About the author(s):
Katharine Fortin is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University where she teaches IHL and IHRL. Before joining Utrecht University, she worked at the ICTY, ICC and Norton Rose Fulbright. She is the author of The Accountability of Armed Groups under Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2017) which won the 2018 Lieber Prize. She has written widely about the framework of law that applies to armed groups in non-international armed conflicts and is one of the editors of the Armed Groups and International Law blog.
Kunti K. was arrested in France on Tuesday 4th September 2018 for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the First Liberian Civil War (1989-1996) while acting as a commander for the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO). The ULIMO rebel faction fought against Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) during the First Liberian Civil War and was responsible for over 11,500 documented violations, according to the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report. This breakthrough arrest marks the first time a ULIMO member has been charged in France with international crimes committed during Liberia’s civil wars.
For the full press release from Civitas Maxima see here. For further coverage of the case, see here and here.