Samuel Doe

== Civil war ==
[[File:Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia in Monrovia 1990.png|thumb|Insurgent forces in 1990 in Mamba Station]]
[[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]], a former ally of Doe, crossed into Liberia from [[Ivory Coast]] on 24 December 1989 to wage a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]] against Doe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duyvesteyn |first1=Isabelle |title=Clausewitz and African War |date=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781135764845 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOqQAgAAQBAJ |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408145225/https://books.google.com/books?id=EOqQAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Taylor had broken out of a jail in the United States, where he was awaiting extradition to Liberia on charges of embezzlement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Onwumechili |first1=Chuka |title=African Democratization and Military Coups |date=1998 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=9780275963255 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKMCQxIwDrQC |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408144846/https://books.google.com/books?id=MKMCQxIwDrQC |url-status=live }}</ref> The conflict quickly flared into [[First Liberian Civil War|full-fledged civil war]]. By the mid-1990s, most of Liberia was controlled by rebel factions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Press |first1=Robert |title=Candles in the Wind: Resisting Repression in Liberia |journal=Africa Today |jstor=27666982 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27666982 |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011073604/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27666982 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{main|Monrovia Church massacre}}
Approximately 600 civilians were killed at the [[Church (building)|church]] in the Sinkor section of Monrovia on 29 July 1990. The massacre was carried out by approximately 30 government soldiers loyal to Doe.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Draman |first1=Rasheed |title=Managing Chaos in the West African Sub-Region: Assessing the Role of ECOMOG in Liberia |journal=Journal of Military and Strategic Studies |date=2003 |volume=6 |issue=2 |url=https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/jmss/jmss_2003/v6n2/jmss_v6n2b.pdf |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011073608/https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/jmss/jmss_2003/v6n2/jmss_v6n2b.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The perpetrators were of Doe's Krahn tribe while most of the victims were from the Gio and Mano tribes, which were in support of the rebels.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=Robert |last2=Morse |first2=Benjamin |title=Policing and the Legacies of Wartime State Predation: Evidence from a Survey and Field Experiment in Liberia |journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution |date=May 12, 2021 |volume=65 |issue=10 |pages=1709–1737 |doi=10.1177/00220027211013096 |s2cid=236587010 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00220027211013096 |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011073604/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00220027211013096 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Capture===
Doe was captured in [[Monrovia]] on 9 September 1990 by [[Prince Johnson|Prince Y. Johnson]], leader of [[Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia|INPFL]], a breakaway faction of Taylor's [[National Patriotic Front of Liberia|NPFL]]. [[Arnold Quainoo|General Quainoo]], the head of [[ECOMOG]], had invited Doe to the ECOMOG headquarters for a meeting and assured him of his safety from the rebels.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Politics and Diplomacy of Peacekeeping in West Africa: The Ecowas Operation in Liberia |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |date=11 November 2008 |volume=33 |issue=4 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/politics-and-diplomacy-of-peacekeeping-in-west-africa-the-ecowas-operation-in-liberia/637E4085ADC48A7099E8DEE7E50E8FA2 |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012070403/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/politics-and-diplomacy-of-peacekeeping-in-west-africa-the-ecowas-operation-in-liberia/637E4085ADC48A7099E8DEE7E50E8FA2 |url-status=live }}</ref> On the morning of 9 September 1990, Doe arrived at a precarious time during an ongoing change in guard duty from the well-armed and better equipped Nigerian team of peacekeepers to the weaker Gambian contingent.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ojoko |first1=Israel |title=On a momentous note, what has befallen our military? |url=https://www.thecable.ng/on-a-momentous-note-what-has-befallen-our-military |website=thecable.ng |date=31 August 2021 |publisher=The Cable |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012070403/https://www.thecable.ng/on-a-momentous-note-what-has-befallen-our-military |url-status=live }}</ref> The Nigerian team had just withdrawn from the scene when Doe's convoy of lightly armed personnel arrived. Doe was escorted to General Quainoo's office, where he was formally welcomed while most of his team of aides and guards waited outside. Johnson's rebels surprised everyone by suddenly arriving on the scene uninvited and heavily armed, overwhelming and disarming the entirety of Doe's team while encountering no resistance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Remembering the savage rise and Fall of Master Sergeant Samuel Doe of Liberia |url=https://www.maravipost.com/remembering-the-savage-rise-and-fall-of-master-sergeant-samuel-doe-of-liberia/ |website=The Maravi Post |publisher=Malawi 24 |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=12 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012071905/https://www.maravipost.com/remembering-the-savage-rise-and-fall-of-master-sergeant-samuel-doe-of-liberia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> They then started shooting Doe's team individually and later in groups. Upon hearing the gunshots from outside, Doe expressed concern to Quainoo, who assured him everything was fine. Quainoo later excused himself to check on what was happening outside and was followed by his aide, Captain Coker of the [[Gambia]]n contingent. Both men took cover upon assessing the situation. Johnson's men moved indoors, finished off Doe's remaining team, shot him in the leg, and took him captive.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellis |first1=Stephen |title=The Mask of Anarchy Updated Edition |date=2006 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=9780814722381 |pages=8–10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkY9DAAAQBAJ |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408144848/https://books.google.com/books?id=hkY9DAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> When the dust settled, over 80 of Doe's men lay dead. Coker characterized the incident not as a fight but a brutal massacre. Remarkably, none of the ECOMOG personnel were shot in the carnage.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

===Torture and murder===
Doe was taken to Johnson's military base. To prove that he was not protected by [[black magic]],<ref name=wp>Vick, Karl. [http://www.genocidewatch.org/images/Liberia_10_Aug_03_Liberian_Strife_Is_Traced_to_Turbulent_Past2.pdf "Liberian Strife Is Traced To Turbulent Past: Some Blame Turmoil On Its American Roots"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610105640/http://www.genocidewatch.org/images/Liberia_10_Aug_03_Liberian_Strife_Is_Traced_to_Turbulent_Past2.pdf |date=10 June 2011 }}, ''Washington Post'', Foreign Service, 10 August 2003.</ref> Johnson ordered Doe's ears be cut off in his presence.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/c5xJpj7EmQM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180615163309/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xJpj7EmQM Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xJpj7EmQM&list=PLdLdVbvyGNxLcst3f6Nl_5sVyLEVDvtmU&index=92&t=0s| title = The Execution of former Liberian President Samuel K Doe YouTube | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Shackles]] were also placed around Doe's legs and something strange was tied around his [[Glans penis|glans]], as can be seen in the recording. At the end of the recording, Doe was forced to get up, some of his fingers and toes were amputated, and there were attempts to mutilate the middle finger. After 12 hours of torture at Johnson's hands,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://owaahh.com/6-assassinations-of-african-leaders-that-were-caught-on-film/|title=6 Assassinations of African leaders (that were caught on film)|date=4 March 2015|access-date=16 July 2020|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730172033/https://owaahh.com/6-assassinations-of-african-leaders-that-were-caught-on-film/|url-status=live}}</ref> Doe was finally murdered; his corpse had its head shaved and was exhibited naked in the streets of Monrovia with cigarette burns. Doe's body was later exhumed and reburied. The spectacle of his torture was [[Snuff film|video-taped]]<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/yaLSzjfyUiA Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131021185134/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaLSzjfyUiA Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaLSzjfyUiA| title = The Execution of former Liberian President Samuel K. Doe | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and seen on news reports around the country. The video shows Johnson sipping a beer as Doe's ear is cut off.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6113682.stm Meeting the hard man of Liberia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227013552/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6113682.stm |date=27 February 2021 }}," ''[[BBC]]''</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Akam |first=Simon |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/95493/prince-johnson-liberia |title=The Comeback |magazine=New Republic |date=28 September 2011 |access-date=27 February 2017 |archive-date=7 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907144328/https://newrepublic.com/article/95493/prince-johnson-liberia |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=MASK>{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Stephen|title=The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of African Civil War|url=https://archive.org/details/maskanarchydestr00elli|url-access=limited|orig-year=1999|year=2007|publisher=Hurst & Company|location=London, UK|isbn=978-1850654179|pages=[https://archive.org/details/maskanarchydestr00elli/page/n9 1]–16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalpublishers.co.tz/siku-za-mwisho-za-uhai-wa-samuel-doe/exhibition-of-samuel-does-body-during-the-civil-war-in-liberia/|title=Exhibition of Samuel Doe's Body During the Civil War in Liberia|access-date=5 July 2019|archive-date=5 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705152718/https://globalpublishers.co.tz/siku-za-mwisho-za-uhai-wa-samuel-doe/exhibition-of-samuel-does-body-during-the-civil-war-in-liberia/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Scooper - Nigeria News: A TYRANT FALLS: Gruesome Story Of How The First Indigenous President Of Liberia Was Tortured To Death On Video And Laid Naked In State|url=https://m.scooper.news/nigeria/2021/07/17/a-tyrant-falls-gruesome-story-of-how-the-first-indigenous-president-of-liberia-was-tortured-to-death-on-video-and-laid-naked-in-state/16992734|access-date=20 December 2021|website=m.scooper.news|language=en|archive-date=20 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220151511/https://m.scooper.news/nigeria/2021/07/17/a-tyrant-falls-gruesome-story-of-how-the-first-indigenous-president-of-liberia-was-tortured-to-death-on-video-and-laid-naked-in-state/16992734|url-status=live}}</ref>