According to the American media report on June 5438+1October 2 1 Sunday, 2008, this "naked general" has now "abandoned evil and done good" and returned to Liberia from abroad. He confessed his crime and expressed his willingness to accept a fair trial.
1. A senior priest aged 1 1.
Although the civil war in Liberia officially ended in 2003, the capital Monrovia is still in ruins. In the dilapidated streets and lanes of Monrovia, a bloated priest in a suit and tie often walks around, preaching peace and reconciliation to the people through a small megaphone he carries with him. He also sells tapes of his sermons, which cost an astonishing $20 each. You know, most Liberians live on less than 1 dollar a day. This priest is Joshua Milton Brahe, who was once a famous "naked general" in Liberia.
Brahi was born in 1972 and belongs to the Crane tribe in Liberia. At the age of 1 1, Brahi claimed to have been summoned by the "devil" and was granted supreme power. The elders of the tribe were afraid and appointed him as a senior priest.
When he was a little older, Brahi combined the traditional religious beliefs of his tribe with Christianity and put forward a set of his own religious ideas. He created a protector named "Nyanbe-a-weh" and established it as one of the three protectors of the Kelan tribe. Later, he changed "Nyanbe-a-weh" to "Satan". Brahi also reformed the power inheritance system of Kelan tribe, changed the traditional eldest son inheritance system, and gained power through duel. Such a duel is held once a year, which is very bloody. The final winner can kill the defeated people or disable them.
Through the above changes, Brahi firmly established his prestige in the Crane Tribe, so that samuel kanyon doe, who was born in Hackling Tribe and later served as Liberian President, invited him to be his "spiritual advisor".
It is doubtful that a child can do such a thing. Some people think that there are adults with ulterior motives behind Brahi.
2. "We are naked and fearless."
The civil strife in Liberia began at 1979. At that time, the opposition provoked riots and was suppressed by the government military police. 1In April, 1980, samuel kanyon doe, a clan who was the captain of the Presidential Guard, led 17 soldiers to launch a coup, overthrowing and killing President William R. Tolbert, ending the long-term monopoly of African-Americans on state power. Doe was successfully elected president and became the first indigenous black head of state in Liberia. From 65438 to 0989, the "National Patriotic Front" led by Charles Taylor, an American black, returned to Liberia, which triggered a full-scale civil war in Liberia.
When the full-scale civil war broke out, Brahi was only 17 years old. Since President Doe was born in Hacklin tribe, he always cared about the interests of this tribe during his administration, and Brahi and the whole tribe naturally adopted a firm attitude of supporting Doe. Doe was arrested and executed by opposition forces in September 1990. His supporters, under the leadership of Roosevelt Johnson, also from the Hacklin tribe, continued to fight the armed forces of Taylor and others.
1994, Johnson found an adult Blah and asked him to use "divine power" to help him fight. Brahe generously agreed to recruit a large number of young soldiers, many of whom were minors, to join Johnson's team. In a bloody battle, Brahi once went to the front naked, wearing only a pair of boots, followed by his soldiers. Therefore, they are called "naked camps" and Brahi himself is called "naked generals". Brahi said that this is because they act according to the will of the "devil Satan", so that they can be "invulnerable".
Recalling the battle scenes in those years, Brahi said: "Before we went into battle, we would get drunk and take drugs happily. Then, we took off our clothes to the end, leaving only a pair of shoes. In the battle, some soldiers also put on colorful wigs and hung beautiful wallets from plunder. We kill whoever we see and cut off their heads as balls to kick. We were naked, fearless, drunk, and killed without blinking an eye. I can't remember how many people I killed! " Brahi later published a biography, in which the photos clearly reflected the scene of his naked struggle with his men.
3. Sacrifice to Satan with young children.
The fighting style of "naked general" made the enemy shudder. What's more frightening is that he also sacrificed "Satan" with living people (basically young children).
Brahi said that at that time, he thought that the "fresh blood" of young children could meet the needs of Satan, so he strongly advocated killing a young child before every war. The leaders were hesitant about the idea, but they were finally persuaded by pastor Brahe. Most of the victims were children from villages near the battlefield, and Brahi personally laid hands on him from time to time. "When several children were swimming and playing on the water, I sneaked into the water, caught one and broke his neck. Sometimes, I make some accidents. More often, I shot them directly. " In an interview with Seattle Post in June, 5438+October, 2008 10, Brahi said this.
After the outbreak of civil war in Liberia, there were rumors of using young children as sacrifices. Today, Brahi has publicly confirmed the existence of such behavior for the first time. During the civil war in Liberia, the total death toll was about 250,000, and Brahi and his men killed about 20,000 people.
1996, Brahi suddenly stopped killing. In an interview with the media later, he said that when he was fighting naked on the battlefield, "God" suddenly came to him. "God" rebuked him as a slave of "Satan", not as a hero as he thought. Brahi said that he became a "born-again Christian" after that, and began to preach peace and reconciliation on the streets of Monrovia in 1997, selling his sermon tapes.
Some analysts believe that the real reason why "naked generals" stopped killing may be the peaceful political situation in Liberia at that time. 1In August, 1996, under the pressure of the international community, all factions of the Liberian civil war reached an agreement, agreeing to end the civil war and disarm. In July of the following year, Liberia held a general election and Taylor was elected president. The war-torn country ushered in a brief peace.
4. Returning to China and surrendering to the country sensationalized the whole country.
Perhaps because Taylor, the former "sworn enemy", came to power, Brahi did not stay in Monrovia, which was gradually stable, to continue preaching, but moved to a refugee camp in Ghana, where he stayed for 10 years. Brahi said that he repented in a church in the refugee camp all day and prayed for "God" to save himself. The rest of the time, he preached in refugee camps and sometimes met people who had been violated by him and his subordinates. "That feeling is very bad, very bad."
During this period, the situation in Liberia has undergone tremendous changes. 1999, an anti-government armed force appeared in the north of the country, which once again provoked civil war. Unable to cope with this situation, Taylor resigned in 2003 and went into exile in Nigeria. With Taylor's stepping down, there was another chance for peace in Liberia, and all factions signed a peace agreement in August of that year. From June 5, 2005 to 10, Liberia held its first general election after the civil war under the supervision of the United Nations, and ellen johnson sirleaf, known as the "Iron Lady", was elected president.
With the gradual stabilization of the political situation, Liberia began to systematically examine the civil war that brought profound disasters to the country. With the concern of the international community, Liberia established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, whose main duty is to collect the testimony of the victims of the civil war and verify the atrocities during the civil war. Although the agency has no right to prosecute suspects who commit war crimes, it can make "suggestions" for prosecution.
On June 5438+1mid-October, 2008, "Naked General" Brahi returned to Liberia from Ghana and confessed his crimes during the civil war to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This unusual move caused a sensation in Liberia and attracted the attention of the international community. "I have been looking for opportunities to tell the true story of my life. Every time I tell someone about my crime, I feel very relaxed. " When talking about his motivation to return to Liberia, Brahi said.
5. "Exploring the truth is the premise of real reconciliation."
In Liberia, there are not many people who dare to admit their crimes like Brahi. Prince Johnson, the current senator of Liberia, served as the leader of the armed forces of one side of the civil war. According to the Associated Press, President Doe supported by Blah died in front of Johnson. At that time, Johnson's soldiers cut off Doyle's ear and slowly tortured him to death, while Johnson took a camera to shoot the scene while drinking Budweiser leisurely. After the release of the video, the international community was in an uproar. In 2008, Johnson publicly stated that he would not appear in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission unless someone stood up and publicly accused him of war crimes.
Many ordinary Liberians hope to forget the history of the civil war completely. Because almost every family has victims and abusers-if a woman in a family is raped, her brother will grab a gun and rush into the abuser's family, where she will rape the woman. In other words, almost every family suffered in the civil war, and it also brought pain to other families.
However, Brahe firmly believes that exploring the truth is a prerequisite for real reconciliation, although he may pay a huge price for it. "I may be punished by electrocution, hanging or other means. However, I always believe that forgiveness and reconciliation are the right way for us to go. " Brahi said.