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Title:Liberia: flight from terror: testimony of abuses in Nimba County (Liberia): an Africa Watch report, April 1990
Author:Anonymous
Year:1990
Periodical:Liberian Studies Journal
Volume:15
Issue:1
Pages:142-161
Language:English
Geographic term:Liberia
Subjects:rebellions
political repression
offences against human rights
Abstract:A small group of rebel insurgents attacked the Liberian border town of Butuo in late December 1989, killing an undetermined number of soldiers and immigration officials. The government of Liberia responded to the attack with a show of force, sending two battalions to Nimba County, where Butuo is located. The army used brutal counterinsurgency tactics in its efforts to crush the rebellion, indiscriminately killing unarmed civilians, raping women, burning villages and looting. Most of the victims of the army abuses were of the Gio and Mano ethnic groups, who traditionally inhabit Nimba County. The rebel insurgents initially targeted soldiers and local government officials, but later killed several members of the Krahn ethnic group, in retaliation for the army massacres. They also killed at least seven Mandingos for allegedly informing the government about their activities. Over 160,000 people fled the violence into neighbouring Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. Africa Watch visited Côte d'Ivoire in late February 1990 and conducted interviews with refugees from the Mano, Gio and Krahn ethnic groups. This document is based on these interviews. (Africa Watch is part of Human Rights Watch, and was established in May 1988 'to monitor and promote respect for internationally recognized human rights in Africa'.)
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