Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Sierra Leone
  • News

ECOMOG denies members arrested for summary executions

    ABIDJAN

    The West African intervention force, ECOMOG, today denied comments by a ranking UN official that at least 100 of the force’s members had been arrested for alleged summary executions of rebels and their sympathisers in Sierra Leone.

    Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukolade told IRIN that the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, was “not being factual”. Otunnu made the comments at a news briefing in New York on Wednesday.

    In a separate statement issued yesterday, Olukolade said that no ECOMOG officers or men had been implicated or were under investigation for summary executions. He called the accusation a “spurious charge which we believe is being peddled to distract our attention form the ongoing operations.”

    He said that if cases of executions were brought before the ECOMOG High Command then these would be investigated and the culprits tried.

    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

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join