LIBERIA: War rapists must face justice, victims need more help, says Amnesty

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

DAKAR, 15 Dec 2004 (IRIN) - More than a year after the curtain fell on Liberia's 14-year conflict, no one has been prosecuted for the many wartime cases of rape and sexual abuse, Amnesty International said, calling on the government and the international community to swiftly bring the criminals to justice and provide more help for the victims.

"Despite the prevalence of sexual violence during the conflict, not only has no-one been prosecuted but it also remains unclear if, how and when those responsible will ever face justice," the human rights group said in a report, published on Tuesday.

"Lasting peace will not be achieved in Liberia unless those responsible for crimes under international law are held criminally responsible, truth is established and victims obtain full reparations."

Amnesty quoted preliminary figures from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which indicated that about two out of three Liberians had suffered some form of sexual violence during the conflict.

The attacks included rape, gang-rape, the insertion of foreign objects and being stripped and put on public display, and although women and girls had borne the brunt of the combatants' attacks, men and boys were also victims.

UNDP began its three-month sexual violence study, based on a random sampling of 4,000 people, in March. A UNDP spokesman in Liberia said the final results had not yet been released.

In its report, Amnesty found victims of sexual violence across the West African nation. It said sexual crimes had been carried out by combatants from all three armed factions -- fighters loyal to former president Charles Taylor, members of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, and combatants belonging to the Movement for Democracy in Liberia.

"I was pregnant and running away," one 29-year-old woman told Amnesty representatives. "Three government soldiers caught me and raped me. They beat me and my unborn baby died."

Bringing the perpetrators to justice will be difficult in a country where most courts no longer function and much of the infrastructure has been destroyed or looted, Amnesty noted.

It said that one example for Liberia to follow might be found in neighbouring Sierra Leone, which suffered its own brutal decade-long war, and has since set up a UN-backed Special Court to try those who bear the greatest responsibility for crimes against humanity, including rape and sexual slavery.

Amnesty said Liberia's interim government, which took over after an August 2003 peace deal and will shepherd the nation to elections in October 2005, must come up with a clear policy to deal with those who had raped and sexually abused their countrymen.

And the UN, international donors and the World Bank should provide sufficient funds to help Liberia develop an effective justice system, it said.

The human rights group said sending a clear signal would prevent further crimes being committed and warned that women remained at risk, particularly in camps for Liberians who had been forced to flee their homes during the conflict and who had still not returned.

As far as helping the victims of the wartime assaults, equally big hurdles remain.

"Two men raped me. I am bleeding all the time. I haven't been to hospital. There is no medical care," a 35-year-old woman from the western county, Bomi, told Amnesty representatives.

Earlier this year the UN and Liberia's interim government estimated that less than 10 percent of the 3 million people living in this heavily-forested nation had access to any kind of healthcare. And Amnesty said not much had changed.

"The provision of health facilities including hospitals... is among the worst in the world," Tuesday's report said, again urging donors to deliver funds they had promised in February so that the country could get back on its feet.

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