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| |  | | Samuel Hinga Norman | | | context : | Sierra Leone  | | judgement place : | Sierra Leone Special Court | | status : | Died before end of trial | | particulars : | His trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone began on 3 June 2004; died before end of trial on February 22, 2007 | | position : | Former Minister of Interior Affairs |
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| | | | Samuel Hinga Norman was born on 1st January 1940 in Ngolala village in the Bo district of Sierra Leone.
He served in the armed forces of Sierra Leone from 1959 to 1972 reaching the rank of Captain. In 1966, he obtained his diploma from the Officers School in Aldershot, United Kingdom.
After serving as Vice Minister of Defence he became Interior Affairs Minister for Sierra Leone up until the time of his arrest.
According to the indictment, Norman was the national coordinator of the CDF (Civil Defence Force), in particular after 30 November 1996, the date from which accusations were levelled against him by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Due to this position, he is considered to have been the principal authority with the power to establish, organise, support, lend logistical support and to further the aims of the CDF.
During the conflict he was also reported to have been the leader of the pro-government militia made up of traditional hunters, the Kamajors, who put themselves at the disposition of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in 1996 in order to combat the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
As the national coordinator of the CDF and Commander of the Kamajors, Norman is said to have known about and approved the recruitment, initiation and training of the Kamajors as well as young children of less than 15 years of age, who subsequently were used to take part in hostilities.
According to the indictment, given his position, Norman exercised authority, command and control over all subordinate members of the CDF.
Samuel Norman’s plan, as well as that of the members of the CDF, allegedly was to take all necessary measures to defeat the forces of the alliance between the RUF and the AFRC (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council), and to gain control over the territory of Sierra Leone. This reportedly included taking entire control over the civilian population as well as the complete elimination of the RUF/AFRC as well as their partisan followers, sympathisers and any person who had not actively shown resistance to the RUF/AFRC.
The Accused is said to have acted both individually and in concert with his subordinates in the execution of this plan.
In various parts of the country, the CDF, in the majority made up of Kamajors, is said to have undertaken military actions against the RUF/AFRC. These actions in particular included attacks against civilians suspected of “collaborating” with the rebels. Whenever these civilians were identified as being collaborators, they were illegally killed either through being shot or hacked to death or by being burnt alive.
Such acts, which also included looting, the destruction of private property and violence to physical well-being, were aimed at terrorising and menacing the local populations. | |     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 : | | | 01.01.1940 | | | last time seen : | | | Freetown (Sierra Leone) | | | period of charges : | | | 30.11.1996 | | | judgement period : | | | 07.03.2003 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 01.11.2007 |
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