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Not only in Liberia
Ritual Killing Sierra Leone (7 cases registered here)

Freedom of fear is a human right
Rule of law an obligation of the state

 


 
  1. In Kailahun Two year-old Boy killed in ritual murder
    The grandparents and the mother of Sao Bockarie aged 2 years allegedly killed in a ritual murder in a Cocoa farm in Kanga village in the Kissi Tongi Chiefdom Kailahun District are now in custody as Police intensify search for the corpse.
    (...)
    According to reports the two suspects Jenneh Kamara the wife and grandmother and Mr. Jusu Kamara the grandfather who are now in police custody in Kailahun town have admitted killing the boy after consulting a traditional herbalist who instructed them to perform human sacrifice in the cocoa plantation to make it very productive and make them very wealthy.
    (...)
    July 2009
     
  2. Ritual Murder Alleged At Moyamba
    A six year old girl, Isata Kamara, was found floating in a stream by Gbandahun village. Her pubic hair and vagina had been removed. Her mother, Fatmata Deen, Adama Smart and a section chief of the village, Mondeh Foday are currently helping police with investigations.
    (...)
    Local Unit Commander J.M. Kargbo, said the three people could not satisfactorily explain how the girl came to be killed.
    August 28, 2009
     
  3. Police Investigating Ritual Killings
    Sierra Leone police, in the provincial towns of Moyamba and Kambia in the south and north of the country respectively, are busy investigating two unexplained ritual murders. Police source states that an unidentified corpse was discovered in Gbangbatoke, lower Banta Chiefdom, Moyamba District while another corpse identified as Tara Wurie was discovered at the back of a house in Tombo Wala Village, Mambolo Chiefdom, in the Kambia District.

    According to an investigating officer a resident of Tombo Wala village, Alusine Turay reported that he discovered the corpse at about 5am when he was heading for the village mosque for the early morning (“suba”) prayers. In the Moyamba incident, several human body parts were missing from the discovered corpse, including the tongue, heart, left breast and sexual organ.
    (...)
    The issue of ritual murder does not seem to be new in this part of the country, especially during elections. About a week ago the corpse of a 42 year old woman presumed to have been gang raped was discovered in Makeni town, north of the country close to a popular palm wine drinking bar. Alhaji Tokowa in the Kenema District in the early 1990s killed his niece, cutting off her genital and other parts for a preparation of a charm that he said would bring him good luck in his diamond mining venture.

    Often during elections parents advice their children to watch their steps as politicians would be in need of human parts solely for rituals used as charm to enhance political success. (...)
    February 10, 2009
     
  4. 14 held for alleged ritual murder
    Fourteen people, including several tribal chiefs, have been arrested in connection with an alleged ritual murder of a young woman in southern Sierra Leone, authorities said Monday.
    (...)
    According to police, the body of a young woman was found last week in Gbangbatoke, Moyamba District, in the south. The corpse was missing its heart, tongue, breasts and sexual organs.

    "We believe this is a ritual murder and we are investigating," a senior police official linked with the probe told AFP.

    Observers say ritual murders and cannibalism are rampant in the West African country and usually occur before key elections. Those who carry out the gruesome acts believe that killing their victims, particularly virgins and children, will give them mystical powers.

    "Between 1992 to 2007 ritual murders became so rampant because politicians interfered with investigations and prosecutions of the crime," Resident Minister in charge of Southern Province Musa Tarawalli said Monday.
    (...)
    Since the 1960s, several people have been sentenced and executed for ritual murder and cannibalism.
    January 20, 2009
     
  5. Sierra Leone: Twenty Year-Old Murdered
    Police are investigating the brutal killing of a twenty year -old girl Aminata Kai Conteh which took place on July 13 at a village near Songo 30 miles from the capital Freetown.
    According to police reports, a boy called Aruna went to Aminata's residence at Newton 24 miles from Freetown and told her that her grandmother, who lived near Songo, had bought five jerry cans of palm oil for her. Aminata , who is a petty business woman, left her residence and travelled with Aruna but never returned home. Her dismembered corpse was discovered on the outskirts of Maseilor Village in Songo on July 14. Her skull was observed to be dented and the head had several machete slashes. Aruna has not been apprehended for interrogation. He is reported to be on the run.

    Ritual murder has become prevalent in the country and the law has been observed not to be proprerly enforced so as to minimise the crime.
    In a related incident, the mutilated corpse of a man believed to be insane was found on the street a week ago at Mountain Cut in the east of the capital Freetown. There have been calls for police to intensify their investigation and bring culprits to book when such crimes are committed. Many people now live in perpetual fear.
    "You do not whether you will be the next victim and there is no guarantee that police will apprehend your killer after your death", says Isatu Kamara a trader at Calabatown who witnessed the horrible crime at Mountain Cut.
    Source: The Independent (Freetown)
    August 1, 2007 (original source no longer accessible)
     
  6. Freetown - A Sierra Leonean court sentenced a 70-year-old man to death on Wednesday for the ritual murder of a seven-year-old boy whose heart and other organs were removed.
    September 11, 2002

Memorandum to a cannibal
- Mercenary leader recalls horrific habits of Sierra Leone enemy

This report explores the rampant cannibalism in Sierra Leone the mercenaries (=Sandline and Executive Outcomes) encountered while waging war there (...).

CAPE TOWN, South Africa –"There is a lot of cannibalism in Sierra Leone," said Bert Sachse, a 34-year veteran of the South African special forces and commander of the mercenary war during the mid-1990s in the troubled West African nation.

"If you capture the enemy, you want to interrogate them. For the Sierra Leone army, they wanted to eat the heart and or other vital organs of their enemies. We would have to fly out the prisoners we wanted to interrogate on the helicopters back to Freetown so they wouldn't be eaten. The MI-17 would fly over and the Sierra Leone soldiers would look up and say, 'There goes dinner.' They would look upset. In certain parts of Sierra Leone cannibalism is rife."

Sandline and Executive Outcomes were the mercenary organizations, located in South Africa and London, for whom Sachse and his men worked.

Another Sandline soldier interviewed by WorldNetDaily commented, "One can only image the Sierra Leone soldiers eating the heart and other organs of an RUF prisoner. I have a mental picture of a soldier holding a heart in his mouth, and another eating a hand and Bert Sachse asking them, 'How many times do we have to tell you not to eat the prisoners before we interrogate them? Didn't you get the memo?'"
(...)
In the 1990s, America's agenda in Sierra Leone was to contain Charles Taylor's influence and to keep the conflict from interfering with the already volatile situation in Nigeria. 
(...)
All of this occurred during the aforementioned RUF's horrendous "No Living Thing" operation, in which the murder and cutting off of the limbs of children was at its height. It lasted four months, and RUF soldiers cut off the ears, arms, hands and feet of thousands. Many children were killed, at least 5,000. Over 150,000 had no homes. About four-fifths of Freetown's buildings were burned to the ground including, hospitals, clinics, schools and churches.
(...)
It is hoped this report will help to bring out more of the truth about the embattled history of Sierra Leone.
October 19, 2004 

The lengthy report contains a wealth of information on this sad episode of Sierra Leone's history (FvdK).

 

 
 
 

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