Mob revenge attacks discouraged

While much of the ECOMOG activities around Freetown was militarily justified, UNOMSIL has received complaints of assault, harassment and unnecessary detention, primarily of young men, the Secretary-General said in his report, a copy of which was received by IRIN. Members of the pro-government CDF have been accused of summarily killing one person during a house raid on 26 December, the report said. Two men suspected of being rebels were killed by a crowd of people in Freetown the same day, the report said, adding that there was no indication the victims had harboured any sympathies for the rebels. The government subsequently broadcast a message calling on people to desist from revenge attacks, it said.

The report added that recent rebel attacks in the east and west had involved the killing of civilians, the destruction of homes and abductions, with women and children deliberately targeted.