guilty on 14 , the court announced . They were charged with `` extermination , murder , rape , sexual slavery , forced marriages and physical violence '' as well as enslaving civilians , mutilating people , and pillaging . They were convicted on all counts except two specifically related to the kidnapping of international peacekeepers in May 2000 . Gbao was also found not guilty of two other charges related to an attack on peacekeepers , although Sesay and Kallon were convicted of those crimes . Human Rights Watch senior Africa researcher Corinne Dufka called the verdict `` very significant . '' `` The RUF were renowned for leading one of the most brutal rebel movements in modern days . Everyone knows about the signature atrocity of limb amputation , but there was also horrific sexual violence , abductions , use of child soldiers , and forced marriages , '' she told CNN by phone from Senegal in West Africa . She lived Sierra Leone from 1999 to 2004 , documenting atrocities . `` It was difficult to find someone who had n't been a victim of or a witness to a war crime , '' she said .
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Three former leaders of Sierra Leone 's brutal Revolutionary United Front guerrilla movement were found guilty Wednesday of crimes against humanity including murder , rape , sexual slavery and forced marriages , the Special Court for Sierra Leone announced . The RUF rebels were notorious for brutality . The charges stemmed from a civil war in the diamond-rich West African nation that lasted more than 10 years and stood out for its viciousness , even on a continent that has suffered many vicious conflicts . It led to tens of thousands of deaths and more than 2 million people fleeing their homes in the country of 6 million . The RUF rebels were known for hacking off civilians ' hands and feet during the war , which lasted from March 1991 until January 2002 . Former RUF `` interim leader '' Issa Hassan Sesay , former RUF commander Morris Kallon and former RUF chief of security Augustine Gbao each faced 18 counts of war crimes , crimes against humanity , attacking U.N. peacekeepers , and recruiting and using child soldiers . Sesay and Kallon each were found guilty on 16 counts , while Gbao was found