afrol News, 26 October - The UN backed court in Sierra Leone has upheld sentences for three rebel leaders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) convicted of crimes against humanity during the country’s 10 year civil war.

The international chamber today upheld a 52-year sentence for Issa Sesay, while former rebel commanders Morris Kallon and Augustine Gbao were condemned to 40 years and 25 years in jail respectively.

The tribunal had accused the trio of mass murder, mutilation and rape in the war, which ended in 2002. However the rebel leaders denied some of the charges against them.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone in February found the three guilty of crimes ranging from amputation and murder and the recruitment of child soldiers in the West African nation.

The special court was established in 2002 at the end of a civil war which erupted in 1991 in the West African country.

Up to 120,000 people were killed and tens of thousands of others mutilated in the bloodshed.

The court has also put on trial former Liberian President Charles Taylor for his involvement in the civil war in Sierra Leone.

Mr Taylor, 59, is accused of providing arms and other assistance to the rebels in Sierra Leone in return for diamonds during the civil war in his own country between 1989 and 2003.

By staff writer

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