Ibrahim Koroma was a child soldier from the Sierra Leone civil war. He was one of thousands of youngsters kidnapped in 1997 by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels to help overthrow the government of Tejan Kabbah. He narrates to us his life as a child soldier and the traumatization he is going through up to now in Switzerland.

I was 13 years when I was kidnapped by the Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front rebels. To harm or kill someone is very hard but one can do anything under the influence of drugs. Nevertheless, the pain felt after is difficult to explain and only God knows how one feels. Sometimes I ask myself questions like “Will I ever see my mother again? Why did I have to be a rebel fighting my own country? Why did I accept the rebels to take me rather than kill me? Why would I have to hear voices always telling that I will never have peace again even when I was just forced into rebel activities?”. But I have since failed to have answers to these questions. They all arise because I have done violence to people and people have done violence to me. If you knew me between the ages of 13 and 18, then you would know what “Captain dead body” is talking about. Captain dead body was the nickname given to me by my commander.

Atrocities we committed against humanity

We were ordered to mercilessly kill anybody supporting the government of Tejan Kabbah. We would take these people and put them inside one house, close it and spill petrol on it, then set them on fire. You would hear them screaming for help but no one would help.

Thinking about amputating people is also another big pain in my heart. Our commanders heard that the government wanted to hold elections, we were ordered to kidnap any civilian we found useful to join the revolution and to amputee hands off of those we found not useful. I have never cut off one’s hand but I brought many people whose hands were cut off. One girl nicknamed “Adama-Cut-Hand” was the boss of cutting off hands. We would bring the kidnapped civilians to our commanders for them to choose those who were useful and those who were not. Those who were not useful were taken to Adama. She always asked them if they wanted long or short sleeves. Long sleeve meant cutting ones hand from the wrist and short sleeve cutting from the arm. And choosing from the two was the best idea, otherwise one would instead be killed.

We attacked Portloko town and kidnapped civilians including a pregnant woman after we were ordered by our commander not to leave any civilian behind. The commander and others started betting on the baby in this woman’s womb. Some were saying he is a boy, while others said it’s a girl. They therefore cut the woman’s stomach and pulled out the fetus to settle their arguments. The woman and the baby later died in an unbearable pain.

It’s terrible to hear innocent people crying for their lives while being burnt, shot, slaughtered or amputated. I am now hunted everyday by people’s crying voices. I at times think I don’t have any future. I always hear voices saying: “you will never have peace after all you have caused to humanity, its better you die”. I live in fear and I feel like I shouldn’t live because of all my bad experience and memory to all the atrocities I regret to have done. I always ask the Lord to have mercy on me and forgive me for all the atrocities I have committed.

Unanswered questions

As I am writing now, Switzerland wants to deport me back to my country and they want to take me back because I told them the truth about me. I have promised to kill myself if they tried to deport me. They don’t understand that it wasn’t out of my will that I committed crimes against humanity. I did most of these crimes under the influence of drugs. I never wished to join the rebels.

Many Africans who are being persecuted or are running away from their countries to save their dear lives would come to a country like Switzerland, because when they watch on television, they see that Switzerland respects human rights but actually that’s not the case when you come here. Switzerland would rather welcome a corrupt African dictator saving money in their banks than giving refuge to a poor African being persecuted by the same dictator.

 Who are the bosses sponsoring all these wars and suffering that Africa is going through?

Who are the bosses benefiting from these wars?

Who are the bosses manufacturing these guns coming to Africa and killing innocent people every day?

Who are the bosses extracting African minerals and riches through aid to the notorious rebels?

Tell me, “Who are these bosses?”

The truth is that all those people making guns or financing wars don’t know what’s like being in war or what consequences it might cause to innocent humans and have never even killed a person but all they care about is their interests. I therefore think that the world should try to fight to prevent war than trying to cure it. I think the only thing we can do is to stop making guns or, at least, stop selling them to people who will use them for crimes against humanity.

Ibrahim KOROMA

Extracts selected by

Shawn WAKIDA

Membre de la rédaction lausannoise de Voix d’Exils

Speakers at the Geneva conference. Photo: Wakida

The “What’s behind deal and dealers?” conference organised by Hospice Général on October 15, 2010 at the Associations House in Geneva was indeed a success. Voix d’Exils’ writers were there.

The day began as quite a cold day but many braved the coldness and turned up in big numbers: the Rachel Carson’s hall at the Associations House in Geneva was parked to the maximum, to the extent that a good number of us had nowhere to sit and rather chose to stand as the conference went on.

To start with, the Head of Strategic Studies at Geneva Cantonal police, Didier Froidevaux, was invited to present some statistics on drugs traffic. Mr. Froidevaux said that the police is trying as much as they can to arrest and bring to book the dealers. He said that the police arrested 447 dealers in the month of September 2010 alone. He stretched that the police is not only targeting foreigners, like it has been heard, but really fighting the dealers. The police has also put in place methods of educating those who might fall trap of drugs dealing.

Asked why the police kept on arresting drugs dealers and releasing them after two weeks, he responded by saying that the police releases them on grounds of not enough evidence or just because the dealers were caught with a small quantity of grams, a statement which was contested by a majority of the forum participants.

One lady who works with Hospice général asked him why the police continued arresting dealers with just ten, twenty, fifty grams and not arresting the real mafia behind those grams. She even gave a proverb in Africa which says that to kill a tree, you have to get it by the roots, not the leaves. “The police is doing a great job and we are indeed arresting big mafias behind the deal, answered Mr. Froidevaux. Just two weeks ago we arrested one of the big mafias who had been on our wanted list as the big boss in Suisse Romande.”

A speaker from Voix d’Exils

Voix d’Exils’ writer Gervais Njingo Dongmo was then invited on the floor to present his “The deal and the asylum applicants: a mysterious reality” speech at 11:15 am. He started by saying that in his opinion, cocaine is very little known to Africans seeking asylum until they leave their country of origin. He also said that once in Switzerland in a precarious situation, many sell it but they have never consumed it. Why don’t they use it? He paused. “It’s because they measure the danger of this product. They also don’t have the money to consume on a daily basis like the Swiss people do.” He also said that it’s because they depend on someone else who exploits them. And he believes that for those reasons many African dealers can’t consume it.

He agreed that the deal is on but it’s not easy in terms of climate: the summer favours the dealers but when the winter season comes, it’s not always easy for the dealers to brave the coldness. He also said that the balls are at times placed under the tongue, so it’s not easy for the dealers to speak or laugh. The other places they usually transport it is the rectum, but Gervais also warned that this product packaging, if not done well, can explode in the stomach and cause death.

Why many African Immigrants are pushed into the deal? The Swiss harsh laws on asylum have pushed so many young foreigners into the hands of mafias because they seem not to have any choice with their lives. The Mafias recruits by reminding them that they are suffering harassments from the Swiss government and that they should always remember the fragile status they are in.

Gervais added that African asylum seekers are everyday harassed by consumers in public places and even in accommodation centres where these clients are regular, hard to escape the scourge.

Many immigrants are making efforts to resist the temptation. However, the surroundings, an inability to work and emergency assistance that Swiss provides for the people without papers are major obstacles to this. He gave the example of his Burkina Faso friend who was given a negative response on his asylum case and still tries his best to avoid dealing in drugs, but he is reminded everyday that whether he sells drugs or not, he will be deported to his country since he has no right to live in Switzerland.

One of the speakers, a journalist by profession, said that since he started working with Tribune de Genève, he has seen that the majority of the people in drugs dealing business are Albanese. Every time he writes a story about arrested dealers, he is always mentioning their residence, age and nationality in his story. But the public is wondering if it is really necessary for him to write such details about the dealers. He responded by saying that for him as a journalist, he first wants to know someone better before he can write something about this person, because he finds it disturbing to see someone of a sound mind involving himself in dubious business or dealings.

Health consequences

Later on, Dr. Daniele Zullino, head of Addiction medicine, Dept of Psychiatry at Geneva Hospital, was also invited on the floor to give his speech on “Outlaw medicine”. He said that drugs are used as a dependency. They act as a stimulant and increase resistance to fatigue.

He said many people start taking drugs when they don’t know that they are really going to become addicts. And most of the time they are introduced to it by friends, relatives or in rare cases offered by the dealers themselves. And when they try it for three or four times, it becomes interesting to them and thus more irresistible. He said treating addicts is a challenge because some of them need serious psychological treatment rather than just mere drugs and he stressed that at times they have to use some sceptical methods of treatment that are out of the law. He finally said that the most important way not to go through all this is to avoid getting involved in drugs usage. And he warned that these drugs can cause diseases like cardiac arrhythmias, hypertension, cancer, seizures or epilepsy, to mention but a few. And also not to mention the dangers of overdose that can cause death if not attended to immediately.

And everyone agreed with him that people should indeed be educated every day on the dangers of using drugs.

Shawn Wakida

Shawn Wakida, rédacteur à Voix d’Exils

Just like me, there are so many cases where by many immigrants who are not dealers find or have found themselves in prisons and even found guilty of drugs dealings. This is because of their friends who are dealers or because of the miscalculation of police investigations.

In August 2007, while at the Centre d’enregistrement et de Procédure de Vallorbe (CEP) for my asylum procedure, I was residing in a room of eight persons. During an afternoon, I was approached by one of my roommate who offered to show me how it is like making real money without hustling. I listened to him carefully, but he never told me what the real job was. He told me that if I was interested, I had to follow him to Lausanne that day for a night, and that’s when he will show me to the people who will give me what to do. And this is what brought me hesitations because I was not allowed to sleep even a single night outside CEP – Vallorbe without the permission of the authority. I therefore decided to go and talk over it with my friend who is a person that I had started having a little trust in and he is also a devoted Christian. He advised me not to go and that person has no job for me other than recruiting me into drugs business. I took his advice and I never went to Lausanne and that was that.

My transfer from Vallorbe to EVAM foyer at Crissier

I was later given a transfer after being in Vallorbe for two months but with a negative response my asylum procedure. And I was sent to the EVAM Centre at St-Croix where I stayed for two months and later transferred to EVAM centre in Crissier. But while in Crissier, I decided to go for a Sunday Church service and once again, I met this same former Vallorbe roommate and he asked me what I was doing with my life in Switzerland. I told him that I am always at the EVAM centre in Crissier doing nothing apart from eating and sleeping but can’t even go for French lessons because Bern sent me a second negative response on my case. And therefore I have no right on anything in this country. And this time, he really talked to me seriously on how it is like living in a country where they no longer want you anymore and worst of all sitting there doing nothing. “What if they send you back home today, what will you show for yourself as a benefit from Switzerland?” He asked, and I just remained silent thinking about it. In fact I was even hungry at that time because I had no money to buy even bread because EVAM had two weeks earlier stopped giving me financial support. And then, he continued telling all kinds of encouraging things that when I started thinking about it all. I was indeed a poor neglected person who needed serious spiritual and financial help. As he was leaving, he gave me CHF 50 and told me to buy some food for myself and for me CHF 50 was just like CHF 500. And he also gave me his telephone number and we then departed in different directions. But deep inside me, I felt he indeed had a generous heart more than even EVAM and ODM. I later went to the centre and as I was lying on my bed, I began thinking of all my friend talked to me and even started crying wondering if really Switzerland wanted me to have a good life. I believed him in some areas of what he talked to me and even started having positive thinking on joining drugs business. But as usual, I knelt down and turned to my Lord for guidance and as I pray something told me that drugs are not meant for me, and I promised my Lord never to indulge myself in drugs or related stuff.

The time for prison

I was later transferred from Crissier to the Foyer d’aide d’urgence de Vennes believed by immigrants who reside there as “the swiss Guantanamo” regarding it to the Guantanamo prison in Cuba. I lived in this centre in a room of two persons for one year and eight months but with serious health problems. So on Saturday the 29^th August, 2009, I went to my friend’s place for a weekend and stayed there until Monday the 31^st. I left there at around 22hrs, and by the time I reached Vennes, it was coming to midnight. When I arrived at the Foyer d’aide d’urgence de Vennes, the Security personnel at the entrance told me that I have been transferred to Bex, and I wondered how I could get a transfer without a letter of transfer notice. But I argued with him for a while and he told me to wait from one of the rooms opposite their office which I obediently did. As I was barely 10 minutes in that room, three police officers swung in and handcuffed me immediately and told me not to say anything. I was taken to the police cells at Hotel de Police in Lausanne. But I defied that after reaching at Hotel de Police and I asked them why I was being held, “we are not allowed to tell you anything therefore the inspector will explain to you why you are here when you meet him tomorrow”, one of them responded. I spent the entire night in the a room and on leather mattress, oooh men it was damn cold in there, and I never even thought of sleeping wondering what I might have done wrong to face all what I was going through at the time.

The next morning of the 1^st September 2010

Now its 10h17 the next morning and two traffic police officers come in to open the door of my cell and they ask me to follow them of which I did. They put me in a lift and we went to another floor where I was put into another cell for another one hour. And later the inspector came in to take me to his office. Reaching his office, he asked me if I knew why I was at the Hotel den Police and I responded with a big “NO”. Then he showed me one photo and asked me if I knew the person it represents, “Yes, he is my roommate at the centre”, I replied.  “And what’s his name?” He asked. I gave him his name. He kept quiet for a few seconds and then opened a cabinet and brought out a bunch of white stuffs and asked me if I knew what it was and of which I replied with a “no”. He then became mad and banged the table, “this is cocaïne!”, he said. I couldn’t imagine myself before police because of drugs something I have refused to deal in. I told him I have never seen cocaïne before in that form and the one I usually see on televisions are not like that. He then told me that I was just a witness who had to cooperate with them if not I will as well be considered a suspect. I assured him of my cooperation on everything I know. He later called in a female judge who appreciated my cooperation but asked me if I was mistreated at the time of my arrest and detention. “Yes Madame!” I replied, “I was handcuffed and am still wondering why they had to handcuff an innocent person like me and above all why I had to be detained through a ruthless cold night”. She forwarded the question to the inspector who replied by saying that “anyone can be handcuffed if they try to resist arrest”. But I told them that “I never resisted arrest and the whole process of my arrest was done without my resistance”. All in all, I was later released at 2pm after they had taken a photo of me and finger prints. It’s one of the days I will never forget in my life.

The police’s perspectives on african Immigrants and what the swiss police has to do

My case is far to be an isolated one! The swiss police has come under serenity for the way they look at african immigrants in the name of fighting drug trafficking. I myself remember one story from the then free news paper called le Matin Bleu, one UDC politician was quoted saying that when police officers pass a black man without controlling him, they are bypassing drugs. And I believe the police have responded well to this. It’s really very rare that a black immigrant can pass police officers without asking him to stop and they control to extent that one has to remove all his clothes to prove to them he is clean. And this has brought anger within the majority of african immigrants towards the police and most of them have vowed not to cooperate with the police in fighting drugs trafficking even when they know the drug dealers. The police has to create a better image before the immigrants to show that they are indeed not fighting immigrants but rather fighting drugs if they need help from the immigrants on fighting drugs trafficking. The police has to put it in mind that not everyone who talks to a drugs trafficker is a trafficker. There are so many innocent immigrants who innocently associate with traffickers when they don’t know who they are. This is not easy to know who is who, but with the help of more intelligence, this can be over came and fewer innocent people will suffer in the process. When you are given a place to sleep after the transfer from the Centre d’enregistrement et de Procédure (CEP), one can never know who they are going to share a room with. And this makes it so hard to avoid sharing a room or associating with a trafficker.

 Conclusion

Drugs trafficking are not only done by african immigrants, but also a lot of Swiss and European people are in this business. Yes, it’s true there are many africans on the street hocking drugs but who are the suppliers?

 Shawn WAKIDA