Swiss court upholds Kosiah sentence but rejects crimes-against-humanity charge

Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year prison sentence for former Liberian rebel leader Alieu Kosiah, but acquitted him of crimes against humanity because the offence was not added to Swiss law until 2011. SRF reported the ruling on Friday.

The court found Kosiah guilty of war crimes committed during Liberia’s civil war between 1993 and 1995. It said the crimes-against-humanity provision could not be applied retroactively to acts committed before 2011. The acquittal did not change his sentence.

Swiss courts found that Kosiah killed civilians, used a child soldier, raped someone and desecrated a body through cannibalism. After the war, he fled to Switzerland. Victims recognised him and filed a complaint, and Swiss authorities arrested him in 2014.

The case was brought under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows states to prosecute serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Switzerland incorporated the principle into its military criminal law in 1968 and its Criminal Code in 2011.

The Federal Criminal Court’s trial chamber had convicted Kosiah of war crimes only. Its appeals chamber later convicted him of crimes against humanity as well, relying on customary international law. The Federal Supreme Court overturned that part of the ruling.

The decision could affect the case against former Gambian interior minister Ousman Sonko, whose appeal judgment is due on December 1. Sonko is accused of being responsible for killings, torture and rape between 2000 and 2016. Unlike Kosiah, he is accused of crimes committed as a regime leader, not during a war. SRF said the court may have to significantly reduce his sentence because acts before 2011 cannot be considered under the crimes-against-humanity offence, and the court cannot rely on war crimes charges.

Alain Werner, director of the non-governmental organisation Civitas Maxima, which represents victims in the Kosiah case, said the ruling finally brought justice to survivors and confirmed that the court believed them. The organisation welcomed that finding but said it was disappointed by the acquittal on the crimes-against-humanity charge.