The majority of the 7 Liberian victims who filed criminal complaints against Alieu Kosiah in Switzerland are represented by Alain Werner, Swiss lawyer and Director of Civitas Maxima. Civitas Maxima has been working since 2012 with the Monrovia-based Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP) to document crimes committed during the wars by all warring factions and find avenues for accountability.

The victims directly implicate Mr. Kosiah as having participated in mass atrocities including systematic killings committed against civilians between 1993 and 1995 in Lofa County, in northwestern Liberia. ULIMO occupied large parts of Lofa County, where they instilled a reign of terror in areas under their control.

Until now, the Liberian authorities have made no effort to investigate and prosecute crimes committed during over a decade of civil war, which claimed over 150 000 lives, most of them civilians.

Hassan Bility, the Monrovia-based Director of the GJRP commented: “The news of Martina Johnson’s arrest in Belgium gave hope to thousands of Liberian victims that justice can be a reality. This second arrest is a milestone as it is the first case ever against an ULIMO commander and it reinforces the Liberian demand for impartial justice for all victims. We are unbiased in our documentation of war crimes and we believe that former commanders of all rebel factions who committed crimes during the wars in Liberia need to be held accountable, without exception.”

He continued, “Even though Liberia is struggling with Ebola, the victims’ yearning for justice cannot be silenced.”