May 12, 2008
9:30 (10:00 with the delay in video and audio): Court is in session. Prosecutor Julia Bailey continues her direct examination of Karmoh Kanneh.
Pros: Mr. Witness, on Friday you gave some evidence of the killing of [inaudible]. Who were the people who followed him?
Wit: I was there myself. Eddie Kanneh, Captain Musa, and Vandi were there.
Pros: Who were present when [inaudible] was shot?
Wit: We were very close to where Sam Bockarie dropped him. We were very close.
Pros: Who was very close?
Wit: Even the man who did the act. Sam Bockarie.
Pros: Who was the man who did the shooting?
Wit: Mosquito.
Pros: Back to what we were talking about on Friday afternoon. You said there was a time sometime after the May 2000 Freetown incident that you went to Monrovia. You said your meeting with Taylor was canceled. You said you spent four to five days there. You said the day after you arrived you met Sam Bockarie at White Flower. Where did you meet Sam Bockarie?
Wit: It was at Mr. Taylor’s house. Where his chief security, Benjamin Yeaten, was. That was where Sam Bockarie met us.
Pros: Whereabouts in the house?
Wit: In the front of his house.
Pros: Who was present when you met Sam Bockarie?
Wit: I was there. Director, Benjamin, and Sam Bockarie was there. And Benjamin Yeaten’s security officers and signal men were there.
Pros: What was the name of the security officers?
Wit: One of them was called Mani?
Pros: Can you name the signal man who was there?
No. He was a strange man to me.
Pros: On Friday, you said you and Sam Bockarie exchanged greetings. Did you have any further conversation?
Wit: No. We spoke and what we said was that we greeted each other. After we greeted each other we made an appointment to meet. He wanted us to discuss but the Director was there.
Pros: What do you mean?
Wit: He said he wanted us to discuss something but because Benjamin Yeaten was there we should meet at his house.
Pros: Did you meet at his house?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: Where was his house?
Wit: Four Houses Road led to his house.
Pros: Had you been to this house before?
Wit: No.
Pros: Did you go with anyone else?
Wit: No.
Pros: When you went there, did you meet with Sam Bockarie?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: Was anybody else present?
Wit: Yes. I saw this child and his mother and his wife and some other people I did not know.
Pros: Was anyone else there?
Wit: There were both men and women. I couldn’t recognize them.
Pros: Did you speak to Sam Bockarie?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: Where?
Wit: He invited me to his bedroom.
Pros: In the bedroom, who was there?
Wit: We met his wife. His wife was in the room.
Pros: Tell us what was said when you spoke to Sam Bockarie.
Wit: At first, it was about the RUF business. The way the RUF had treated him. He said the RUF had been ungrateful to him. From that time that he had left the RUF and he had put a curse on the movement and he would continue to put a curse on the movement. That the movement would never succeed. He said he was sorry for the way he was using us during the war, that the movement would never be successful.
Pros: Who was using you during the war?
Wit: Sam Bockarie. Because he was the commander.
Pros: Any other topic he spoke about?
Wit: Yes. He said he was discouraged because he had just come from the police station and he was in detention for three to four days. I asked why. He said the President Taylor said that he had a lot of pressure from the international community to hand over Sam Bockarie. Sam Bockarie said he would explain Taylor’s relationship with the RUF to the Special Court. After three to four days he was released and returned to his house.
Pros: Did he tell you what happened after he was released?
Wit: He did not tell me about any other thing. I don’t think any other thing happened. He told me that he was worried about his life. He told me that the Pa had a mission for him. When I asked the type of mission he would not disclose that to me.
Pros: Did he tell you why he was worried for his life?
Wit: He said, the Pa said he had a lot of pressure for him to be arrested. That is why he said he was worried for his life. At the same time he said the Pa had a mission for him.
Pros: Did you ever find out what the mission was?
Wit: He did not tell me at the time I was in Monrovia. Later I knew the mission he was talking about.
Pros: How did you find out what the mission was?
Wit: I had returned to Sierra Leone. One morning I heard that Sam Bockarie had killed the second rebel leader, Mr. Phillip Du [ph], in the Ivory Coast. From that announcement I recalled that this was the mission he was talking about.
Judge Sebutinde: Who is the “Pa” that the witness is referring to?
Wit: That is Charles Taylor.
Pros: Second rebel leader of what?
Wit: It was the rebel group that invaded Ivory Coast. He was the deputy rebel leader.
Pros: What was the name of these rebels?
Wit: I did not know it. I did not go there, and I did not know the name of the movement.
Pros: Did Sam Bockarie say anything else to you in the bedroom?
Wit: I think that is where the discussion ended. He took out 100 dollars and handed it to me. I returned to Benjamin Yeaten’s place. [Inaudible].
Pros: Did you see Sam Bockarie again after you saw him in the bedroom?
Wit: No. We did not see each other again.
Pros: Did you learn whether anything happened to Sam Bockarie?
Wit: Yes. Later I heard that Sam Bockarie was dead. So I recalled when he said he was worried for his life. I thought again that Mr. Taylor would never hand that man over. I was not there, but I just concluded that maybe that was why Mr. Taylor killed that man. To keep him from coming to this Court.
Pros: What do you mean by that answer?
Wit: Issa and Sam Bockarie were not on good terms. There were misunderstandings between them. There was no unity between the two of them. They were not on speaking terms.
Pros: What did you do after you left Sam Bockarie’s house?
Wit: I returned to Benjamin’s place.
Pros: You said you were in Monrovia from four to five days. Did you know whether Issa Cesay met with Charles Taylor while you were in Monrovia.
Wit: Yes.
Pros: Where?
Wit: I was at Benjamin Yeaten’s place when they told me they were going to meet Mr. Taylor at the mansion. I did not follow them any longer. The other day it was the same thing.
Pros: Who is they?
Wit: When we arrived in Monrovia, Issa was not there. He came on the second day. He and the Director came to meet with Mr. Taylor. They did not explain to me what transpired.
Pros: How many times did they go?
Wit: Twice. Because we spent three days, and on the fourth day we returned.
Pros: Where did you return?
Wit: We flew back, Issa Cesay and I, to Foya. That was where we left the troops.
Pros: Did you ever find out what took place in the meetings between Issa Cesay and Charles Taylor.
Wit: No.
Pros: How did you travel back to Foya?
Wit: That morning, I saw logistics put in the vehicle in the same field we used to land.
Pros: Where did you see the war materials?
Wit: The dump was at the back of the President’s house. It was not far from the Foreign Minister’s house. That was where the materials were loaded.
Pros: What materials did you see?
Wit: I saw AK rounds. A good number. RPG rockets, too. A good quantity. AK machine guns. New ones. RPG tubes. They too were in good quantity. And I saw grenades and other materials I cannot recall.
Judge Sebutinde: Is this at Foya?
Pros: He said it was at the back of the President’s house.
Wit: It is in Monrovia. The back of the President’s house.
Pros: When you were there and you saw this material, was anyone else present?
Wit: Issa was present. Benjamin Yeaten and his security officers were present. And I saw ZigZag Mahzar, Moni Captain, and other soldiers I cannot recall.
Judge Sebutinde: Is there a difference between logistics and materiel?
Wit: I take them to have the same meanings.
Pros: Who was ZigZag Mahzar?
Wit: ZigZag was one of the President’s security officers.
Pros: Who do you mean by President?
Wit: Mr. Taylor.
Pros: When you saw ZigZag, was that the first time?
Wit: I knew ZigZag. That was not my first time to see him. The first place I knew him was in Liberia, in Foya.
Pros: Did you know anything about ZigZag?
Wit: Well, I didn’t know about ZigZag because we were not very close. We met during that same operation around the Foya area. I saw him and Issa, who received the Indians in Pendembu.
Pros: You gave evidence on Friday about the Indians. Is that what you are referring to?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: What happened with ZigZag.
Wit: During this same military operation we went with Sam Bockarie on the attack. We captured a soldier we all decided to release. In the morning, we went to ZigZag’s place. I saw meat in a pot. He told me it was the man he had killed. I saw some other meat being dried. From that time I feared him. I never saw a human being do that.
Pros: You never saw a human being doing what?
Wit: Eating another human being. That created fear in me.
Pros: You said you saw meat in a pot and meat being dried. Did you see ZigZag do something with the meat?
Wit: Just as we arrived he started eating it. He told us it was the boy from yesterday. He took out the hair.
Judge Sebutinde: What do you mean “this was the boy yesterday”?
Wit: The soldier we had captured.
Pros: You said he did something with a head. What did he do?
Wit: The head was not cooked. We saw it raw. He just showed it to us an example that it was the guy previously.
Pros: When you saw the head, did you recognize it?
Wit: Yes. If somebody was just killed, you can usually identify that person. I was able to identify him.
Pros: What group was this soldier with?
Wit: The LURD forces.
Pros: Was that head attached to a body?
Wit: No.
Pros: I take you back to the materials at the back of White Flower. What happened to that material?
Wit: I saw the materials being loaded into two vehicles. One van and a Jeep.
Pros: Who loaded the materials?
Wit: Boys. ZigZag’s bodyguards.
Pros: What happened to the material?
Wit: We moved. We were called and we went on board the other vehicle. When they had loaded the materials they brought another jeep. We went to that vehicle and went to the field.
Pros: Who went?
Wit: I was there. Issa Cesay and the Director, too. We went in the vehicle that had no materials in it.
Pros: Where did ZigZag go?
Wit: They were together with the materials. In that vehicle.
Pros: Who is they?
Wit: ATUs and ZigZag.
Pros: Which field did you go to?
Wit: The center of the town. I cannot recall because it was my second time in Monrovia. It was the same field we used to land.
Pros: You mentioned ATUs. What are ATUs?
Wit: That was one of the units. Anti-Terrorist Units. They were the ones I used to see at the mansion.
Pros: Do you know the names of any ATUs in the vehicle?
Wit: No. They were strange to me.
Pros: What happened after you got to the field?
Wit: The materials were taken out and transferred to the helicopter. I was concerned why this quantity of materials when there was peace in Sierra Leone. I was not happy about that but I did not ask.
Pros: Why didn’t you ask?
Wit: In the military it is a soldier war. There was no need for me to ask. If I had asked, I was just a junior man.
Pros: What happened next?
Wit: After the transfer of materials, we entered the helicopter and we took off. Some soldiers were in the helicopter with the ATU boys. Director did not go with us.
Pros: Where did you go to?
Wit: We landed in Foya.
Pros: What happened after you landed in Foya?
Wit: We loaded all the materials in the vehicles. We waited until the evening.
Pros: Why did you wait?
Wit: We were afraid that they will see us.
Pros: Why were you concerned that they would see you?
Wit: They had come for peace and disarmament had started in some areas. We had a fear that if they had seen us with that quantity of materials. The commander told us to wait until night.
Pros: Who was the commander?
Wit: Issa Cesay.
Pros: When night arrived what happened?
Wit: We moved. First we came to Buedu. And later we moved to Kailahun. For me, they left me in Pendembu because that was my base and they continued their journey.
Pros: Why was that material brought to Sierra Leone?
Wit: At that moment I did not ask, but I was concerned. Later I knew.
Pros: Who told you?
Wit: Issa Cesay.
Pros: What did you tell you?
Wit: I was at my base in Pendembu. He invited me to Kono and told me about the mission and the reason why the materials were brought. He said Mr. Taylor had given the materials to attack Indians from two flanks. Even the money he had told me about was for that mission.
Pros: What money?
Wit: The trip that we went on, we brought with us 50,000 dollars. He gave us 50,000 dollars that we brought from Monrovia.
Pros: Who gave you 50,000 dollars?
Wit: He said President Taylor had given us the money and the materials.
Pros: Who had he given it to?
Wit: Issa Cesay.
Pros: Did you ever see the money?
Wit: He told me there was money in the bag.
Pros: When you learned what the money and materials were for, what was your reaction?
Wit: In the first place, he told me that Kailahun District that I was controlling. He said Mr. Taylor had given us a mission to get Guinea from two flanks. That was the money and materials. So I did not refuse. I accepted.
Pros: What did you do after you accepted?
Wit: He told me to come and inform the other commanders so that we would be able to prepare men to be ready. I invited the officers, we had a meeting, and all of us were in the meeting. I told them I was not happy about it, and the men who were there supported me.
Pros: Did that mission take place?
Wit: Well, no. From that day, Foday Sankoh’s bodyguard, with whom we had discussed together because we had been told to meet with Moriba Koroma, to meet with Ben Canneh. The following day I heard that disarmament had started in Kailahun.
Pros: The trip you went to Monrovia where you obtained materials took place sometime after May 2000. Right?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: How long after May that this mission was to take place?
Wit: It was at the end of 2000 that this mission took place. Around August or September.
Pros: When did the meeting take place with Canneh?
Wit: In 2000. I cannot recall the exact date now.
Pros: What do you call the end of 2000?
Wit: Just after the first six months. The second half of the year.
Presiding Judge Doherty: What organization did Koroma and Canneh belong to?
Wit: Koroma was a Black Guard.
Pros: What was the Black Guard?
Wit: Black Guard were the special bodyguards. They were Sankoh’s bodyguards.
Pros: What about Canneh?
Wit: He was with another security branch that used to give information to the leader.
Defense Counsel Munyard: Are the meeting and the mission two separate things?
Pros: You have referred to a mission. You said you were not happy. Then you referred to a meeting that took place.
Wit: The meeting was different from the mission. It was the mission that brought about the meeting. I called a meeting to explain what my commander had told me.
Pros: As a result of the meeting, what happened?
Wit: It was innate that we discuss that we should not accept participating in that mission. He said we should not disarm. The following day the disarmament started.
Pros: Who is he?
Wit: I was talking about Issa Cesay.
Pros: Did he say why you should not disarm?
Defense Counsel Munyard: I am still confused about mission.
Pros: What mission was discussed during the meeting?
Wit: He told me Mr. Taylor had sent materials for the mission. He said we were to attack there from two flanks.
Pros: Who told you that Mr. Taylor had said this?
Wit: Issa Cesay.
Pros: The meeting concerning the mission. Did the mission take place?
Wit: Yes, it took place later?
Pros: When?
Wit: It was around 2001 that the mission took place. I did not take part in that mission.
Pros: Any idea when around 2001?
Wit: No. I cannot recall.
Pros: Why did you not take part?
Wit: After the disarmament, the following day we went to Kailahun from Pendembu. She, Roja [Roger?], held a meeting with us and congratulated us for the disarmament.
Pros: Was there a mission in August or September of 2000?
Wit: No, the meeting.
Pros: Are you saying the meeting took place in August or September of 2000 and the mission took place some time in 2001?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: Why was it you did not take part in the mission?
Wit: I was not ready to have a bad name. So I told him. I was not willing to take part in that mission.
Pros: When you said you would not take part, what happened?
Wit: Nothing happened at that time. I stood my ground.
Pros: Did you remain with the RUF?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: How long?
Wit: Until the end of the disarmament. Right up to the elections in 2002.
Pros: Did you leave the RUF in 2002?
Wit: Yes. Because at that time we lost the elections. Everybody was about his own business.
Pros: [Shows photograph at Tab 1.]
Judge Sebutinde: What became of the materials that were brought from Monrovia on this occasion?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: What?
Wit: At that time I was in Pendembu, but the mission still went on. They took people from other areas. I did not go there, but I knew that the mission went from the two flanks they had spoken about. On that mission they used the materials.
Pros: The mission that took place at some time in 2001?
Wit: Yes. That was the last mission.
Judge Sebutinde: How do you know the materials were the ones used in that mission?
Wit: Issa Cesay told me the materials were for that mission.
Pros: Have a look at the photograph. Do you recognize both of the men?
Wit: Very well. I know both of them.
Pros: Who is the man with the white shirt with the two stripes?
Wit: This is Jungle.
Pros: And who is the other man?
Wit: That is General Issa Cesay.
Pros: Can you take a pen and move to the photograph and write the name “Jungle” next to the man in the photograph who is Jungle.
Wit: No, I cannot.
Pros: What about Issa Cesay?
Wit: No, I cannot.
Pros: [Shows witness photograph at Tab 2.] Do you recognize the men?
Wit: I know the name of one. I recognize two of them, but I know the name for just one.
Pros: What is the name of the person you recognize?
Wit: It is Benjamin Yeaten. That’s the one whose name I know. He has the cap and something like a Motorola phone. That is Benjamin Yeaten.
Pros: Can you circle the person you referred to as Benjamin Yeaten?
Judge Sebutinde: [Notes issue with exhibits.]
Wit: [Circles person on photograph who he referred to as Benjamin Yeaten.]
Pros: [Shows the witness two documents from the folder.] The first document, do you recognize what is shown?
Wit: Yes.
Pros: What is it?
Wit: This document was prepared at the time I joined the people who were organizing the peace, CMC (Ceasefire Monitoring Committee). They had recruited me and I represented them. [This document is a copy of the front of an ID card.]
Pros: And the second document, is that a copy of the back of your ID card?
[Documents marked for identification.]
Defense Counsel Munyard: Clearly, the court will want the original and not a photocopy.
Presiding Judge Doherty: We do not have a best evidence rule, but I will ask about the origin of the document.
Pros: The witness has the original but chooses to retain it. Do you have it with you?
Wit: It is with me where I am seated here.
Pros: Can you take it out?
Wit: Yes. [Takes out ID card for the bench.]
Judge Sebutinde: It is good practice to show an original to the bench.
[Judges confer regarding the ID card.]
Judge Sebutinde: The first photograph that you said you do not intend to tender. The witness’s evidence is not anywhere if this photograph is not exhibited.
Pros: [Shows the witness the exhibit.]
[Witness re-identifies Jungle and Issa Cesay in the first photograph.]
Defense Counsel Munyard: Is it the practice to have documents that are shown a number of times to be exhibited or merely marked for identification?
Judge Lussick: I would have thought it would be up to the good judgment of counsel.
Pros: We agree with Judge Lussick. It should be tendered the first time it is produced.
Presiding Judge Doherty: We concur with Judge Lussick. It would be best served if marked as an exhibit when first served and not to issue multiple MFIs. Every case, however, must be dealt with on its own merits.
Pros: No further questions.
Wit: Thank you, too.
Defense Counsel Munyard: I would like to go back to something. Your activities around the time of the disarmament process. You told us there was a meeting and the entire Kailahun district was not in favor of the mission to go to Guinea so you stood your ground and you remained with the RUF until 2002. We just saw this card issued on 24 January 2000, valid until 24 June 2000. Does that mean your card was valid from January 2000 until June 2000?
Wit: Yes. That was the first mission. If it was to continue, it would be added.
Def: Please avoid the use of “mission”. Let’s focus on what you actually did. You were issued this card in January 2000.
Wit: Yes.
Def: You were already involved in discussions with the CMC prior to when you were issued the ID card on 24 January?
Wit: That was the day I started the job.
Def: How did you become involved with CMC? Had there been some discussions?
Wit: Well, they requested from all factions. It was not just the RUF. Even the AFRC, CDF. I was the one who was appointed to represent the South.
Def: When did the discussions start prior to when you were issued the card?
Wit: December.
Def: In December, did you know your name was being put forward?
Wit: Yes.
Def: Was the understanding that you had that there was going to be a ceasefire or had it already happened?
Wit: Yes. There was already ceasefire in December.
Def: There was a ceasefire in place. What were you doing in the RUF from the time of the ceasefire until the trip to Monrovia you spoke of?
Wit: Well, it was a movement and the movement belonged to us. I was part and parcel of the RUF. This one, CMC, was an appointment. I should be around to build up confidence. It was a result of giving confidence to our men and the people that they decided to put me to the CMC. That I should serve as the regional representative from the South. I should be around the UN representatives as long as it was in the RUF zone and to show that they are not bad people that they were for peace.
Def: You weren’t involved in any combat from the time of the ceasefire in December 1999?
Wit: At all, no.
Def: Or anywhere?
Wit: Well, I took part in Liberia because ceasefire monitoring was not working any longer.
Def: What do you mean by that?
Wit: First and foremost, the time had expired and the ceasefire monitoring team was not working any longer. The government was hunting us.
Def: At some point after your CMC card expired on 24 June 2000, the ceasefire had broken down and your RUF colleagues were put in jail. Is that what you are saying?
Wit: Just after the incidents in Freetown we were no longer working with the CMC.
Judge Sebutinde: What incidents?
Wit: There was a problem with Foday Sankoh in Freetown.
Def: When?
Wit: I recall it was around July or August. Around July.
Def: How long were you in combat in Liberia?
Wit: I was not there more than two weeks.
Def: And was it just Liberia?
Wit: Yes.
Def: And then where did you go?
Wit: From Liberia I returned to Sierra Leone, Pendembu.
Def: What did you do in Pendembu?
Wit: That was my assignment area, where I was based. I was there waiting for the disarmament to commence.
Def: Commence or recommence?
Wit: When I went to Liberia I was still the brigade commander.
Def: Did disarmament recommence after you came back from Liberia to Pendembu?
Wit: Yes. At that time we had not yet disarmed. It was after my return from Liberia that disarmament took place.
Presiding Judge Doherty: Which trip to Liberia are we talking about?
Def: We are talking about a combat mission, aren’t we?
Wit: Yes.
Def: You had been to Monrovia and seem Sam Bockarie at his house sometime in May. Is that correct?
Wit: Yes. It was not in May. I did not visit Sam Bockarie in May. It was May that we went on a mission. It was during that time that I left there and went to Monrovia to visit Sam Bockarie.
[Defense Counsel Munyard clarifies the timeline of events.]
Def: So, this is the sequence. But when is this meeting that takes place when all of Kailahun refused to follow an order about disarmament. What month in 2000?
Wit: It was around August or September in Pendembu. At that time we had returned from Monrovia.
Def: What were you doing in May 2000?
Wit: In May 2000, I was working with CMC. During early May 2000.
Def: Then there is the mission, followed by the trip to Monrovia. You come back from that and get involved in disarmament. Is that the sequence?
Wit: Yes. Year 2000.
Def: And you stayed with the RUF right up until the elections in 2002?
Wit: Yes.
Def: In the meantime, this mission that Issa Cesay wanted you to go on to Guinea took place in 2001, but you did not take part?
Wit: I did not take part.
Def: [Presents documents to the Court.] You told us last week you went to school up to year six. Correct?
Wit: Yes.
Def: How old were you when you left?
Wit: 1968-1980.
Def: You were born in 1968. Can you remember what year you went to school?
Wit: No.
Def: How old were you when you first went to school?
Wit: Well, I should be able to know the year before I would know the age.
Def: You went to school up to year six?
Wit: Yes, sir.
Def: So, how old were you when you were in year one?
Wit: I don’t want to guess. If I recalled the first time you asked me I would know the year I went to school.
Def: Can you help us at all, even with a rough estimate?
Judge Sebutinde: Maybe try and work backward.
Def: How old were you when you left school?
Wit: Well, I was born in 1968 and I left school in 1980.
Def: What sort of school was it? A local school or a mission school?
Wit: It was an Islamic primary school.
Def: In what language were you taught?
Wit: First and foremost we used Arabic, and next English.
Def: So you learned to read?
Wit: Yes.
Def: In both Arabic and English?
Wit: Yes.
Def: Did you learn to write in both Arabic and English?
Wit: Yes.
Presiding Judge Doherty: We are now going to break for half an hour. We will resume at 12:00 p.m.