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Trio sentenced to decades behind bars for war crimes

The UN-backed war crimes court for Sierra Leone on Thursday handed out lengthy jail terms to three rebel militia commanders found guilty of murder, rape and enlisting child soldiers during the country's 10-year civil war.

The court ordered that Alex Tamba Brima, 35, and Santigie Borbor Kanu, 42, be jailed for 50 years each while Brima Bazzy Kamara, 39, was sentenced to 45 years behind bars.

Their sentences were the first ever handed down by the court, which is trying the main perpetrators of the war crimes committed during the west African country's 1991 to 2001 conflict.

Prosecutors had asked for between 50 and 60 year sentences for the men, who were found guilty of 11 of the 14 charges against them, including murder, rape, mutilation and forcing children into combat.

"The three men were found guilty of the most heinous, brutal and atrocious crimes in human history," said judge Julia Sebutinde, who spent 90 minutes reading out the verdict.

"Brothers were allowed to rape sisters, men were disemboweled and their parts displayed at check points. Cutting of limbs of unarmed civilians were common," she said.

"Children were forcibly taken away from families, fed with drugs and turned into child soldiers," she said.

The three, who all pleaded not guilty, were backed by former Liberian president Charles Taylor.

Taylor is standing trial for similar crimes committed during the Sierra Leone civil war, but his trial venue was switched to The Hague amid concerns of unrest if it was held in Freetown.

He is the first African head of state to face such charges in an international court.

Thursday's landmark judgement was the first by an international court to convict and sentence individuals accused of conscripting children into war.

The trio, who will serve their sentences in Sweden and Austria, belonged to the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), a rebel faction led by Johnny Paul Koroma which toppled the government in 1997 and joined forces with the notorious main rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

The AFRC set up one of the most vicious juntas Africa has ever known, unleashing a nine-month terror campaign that included burning children to death.
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