Opinion ID: 150723
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: 2002 Torture of Mulbah Kamara (Count Seven)

Text: Mulbah Kamara, a Liberian of Mandingo ethnicity and another one of Emmanuel's victims, also testified at trial. Kamara ran several Monrovia businesses, including a computer school, an Internet café, and a communications center. In September 2002, his home and one of his businesses were ransacked and burglarized. He reported the incidents to the police. As he was leaving the police station, however, he was arrested, stripped to his underwear, and thrown into a truck. Armed men drove Kamara to a beach, where he saw people lying on the ground, some of them dead. He was then brought to Whiteflower, where President Taylor repeatedly asked him if he knew why he was there. Kamara answered that he did not. Taylor then ordered General Yeaten to take Kamara away, and armed men drove him to Yeaten's house. Once there, Kamara was stripped naked and made to lie face down in the garage, where he was guarded by a group of ten- to twelve-year-old boys armed with automatic weapons. On the general's orders, the boys put a hot, bright spotlight close to Kamara's face and told him not to close or move his eyes; Kamara was forced to stay in that position for hours and was beaten if he blinked. The light, which caused Kamara great pain, was shone continually in his face over a three-day confinement at the general's home. Later, Yeaten again asked Kamara why he was there; when Kamara again responded that he did not know, Yeaten ordered him to bend over, inserted an electrical prod into his anus, and shocked him. The electrical shock traveled all over Kamara's body, including, by his account, through his brain, and made him feel like he was going to die. Yeaten also shocked Kamara's penis with the electrical prod, and then kicked and beat him with the butt of a gun. Later, after declaring which parts of Kamara's body they were going to eat, the child soldiers further beat Kamara, who by that time was incapable of the slightest resistance as a result of the unremitting abuse. The next day, the defendant Emmanuel arrived at Yeaten's home with bodyguards and armed, uniformed men. Emmanuel asked Kamara if he was ready to talk; Kamara replied that he did not know what to say. Emmanuel then told his entourage to take care of Kamara. The soldiers kicked him to the ground and beat his stomach and groin while Emmanuel watched and laughed. After Emmanuel left, Yeaten used a hot clothes iron to scorch Kamara's stomach, knee, and genitals, burning his skin off. After his three-day confinement at Yeaten's house, Kamara was taken to Klay Junction, where he was kept for thirteen days in an underground hole filled with dirty water. After being transferred to another location in Liberia, Kamara was imprisoned at the National Bureau of Investigation. There, he saw Dulleh, whom he recognized from his past employment working with European Union imports at the Port of Monrovia. Kamara was released from prison in late December 2002, but was ordered to report to President Taylor's executive mansion every day. He was never charged with a crime or brought before a court. His former superior, a European Union official, helped Kamara and his family flee Liberia. In February 2003, Kamara was admitted to the United States, where he still lives and suffers from lingering medical issues, including vision problems and disfigured genitals.