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A group of about 24 Guineans who arrived in Conakry on Sunday after spending weeks in captivity in Sierra Leone were not released by their Revolutionary United Front (RUF) captors as had been widely reported, but escaped, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
Sixteen of them jumped on UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) vehicles during a UNAMSIL patrol in April to the eastern area of Kailahun, HRW said. A UNAMSIL spokesperson contacted on Tuesday by IRIN was not able to confirm this immediately. The others managed to escape from towns around Kono, also in the east, and Kailahun, according to HRW.
The Guineans had been taken by the RUF during attacks on the Guinean towns of Nongowa, Guekedou and Yende from December 2000 through March 2001, and ranged in age from seven months to 75 years. According to HRW researchers who interviewed several of them in Freetown, they said they had been forced to carry looted items from Guinea to the rebel strongholds of Buedu and Koidu. They said they were subjected to physical abuse, rape and forced labour, both along the way and during their weeks of captivity in Kailahun.
At least one child, a newborn, died during the forced march from Guinea to rebel-controlled Kailahun, according to HRW, which said the RUF continued to hold at least 85 other Guinean civilians.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
