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| |  | | Augustine Gbao | | | context : | Sierra Leone  | | judgement place : | Sierra Leone Special Court | | status : | On trial | | particulars : | Trial began on 5 June 2004 before the Special Court for Sierra Leone; end of defence case on 25 June 2008, final oral arguments scheduled for 4-5 August 2008 | | position : | Commanding Officer in the RUF |
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| | | | Augustine Gbao was indicted on 16 April 2003. He was charged with crimes against humanity, violations of Art. 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional
Protocol 11, and of other serious violations of international humanitarian law, in conformity with Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. An 18th count was later added.
Augustine Gbao was arrested and transferred to the SCSL in March 2003.
At his initial appearance on 25 April 2003, he pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
The bill of indictment held that at all times relevant to the allegations, that is from 30 November 1996, a state of armed conflict existed within Sierra Leone, and that a nexus existed between the conflict in question and all acts or omissions charged therein as Violations of Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Statute of the SCSL.
As set out in the bill of indictment, Augustine Gbao, as well as all other members of the armed factions engaged in fighting Sierra Leone were required to abide by International Humanitarian Law and the laws and customs governing the conduct of armed hostilities.
According to the bill of indictment, the RUF and the AFRC, including Augustine Gbao, shared a common plan and purpose, thereby forming a joint criminal enterprise which was to take any actions necessary to gain and exercise political power and control over the territory of Sierra Leone, in particular the diamond mining areas.
This joint criminal enterprise included gaining and exercising control over the population in order to prevent or minimise resistance to their geographic control, and to use members of the population to support the RUF/AFRC. The crimes alleged in the indictment including unlawful killings, abductions, forced labour, physical and sexual violence, use of child soldiers, looting and burning of civilian structures, were either actions within the joint criminal enterprise or were reasonably foreseeable consequences of it.
According to the bill of indictment, Augustine Gbao is individually criminally responsible for the crimes mentioned above, which he is said to have planned, instigated, ordered, committed or in which he would otherwise have aided or abetted or which crimes were within a joint criminal enterprise in which he participated.
In addition , or alternatively, the indictment holds him responsible, in his position of hierarchical superior, for the crimes committed by his subordinates in that he knew or had reason to know and failed to take the necessary measures to prevent such acts or punish the perpetrators thereof.
By his acts or omissions, committed directly by himself or by reason of his position of superior responsibility, Augustine Gbao was accused of:
- crimes against humanity for: extermination, murder, rape, sexual slavery, other forms of sexual violence, enslavement in addition to other inhumane acts;
- violation of Art. 3 common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II for: acts of terrorism and collective punishment against the civilian population, violence to life health and physical and mental well being of persons, in particular through mutilations, outrages upon personal dignity, pillaging abductions and holding as hostages;
- other serious breaches of international humanitarian law through the enrolment of children under fifteen years of age in the armed forces and by the deliberate attacks on humanitarian assistance personnel and peacekeepers.
On 28 February 2003, the SCSL ordained the junction of the Kallon, Gbao and Sesay cases and the hearing of a common trial.
The trial commenced before the SCSL on 5 June 2004.
The trial takes place before the same Trial Chamber as the Civil Defence Force (CDF)-trial. The Chamber equally divides its time between the two cases, thus dedicating six months a year to each of them.
The Prosecution called 86 witnesses and concluded its case on 2 August 2006.
The Defence then submitted a request according to rule 98 of the SCSL's Rules of Procedure, demanding the defendants be acquitted with regard to certain aspects on which the Prosecutor had failed to present any evidence. The court decided on 25 October 2006 to deny this request, with the exception of certain places and villages mentioned in the indictment concerning which the Prosecutor had indeed failed to present evidence. These places and villages are thus no longer subject of the trial.
The Defence case opened on 2 May 2007 and ended on 25 June 2008.
The closing arguments are scheduled to take place on 4 and 5 August 2008. | |    | | 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 : | | | 13.08.1948 | | | last time seen : | | | Freetown (Sierra Leone) | | | judgement period : | | | 05.06.2004 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 03.07.2008 |
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