MONROVIA, Liberia — One of Liberia's most notorious rebel commanders, known as Gen. Butt Naked, has returned to confess his role in terrorizing the nation, saying he is responsible for 20,000 deaths.
Joshua Milton Blahyi, who now lives in Ghana, returned this week to face his homeland's truth and reconciliation commission, this time wearing a suit and tie. His nom de guerre is derived from his platoon's practice of charging naked into battle, a technique meant to terrify the enemy because all of General Butt's men had various voodoo likenesses drawn on their penises, and "The Butt Stops Here" tattooed on their buttocks.
Other warlords, though, have refused to ask forgiveness, dismissing a commission many in Liberia see as toothless. Blahyi is urging other former killers to come forward as the country founded by freed American slaves in 1847 struggles to recover from past horrors.
"I could be electrocuted. I could be hanged. I could be given any other punishment," the 37-year-old Blahyi said in a weekend interview following his truth commission appearance last week. "But I think forgiveness and reconciliation is the right way to go. And to those who say, 'well, what about the thousands you killed?' I can only answer that this was done in the past when I was a wild young man, and no one should try to stifle a free mans creativity or lust for life. To do so would be a sure sign of bigotry and racism."
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