Facts
During the first Liberian civil war (1989-1996), Kosiah joined the armed group ULIMO, which comprised supporters of former president Samuel Doe. The ULIMO carried out attacks against former Liberian president Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia.
According to his judgment, Kosiah ordered or participated in the murder of civilians and soldiers hors de combat, desecrated the corpse of a civilian, raped a civilian, ordered the cruel treatment of civilians, recruited and used a child soldier, ordered several pillages and ordered and/or participated in forced transports of goods and ammunition by civilians. He committed these crimes between March 1993 and the end of 1995 as commander of the ULIMO.
At the end of the Liberian Civil War in 1997, Kosiah moved to Switzerland, where he obtained permanent resident status.
Procedure
In July and August 2014, seven Liberian victims, assisted by the NGO Civitas Maxima, filed a complaint in Switzerland against Kosiah for his participation in war crimes and systematic killings committed between 1993 and 1995 in Lofa County (northwestern Liberia). An investigation for war crimes was opened in August 2014.
On 10 November 2014, Kosiah was arrested in Switzerland. On 13 November 2014, a Swiss judge decided to hold him in pre-trial detention.
On 22 March 2019, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Switzerland presented an indictment against Kosiah to the Federal Criminal Court, alleging that Kosiah violated the laws of war as a member of a military faction in the 1989-1996 Liberian war, including through acts of sexual violence, recruitment of child soldiers, lootings, ordering and participating in the forced movement of looted goods and ammunitions, forcing civilians to work in cruel conditions, ordering and committing murders and carrying out acts of cannibalism.
The trial was due to begin in April 2020 but was postponed four times because of Covid-19. It eventually began on 3 December 2020, and from 15 February to 5 March 2021, the plaintiffs and the witnesses were heard, and the lawyers made their final pleadings.
On 18 June 2021, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona found Kosiah guilty of 21 counts of war crimes, including ordering the killing of 13 civilians and two unarmed soldiers; murdering four civilians; raping a civilian; ordering the cruel treatment of seven civilians; infringing upon the dignity of a deceased civilian; repeatedly ordering the cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment of several civilians; repeatedly inflicting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on several civilians; repeated ordering to loot; and using a child soldier in armed hostilities.
The four counts of war crimes for which Kosiah was acquitted include recruiting a child soldier; attempted murder of a civilian; complicity in a civilian murder; and giving orders to loot in one instance.
Kosiah was sentenced to 20 years in prison, from which his over six years of pre-trial detention will be deducted, and he was ordered to pay over CHF 50’000 to the seven plaintiffs who testified against him.
On 2 September 2022, following the plaintiffs’ appeal regarding the inclusion of charges of crimes against humanity, the OAG filed an amended indictment against Kosiah to include charges of crimes against humanity.
The appeal hearing began on 11 January 2023 and lasted until 3 February 2023 at the Swiss Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona, Ticino.
On 1 June 2023, the Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court confirmed the first instance proceedings sentence and found Kosiah guilty of multiple counts of war crimes of murder, rape, inhumane treatment, looting and the use of child soldiers and added to the conviction multiple counts of the crime against humanity of murder.
Highlight
Kosiah is the very first former ULIMO member to be arrested and charged with international crimes committed during the Liberian Civil War. He is the first person to be tried and convicted for war crimes in a non-military criminal court in Switzerland. Alieu Kosiah is also the first person to be convicted of crimes against humanity in Switzerland.