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33-602: The AFRC was formed by Major Johnny Paul Koroma of the Sierra Leonean military in 1997, who used it to carry out a coup d'etat against the government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah . The former Sierra Leone Army ("ex-SLA") is a term used to refer to soldiers loyal to the AFRC. Several rationales have been suggested for the coup, including: anger at the government for not implementing the November 1996 peace agreement with

66-401: A former member of Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group; and a protected witness —testified that while they had not witnessed Koroma's execution, Taylor had told them about it. In October 2010, Taylor's defense team filed a motion to have these testimonies removed as evidence, alleging that the prosecution had bribed the three witnesses, but this motion was rejected

99-574: A joint military junta controlling the country. However, in March 1998 the AFRC/RUF was forced out of Freetown by an invading West African force that put President Kabbah back in power. However, the rebels according to their respective origins, RUF and ex-SLA, under the renewed pressure, with a force of ex-SLA based in the Occra Hills , 50 km from the capital. The rebel AFRC regrouped to retake

132-629: A village in Liberia's Lofa County . However, Stephen Rapp , the Special Court's prosecutor, noted that DNA tests on the remains found in Lofa County did not match Koroma's DNA. As of 2010, many still believe Koroma was executed somewhere in Lofa at the hands of former President Charles Taylor of Liberia. Three witnesses—former Vice President Moses Blah of Liberia; Joseph Zig Zag Marzah,

165-610: The British army that were training West African peacekeepers in July 2000, and was subsequently destroyed by British forces in a September raid that freed the hostages. While many of the combatants who were under the command of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council continued to fight, the "AFRC" designation gradually ceased to become useful and the AFRC organization is no longer considered to exist. After

198-499: The Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG). It was no longer a coherent and effective organization by the elections of 2002. The AFRC was formed by Major Johnny Paul Koroma of the Sierra Leonean military in 1997, who used it to carry out a coup d'etat against the government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah . The former Sierra Leone Army ("ex-SLA") is a term used to refer to soldiers loyal to

231-634: The Limba people, Koroma began his military career in 1985, and quickly rose through the ranks of the Sierra Leonean army. Following the start of the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1991, Koroma commanded government forces against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel group. As the war continued, he was arrested in 1996 after being suspected of plotting a coup against President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah . The following year, he

264-662: The AFRC to demobilize. By 2000, Koroma no longer held significant influence over the RUF leadership, as evidenced by the involvement of ex-AFRC members (from a splinter group called the West Side Boys ) in defending towns in Port Loko District against a renewed RUF offensive in May 2000. In August 2000, Koroma officially disbanded the AFRC and sought to consolidate his position by forming a political party. In early 2002,

297-450: The AFRC, and RUF forces who had been fighting in the countryside linked up with AFRC forces in the capital Freetown . Sankoh was named Vice-Chairman of the AFRC and several other RUF leaders were named to high positions. The AFRC and RUF thus formed a joint military junta controlling the country. However, in March 1998 the AFRC/RUF was forced out of Freetown by an invading West African force that put President Kabbah back in power. However,

330-502: The AFRC. Several rationales have been suggested for the coup, including: anger at the government for not implementing the November 1996 peace agreement with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), perceived ethnic discrimination in the appointment of the highest ranks of government, perceived financial neglect of the armed forces, and favoritism for the ethnic Mende Kamajors led by Samuel Hinga Norman . Following

363-623: The RUF/AFRC from power. On 6 February 1998, ECOMOG forces invaded key locations in the Western Area, removing the RUF/AFRC entirely by 12 February. On 1 March, ECOMOG forces commenced operations in provincial Sierra Leone, removing the RUF/AFRC from every key town except Kailahun (in the far east of the country). By December 1998, RUF/AFRC forces had reversed this position, and they entered Freetown in January 1999. Failing to hold territory,

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396-583: The RUF/AFRC retreated into the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The leadership of the RUF oversaw negotiations with the government of Sierra Leone that led to the signing of the Lomé Peace Accord on 7 July 1999. Koroma was cut out of the negotiations, and the AFRC did not benefit from the substantive provisions of the agreement. Nevertheless, Koroma participated in the disarmament process, encouraging those SLA soldiers who had joined

429-513: The Revolutionary United Front (RUF), perceived ethnic discrimination in the appointment of the highest ranks of government, perceived financial neglect of the armed forces, and favoritism for the ethnic Mende Kamajors led by Samuel Hinga Norman . Following the coup, in May 1997 the AFRC demanded that the Nigerian -led West African peacekeeping force then in the country release the arrested RUF leader Foday Sankoh . Sankoh gave his blessing to

462-443: The Special Court found three of the eleven people indicted – Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu – guilty of war crimes , including acts of terrorism , collective punishments , extermination, murder , rape , outrages upon personal dignity, conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces, enslavement and pillage. It was notably the first-ever international court to bring

495-418: The age of 15 years into armed forces, enslavement and pillage. It was notably the first-ever international court to bring a guilty verdict for the military conscription of children. Johnny Paul Koroma Major Johnny Paul Koroma (9 May 1960 – 1 June 2003/11 August 2017) was a Sierra Leonean military officer who was the head of state of Sierra Leone from May 1997 to February 1998. A member of

528-541: The capital in January 1999, but was again forced out by the Nigerian-led force. By 1999, the authority of the AFRC and Major Koroma over the ex-SLA had become very uncertain and the AFRC is commonly seen as devolving into bands of loosely associated combatants. The West Side Boys rebel group are sometimes referred to as an AFRC splinter group. The West Side Boys abducted several soldiers of the British army that were training West African peacekeepers in July 2000, and

561-546: The capital. He is from the same ethnic group as former presidents Siaka Stevens and Joseph Saidu Momoh . He joined the Sierra Leonean army in 1985 and was sent to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England in 1988 to train as an officer . He returned to Sierra Leone the next year and was promoted to platoon commander , and soon thereafter to company commander . He continued to move up

594-445: The coup, in May 1997 the AFRC demanded that the Nigerian -led West African peacekeeping force then in the country release the arrested RUF leader Foday Sankoh . Sankoh gave his blessing to the AFRC, and RUF forces who had been fighting in the countryside linked up with AFRC forces in the capital Freetown . Sankoh was named Vice-Chairman of the AFRC and several other RUF leaders were named to high positions. The AFRC and RUF thus formed

627-473: The folding of AFRC, Koroma's supporters have organized the Peace and Liberation Party . In June 2007, the Special Court found three of the eleven people indicted – Alex Tamba Brima, Brima Bazzy Kamara and Santigie Borbor Kanu – guilty of war crimes , including acts of terrorism , collective punishments , extermination, murder , rape , outrages upon personal dignity, conscripting or enlisting children under

660-454: The following month. Koroma allegedly died on 10 or 11 August 2017 in his home village of Binkolo . Armed Forces Revolutionary Council The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council ( AFRC ) was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the capital by an international military intervention of

693-608: The government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations signed a bilateral treaty establishing the Special Court for Sierra Leone , mandated to try those who "bear the greatest responsibility" for crimes against humanity , war crimes , and other serious violations of international humanitarian law . According to the indictment, the RUF/AFRC, under the orders of Koroma, had led armed attacks in Sierra Leone in which

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726-560: The government, though this never happened. After the coup in 1997, Koroma was named head of state and chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). He invited the leadership of the Revolutionary United Front to join the AFRC, which they promptly did. To maintain order, he suspended the constitution, banned demonstrations and abolished all political parties . The AFRC coup was accompanied by an explosion of violence against civilians throughout

759-650: The ladder, and in 1994, he went to the Teshi Military College in Ghana for training in army command. Koroma received military training in Nigeria and the United Kingdom . He commanded government forces who were fighting against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel army led by the warlord Foday Sankoh . In August 1996, he was arrested for alleged involvement in a coup plot against

792-456: The main highway into Freetown and around Freetown International Airport . Koroma immediately sought to ease the situation, seeking mediation , which resulted in the signing of a peace accord in late October 1997 in Conakry, Guinea . Almost immediately, violations of the peace accord were perpetrated by all sides in the complex conflict. By January 1998, ECOMOG forces were preparing to oust

825-512: The nation. The key strategic change was that the RUF had immediate access throughout the country, something they had failed to achieve through six years of military action. Koroma cited corruption , erosion of state sovereignty , over-dependence on foreign nations, and leaders' failure to address tensions between the SLA and government-backed tribal militia movements (in particular the Kamajors ) as

858-616: The pretext for the coup. Koroma's story was consistent with that of the AFRC, which cited the failure of the Abidjan Peace Accord struck between the government of Sierra Leone and the RUF on 30 November 1996. By 2 June 1997, the RUF/AFRC found itself at odds with Nigerian forces, which were deployed unilaterally under the Economic Community of West African States ' Ceasefire Monitoring Group ( ECOMOG ) and its mandate of August 1997. The Nigerians were stationed in and around Freetown's Western Area , trading mortar fire along

891-496: The primary targets included civilians , humanitarian aid workers , and UN peacekeeping forces . These attacks served the purpose of terrorizing the population as a form of punishment for not supporting rebel activities. They included such crimes as looting , murder , mutilations , sexual violence , and rape . Child soldiers were conscripted, and women and girls were kidnapped to be raped or turned into sex slaves . Men and boys were also abducted and forced to work or fight for

924-808: The rebel groups. On 7 March 2003, the prosecutor of the Special Court issued his first indictments . For his role in the RUF/AFRC, Koroma was among them. He fled Freetown in December, reportedly to Liberia . On 1 June 2003, he was officially declared dead under mysterious circumstances, said to have been murdered. However, the prosecutor has yet to withdraw the indictment against Koroma. An October 2006 newspaper headline in Freetown read, "Johnny Paul has 1,000 armed soldiers". According to an unconfirmed report in September 2008, Koroma's remains were found buried in Foya,

957-607: The rebels according to their respective origins, RUF and ex-SLA, under the renewed pressure, with a force of ex-SLA based in the Occra Hills , 50 km from the capital. The rebel AFRC regrouped to retake the capital in January 1999, but was again forced out by the Nigerian-led force. By 1999, the authority of the AFRC and Major Koroma over the ex-SLA had become very uncertain and the AFRC is commonly seen as devolving into bands of loosely associated combatants. The West Side Boys rebel group are sometimes referred to as an AFRC splinter group. The West Side Boys abducted several soldiers of

990-522: The southern civilian officials who were in control of the country. It was also alleged that there were plans to kill President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah . Koroma was freed from prison during a successful military coup on 25 May 1997, when 17 junior soldiers serving the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) broke into the central prison and made a do-or-die offer that brought him to power. He advocated making a peaceful settlement with Sankoh and allowing him to join

1023-628: The war ended in 2002. In 2003, Koroma was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes, crimes against humanities and other offenses for his role in the war. Koroma reportedly fled into exile in Liberia where he was murdered later that year. Other sources claim that he died in Sierra Leone in 2017. Koroma was born to Limba parents in Tombodu , in the Kono District of eastern British Sierra Leone , and grew up in Freetown ,

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1056-420: Was freed from prison following a coup overthrowing Kabbah, and became the leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) military junta. Koroma allied himself with the RUF and presided over mass looting, murder and rape against civilians, aid workers, and peacekeepers over his roughly nine months in power. In 1998, an intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ousted him, and

1089-439: Was subsequently destroyed by British forces in a September raid that freed the hostages. While many of the combatants who were under the command of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council continued to fight, the "AFRC" designation gradually ceased to become useful and the AFRC organization is no longer considered to exist. After the folding of AFRC, Koroma's supporters have organized the Peace and Liberation Party . In June 2007,

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