Kondewa guilty and Fofana not guilty of the war crime of enlisting children under the age of fifteen into an armed force or group.