III. THE LURD FORCES

In existence since 2000, LURD is made up of a coalition that includes members of former anti-Taylor rebel factions from the Liberian civil war, as well as various political figures and leaders. The military side of the movement includes former members of the various rebel groups that fought during the Liberian civil war, particularly ethnic Mandingo and ethnic Krahn members of the former ULIMO factions, as well as combatants from the former warring factions in Sierra Leone. Human Rights Watch has interviewed numerous Sierra Leonean ex-combatants from the Kamajors, the West Side Boys, and RUF who have been recruited by the LURD as mercenaries since January 2001.²

Formed in Freetown, Sierra Leone, in February 2000, the LURD does not appear to have a defined political program, other than to remove Charles Taylor from power. The organization has been plagued with internal power struggles, political rivalries and corruption, and there also appears to be some division between the Guinea-based political side of the movement, and it's field based military commanders. There seems to be little clarity or consensus on key political issues, such as whether or not to seek a negotiated settlement with the Taylor government, or what kind of government should replace Taylor in the event of a LURD military victory. In March 2002, at peace talks brokered by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja, Nigeria, LURD did not send official representation that could speak on behalf of the group.

Some observers accuse the Taylor government of exaggerating the LURD threat in order to divert attention from the failure of its domestic policies, and to justify its call for the lifting of United Nations sanctions imposed in May 2001. Some sources have alleged that certain attacks carried out closer to Monrovia and attributed to LURD by the government may actually have been either fabricated attacks by government forces or the result of skirmishes between government security and militia forces. The absence of a credible and articulate LURD leadership has contributed to a blanket dismissal of the LURD's existence by some Liberia-based international observers, who explain away the rebel group as "roaming bandits" or the result of fighting between different sections of the government's forces. It is clear, however, on the basis of the research undertaken by Human Rights Watch in Liberia and neighboring countries, that the LURD is an organized fighting force, and does pose a real threat to peace and security in Liberia.

After a series of hit-and-run raids in 2000, LURD forces launched more concerted offensives in 2001. From February 2001, LURD forces repeatedly attacked Lofa County, sometimes allegedly from Guinea. During months of heavy fighting and numerous government offensives to recapture the area, LURD forces were able to secure control of a number of key towns, including Kolahun, Foya, and Voinjama for extended periods. In November 2001, LURD forces launched a new offensive, westward into Bong, Cape Mount, and Bomi counties. In the first quarter of 2002, LURD forces also took the strategic Lofa County town of Zorzor, attacked the town of Sawmill, and reportedly also attacked the towns of Klay, Suehn, and Kakata, some fifty miles from Monrovia.

Abuses by LURD Forces
Though apparently less widespread and systematic than those committed by Liberian government forces, LURD combatants have also been responsible for serious human rights abuses, including rape and summary executions of suspected government collaborators. These abuses are detailed in some of the testimonies obtained by Human Rights Watch that appear in the last section of this report. Scores of boys and young men have also been forcibly recruited into LURD's fighting units, civilians have been forced to act as porters of food and ammunition, and LURD forces have restricted civilians' freedom of movement.

Numerous witnesses reported to Human Rights Watch that when they enter captured towns LURD rebels conduct limited political sensitization efforts and attempt to reassure local civilians that the government forces, not they, were the target of the attack. Witnesses also described how on several occasions LURD combatants had sought to minimize harm to civilians by allowing them to leave, and in some cases had escorted civilians out of an area of conflict. In one case, LURD commanders gathered together tens of children who had become separated during an attack and later facilitated reunification with their parents.

The leadership of the LURD also appears to be making some effort to ensure that their combatants respect the rights of civilians. LURD leaders whom Human Rights Watch interviewed in December 2001 in Guinea said that all LURD military units were headed by commanders who had been given strict orders not to abuse human rights. The LURD leaders also said they were trying to establish a system of civil administration in the areas over which they assumed control, and had appointed a provost marshal with responsibility for addressing cases of abuse of authority in such LURD-held areas of Liberia. Several combatants described being briefed by their field commanders on the LURD's Standard Operating Procedures, which reportedly forbid rape, looting, and the summary execution of civilians, and indicated that steps had been taken to discipline offenders on several occasions-though some of the methods used to punish soldiers, including summary execution, clearly breach international human rights standards. Human Rights Watch was not able to obtain a copy of the Standard Operating Procedures, despite several requests to LURD leaders.

Witnesses on several occasions said that LURD commanders had intervened to stop the rape or killing of civilians, and LURD commanders stated that they had punished wrongdoers within their forces. One mid-level LURD patrol commander told Human Rights Watch that he had executed several Sierra Leonean former members of the West Side Boys who were fighting for LURD and who had perpetrated atrocities against civilians in a village near Voinjama Town. Two other LURD commanders described punishing violators by sending them as "cannon fodder" during a frontline attack; at least one of the offending combatants was apparently killed as a result.

Despite this, LURD forces have committed a range of abuses:

· In July 2001, a LURD combatant raped a woman in a village near Foya, and other LURD fighters, according to a member of their unit later interviewed by Human Rights Watch, raped two fifteen-year-old girls and a woman in July and August 2001. The LURD forces that carried out these latter rapes also abducted some thirty civilians in the same period while on food-foraging missions around Kolahun.
· In October 2001, LURD forces near Foya summarily executed six men and two boys, whom they accused of collaborating with government forces.
· In January 2002, a LURD commander forced several men from Kolahun to porter ammunition then shot two of them in the leg for not walking fast enough, fatally injuring one.
· In February 2002, a driver with an international aid organization was killed in an ambush near Klay Junction, some thirty miles from Monrovia (although there is much contention around whether the attack at Klay was LURD or the result of inter-agency government fighting, Human Rights Watch interviews with several sources confirmed that a small group of LURD fighters was responsible).
· In March 2002, LURD forces killed an elderly woman, stabbed a thirteen year-old girl, and abducted ten men to act as porters during a food raid on Baladu village in Sierra Leone.

Several LURD combatants told Human Rights Watch that while they were ordered not to abuse civilians' rights, some abuses, notably rape and looting, were regularly overlooked. They also admitted abducting young men and forcing them to join LURD's forces, but denied recruiting child soldiers. While scores of young men reportedly joined the LURD voluntarily, forced conscription by the LURD was nevertheless the most frequently reported abuse received during Human Rights Watch interviews.

² In response to the RUF rebel threat, the Sierra Leonean government supported the rise of government-allied civil defense force militia groups, such as the Kamajors (the largest and most powerful, drawn from the Mende ethnic group). The West Side Boys Militia comprised former Sierra Leone Army soldiers who, as part of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) led the 1997 coup against elected president Tejan Kabbah. The West Side Boys were responsible for widespread atrocities.