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| |  | | Foday Sankoh | | | context : | Sierra Leone  | | judgement place : | Sierra Leone Special Court | | status : | Died before end of trial | | particulars : | Died in detention | | position : | Leader of the RUF and the alliance between RUF and AFRC |
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| | | | Foday Saybana Sankoh was born on 17 October 1937 in Masang Mayoso, Tonkolili district, Sierra Leone.
He was a corporal in the army of Sierra Leone, a wedding photographer and cameraman for the State television. In the 1970ies he was a student activist. After serving a short prison term for his student activities, he entered a Lybyan cold war guerilla camp sponsored by Mohammar Gadhafi. It was here that he met Charles Taylor, his financial mentor and ally in the conflict in Sierra Leone.
In 1998, Sankoh was condemned to death for treason by the High Court of Justice in Freetown. He received however an amnesty on the basis of a clause in the Lomé Peace Agreement concluded in October 1998 by the government and the rebels, which provided for the pardon and amnesty of all the members of the RUF (Revolutionary United Front).
According to the indictment, Sankoh was the leader of the RUF and one of the principal leaders of the alliance between RUF and AFCR (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council). He thus had the authority, control and command over the members of the RUF and the RUF/ AFRC alliance.
Even during times when he was imprisoned in Sierra Leone and Nigeria or when his freedom of movement had been restricted in Sierra Leone between March 1997 and April 1999, and again during his detention from May 2000 in Sierra Leone, he allegedly remained at all these times,the leader of the RUF and co-leader of the AFRC.
During the period covered by r the indictment, the RUF and AFRC are said to have, in coordination with or on orders of Sankoh, launched armed attacks on the territory of Sierra Leone. The principal targets of these attacks were the civilian population, humanitarian assistance operations and UN peacekeepers. The attacks allegedly served to terrorize the civilian population or to punish it for the lack of support given to the RUF/ AFRC.
According to the indictment, the attacks were accompanied by murders, physical violence (especially mutilations and rape) against civilian men, women and children, as well as pillaging and the abduction of civilians as sexual slaves, forced labourers or to be enrolled by force (which was particularly the case for many children).
In May 2000 a crowd estimated at 20,000 marched on Sankoh's villa in Freetown and he was close to being lynched when government forces and British peace-keepers intervened, taking him into custody. | |     click for more... | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Sierra leone | | | date of birth : | | | 17.10.1937 | | | period of charges : | | | 30.11.1996 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 17.06.2009 |
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