A former Liberian rebel commander Kunti Kamara went on trial in Paris, France on Monday on charges he committed crimes against humanity.

Victims' rights advocates said the opening of the trial was a major victory on the path to justice for the West African country.

An estimated 250,000 people were killed in back-to-back civil wars that took place between 1989 and 2003.

What is he accused of?

Kunti Kamara, now 47, stands accused of "complicity in massive and systematic torture and inhumane acts" against civilians in Liberia's Lofa County during the civil war in the early 1990s.

The crimes are said to have occurred from 1993 to 1994, while Kamara was a young commander in the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO).

"He has acknowledged that he was an ULIMO soldier but has always denied committing atrocities against civilians," said the defendant's lawyer, Marlyne Secci. She added that her client is, "approaching this court case as someone who will be tried in a country that is not his own."

Court documents cite accusations of Kamara having aided and abetted in rape, sexual torture, sex slavery, and forced labor under inhumane conditions. Moreover, Kamara himself stands accused of having killed a suspected spy by driving an axe into his chest before removing and eating his heart.

How has Kamara reacted to the charges?

"I'm innocent," Kamara told the court on Monday. He also denied knowing any of the witnesses who have accused him.

The defendant said that he had commanded some 80 soldiers in the ULIMO, claiming he joined the rebels in order to defend himself against warlord Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Front.

Kamara, who says he left Liberia in 1997, was arrested outside Paris in 2018. French police moved to detain him after a complaint was filed by Civitas Maxima, a Swiss organization dedicated to aiding the victims of crimes against humanity.

Liberia's civil wars were marked by extreme brutality, with drugged soldiers, many of whom were children, hacking off the limbs of their victims.

Why is the trial happening in France?

France passed a law recognizing universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity and acts of torture in 2012, thus making trials such as Kamara's possible.

Though a truth and reconciliation commission was established in Liberia in 2006 and recommended prosecuting dozens of former warlords in a report published in 2009, successive governments have been slow to act, as many of those who would stand trial have meanwhile become powerful government figures.

Furthermore, many of those former warlords remain heroes in their respective communities.

"Liberia is a country where total impunity for these crimes still prevails," Sabrina Delattre, a lawyer representing several Liberian plaintiffs, told news agency AFP. She also represents Civitas Maxima, which is a joint-plaintiff.

"The victims are still very traumatized and need this justice, but they fear pressure from former rebels who still have powerful networks in Liberia," said Delattre.

How do human rights organizations view the trial?

Hassan Bility of the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to documenting Liberian atrocities and helping the victims thereof, called the Kamara trial, "a victory for Liberian victims."

Speaking to the Associated Press, he added that the proceedings are "a warning to perpetrators that no matter where they are, we're going to make sure they're held accountable for the crimes they committed."

Elise Keppler of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) underscored the importance of the Paris trial by pointing to "the failure of Liberian authorities to hold to account those responsible for serious crimes during the civil wars."

Last week, the US ambassador on war crimes, Beth Van Schaack, addressed the issue while on a visit to the West African nation. She said Washington would "100%'' support Liberia if the country decided to establish a court to look into its past."

Although he had spoken of the need to do just that while in the opposition, Liberia's current president, George Weah, has failed to take steps to establish a war crimes court.

"France's trial for atrocities in Liberia reinforces the importance of the principle of universal jurisdiction to ensure that the worst crimes do not go unpunished," said Clemence Bectarte, a lawyer from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), another NGO.

The trial, the fifth of its kind in France, is scheduled to last four weeks. If convicted, Kunti Kamara could face life in prison.

js/rs (AFP, AP)