In December 1989, Liberian President Doe's rule was in jeopardy, and people across the country spontaneously staged uprisings, and for a while countless people joined the ranks to denounce the African tyrant, and before long, most of the country was occupied by the rebels.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Doe immediately ordered his men to flee abroad with him, thinking that he would save his life, but what Doy would never think was that the next escape would be the last end of his sinful and brutal life.
Doyle
In the process of fleeing, Doe was captured by the rebel army, and in the face of the tyrant who ruled Liberia for ten years, the rebel soldiers naturally did not have the slightest weakness, first cutting off Doy's ten fingers, and then cutting off two of his ears and genitals during the interrogation, and finally the tortured inhuman Doe actually died in this severe pain.
As the first indigenous president in Liberian history, Doe should have been loved by the people, but what made him go from highly anticipated to spurned in just a decade? What infuriating things did he do during his reign?
The story of all this begins two centuries ago.
The past and present life of Liberia
Liberia is located in West Africa, rich in ivory and natural rubber, and it is for this reason that soon after the Arrival of European colonists, it became a colony of the Dutch, Spaniards, and British, and the local indigenous blacks were naturally enslaved by the colonizers.
Countless local blacks were trafficked to the American continent and never returned home, a situation that lasted for centuries until the beginning of the abolition of slavery in various Western countries in the nineteenth century.
It was in this environment that Liberia was born, and shortly after the end of the American Civil War, the blacks who were originally slaves also turned into freedmen, but at the same time a whole bunch of problems began to appear in American society.
That is, these idle blacks have directly become a huge security risk in American society, because they cannot find suitable jobs, so these blacks cannot adapt for a while, they can only go everywhere to steal and rob, so the US congressman will put the problem of dealing with these blacks on Congress.
After a long period of deliberation, the U.S. Congress decided to send these black Americans back to Africa, but unlike the indigenous blacks in Africa, these black Americans were going to serve the overseas colonies of the United States, and they would become officials in these colonies.
In this way, since 1822, the United States has sent native blacks to West Africa, and also named the colony here Liberia, which means "free land", but this is indeed very free for those black Americans, but for the local indigenous blacks, it is a disaster.
After immigrating to Liberia, a large number of black Americans plundered a large number of resources here, and also enslaved the indigenous black people here, completely forgetting how they were enslaved by the plantation owners in the United States.
Liberia has been under American rule for more than a hundred years, and the local indigenous black people have rebelled countless times, but they have all been suppressed.
It was not until the end of the Second World War that the situation in Liberia improved, because the victory of the anti-fascist war gave the people of these colonial countries the hope of freedom, so the indigenous black people of Liberia also began to rebel against the puppet rule of the United States, among which Samuel Canion Doy was the best of them, and his life can be said to be full of legends.
The dragon slayer eventually becomes a dragon
Samuel Cañon Doe, born in 1951 to a Klan family in Tuzon Township, Greater Jeddah, Liberia, grew up under oppression, and it was this environment that allowed Doy to grow up quickly, and his dream was to make the land free from the oppression of black Americans.
In 1969, after being introduced by his uncle, Doe successfully entered the Duberman Military Training Camp in Montserrado, where he met many black Cranes with the same ambitions as himself, and he also met several future cronies: Thomas Queongba, Charles Taylor and more than a dozen others.
Although Doe's performance in the army was very good, and his qualifications were enough to become an officer, his indigenous black identity organized his promotion path, and every time he mentioned this matter, Doy always had a look of resentment on his face, so in private he often mentioned to his friends: "As long as I have the opportunity in the future, I must try to climb as much as I can, and I must realize my dreams!" ”
On April 14, 1979, the opportunity Doe had been waiting for finally appeared, when liberia had a "rice incident" in which William Richard Tolbert, then president of Liberia, instructed his subordinates to raise the price of rice.
William Richard Tolbert
The local indigenous blacks had been exploited so much that the Liberian government raised the price of rice in this way that all the poor would starve to death, and a huge demonstration began in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia.
But what these native native blacks did not expect was that after Receiving the news of the demonstration, Tolbert immediately sent a large number of military police to suppress it, and in this crackdown, more than 500 demonstrators were killed.
Tolbert's approach ignited the anger of the indigenous blacks of the country, who took to the streets to protest against the authorities' practices, and then a wave of strikes swept across Liberia, and When Tolbert saw this scene, he knew that there was no way to solve it, so he simply hid in the presidential palace as if he could not see it.
Since then, marches and strikes have taken place throughout Liberia, but Doe has not come forward at this time, knowing that the current demonstrations and strikes have not yet reached their peak, and if he is out now, it is likely to be dealt with by the Tolbert government as a model.
Beginning in March 1980, the masses in Monrovia, liberia' capital, staged another massive demonstration, at which point demonstrations across the country had reached their peak, and Doy felt it was time to join the demonstration with a few of his cronies.
Late at night on April 12, 1980, Doe put his cronies on the clothes of the National Guard, and then led them to the Presidential Palace, encountering many patrolling guards along the way, but fortunately, there was no danger, and finally sneaked into the Presidential Palace.
At that time, Tolbert was still asleep, and suddenly he was awakened by a noise outside, looking at Theoy and his party who broke into his bedroom, Tolbert still wanted to say something, but Doe did not give him this opportunity at all, and after a few gunshots, Tolbert became the last American puppet president in the history of Liberia.
Early the next morning, Doe was on television to inform the nation of the success of his own coup and to serve as chairman of the National Salvation Committee and President of the Country, making Doe the first indigenous black president in Liberian history.
In July 1981, Doy promoted himself to five-star general in order to fulfill his unfulfilled dreams in the army, while he also ordered the Salvation Committee to take various measures to stabilize the chaotic situation in the country.
In order to alleviate the contradictions between the native blacks and the blacks of the United States, Doe also proposed a national reconciliation policy, which he wanted to use as a method to alleviate the contradictions between the two peoples, but in the early days of this policy, the effect was not as good as Doe imagined.
Not only did Doe launch a liquidation campaign against former government officials shortly after coming to power, and a large number of senior former government officials were arrested, but Doe also had them tied to stakes on the seashore and let all the indigenous black Liberians watch the corrupt officials, after which Doe broadcast the entire execution of these officials on television.
It is precisely because of Doy's move that many black Americans are very distrustful of him, so they have fled to the United States, but Doe's move has won the favor of local indigenous blacks, and even some people once regarded him as the savior of Liberia.
Since then, Doe has also adopted various methods to maintain political stability in the country, and many black people who are willing to return from the United States have also been appointed as senior officials of the Government of the Salvation Committee, and at this time, Liberia is thriving, and no one would have imagined that after just a few years, Doe would be like a changed person.
First of all, Doe placed all his cronies in The Cabinet of Liberia, queongba and Taylor were placed in the most important positions by him, one in charge of national defense and the other in charge of finances, and he even managed the country by managing the army, and Liberia had become a military-controlled country.
Once, a news editor of Liberia's national television went to the presidential palace to interview Doe, and before he came, he did a long investigation and knew what kind of person Doe was, although during the re-interview, the news editor was as careful as possible, but Doi only said: "I don't want to talk to him at all." The news editor of Liberian national television died tragically at gunpoint.
After that, those who dared to oppose Doe in person were all sentenced to death by him, and it was after this that Doe's vicious and brutal nature began to be exposed, not only that, he also wantonly plundered the people's fat and people's anointing in the country, and for a while, all kinds of opposition in the country began to appear, and even the cronies who had launched the coup with him left him one by one.
Among them, Queongba, who was in charge of the country's finances, first raised the banner of rebellion against Doe, because After the domestic situation stabilized, He began to continuously deprive Queonba of his powers, and finally even expelled and arrested him, but Queongba had already learned the news in advance, so he fled to the United States with millions of dollars.
In 1986, under pressure from all sectors of Liberian society, Doe was forced to restore the electoral system in the country, and he assured the people of the country on national television that he would not participate in this presidential election or interfere with the outcome of the presidential election.
In October 1986, Liberia launched its first presidential election, but to everyone's surprise, Doe broke his original promise, he participated in this presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that he could win, Doe also bribed a large number of government officials to support him.
However, Doe's vote was only 25%, far from meeting the needs of the presidential vote, so Doe dissolved the counting committee and then let his own hands count the votes, so That is, Doe's vote rate became 51%, and finally re-elected by a slight margin.
The fleeing Queongba was not willing to give up his original power, so he secretly returned to Liberia when Doe was too busy with the presidential election to take care of other things, and secretly united and organized many people who were dissatisfied with Doe's rule, and just when they were ready, an accident occurred.
To Queonba's surprise, Doe had already mastered his movements when he returned to Liberia, so before the military coup could be launched, it was quickly suppressed by the Doey army, and Queongba himself died in this crackdown.
However, Doe did not let Him go so easily because of Quionba's death, and he had his men brutally dismember Quionba's body and hang it on the streets of the capital Monrovia, so as to deter those who wanted to rebel against him.
But to Doy's surprise, his cruel behavior not only did not work, but also made the people of Liberia more dissatisfied with his rule, so there were uprisings large and small across the country, and there were 36 coups against Doe in the capital Monrovia.
Tragic ending
But all of these coups were brutally suppressed by Doy, and just when Doe thought he was at ease, Charles Taylor, a close confidant and good friend who had been following him, staged a coup d'état at this time.
In 1990, Taylor staged a coup d'état in Monrovia, and unlike Quewomba, Taylor had contacted armed forces across the country before the coup d'état was launched, so that the moment he announced the coup, countless Liberians expressed their solidarity with him.
A massive uprising began throughout Liberia, with rebels quickly capturing important cities, and just when Doe thought defeat was over, several countries around Liberia expressed their willingness to temporarily accept Doe and let him take refuge.
Taylor
Doy was very touched by the help of these countries, and he hurriedly contacted his Guards and asked them to escort him to flee abroad, but just halfway through the convoy, Doe encountered an ambush set by Taylor, and the two sides immediately engaged in a fierce exchange of fire.
Because the escape was too hasty and did not carry many weapons, Doe's Guards were far inferior to the troops sent by Taylor, and it was not long before all of these Guards were killed, and Taylor himself, who was hiding in the car, was unfortunately hit in the right leg by stray bullets and could not escape at all.
On September 9, Taylor's junta declared the coup successful and arrested former President Doe, who was already in prison and unable to escape, taylor sent interrogation experts to torture Doe, and after several days of torture, There was no good place on Doe's body.
Finally, Taylor sends a man named Prince Jensen to interrogate Doe, demanding that Doe hand over all the state property he has embezzled over the decade, and also asking Doe to truthfully confess the various crimes he has committed over the years.
But to everyone's surprise, Doy seemed to know that he could not get out alive, so he refused to admit all the crimes he had committed, but this refusal to cooperate directly annoyed Jensen.
So Jensen ordered: as long as Doy refused to answer a question, then cut off one of Doy's fingers, but in the end all ten fingers were cut off, Doe did not answer one of Jensen's questions head-on, during the interrogation Doe was tortured several times into a coma, but was woken up by Jensen with cold water.
Looking at Jason's helpless look, Doy laughed happily, but Jensen directly let doe's ears be cut off, trying to make Doy submit, but Doy was determined, and these methods could not make him admit his crime.
Forced to do so, Jensen could only let people cut off Doy's lower body, and then let his men torture him fiercely, looking at Doy who was already out of breath and less breathing, Jensen waved his hand indifferently, letting his men find a way to deal with Doe, just like this, the former president of Liberia, Doe, who was once invincible, finally died under the torture of others.
After Doy's death, Taylor did not spare his body, and the way he handled Doe's body was a hundred times more cruel than Doy's handling of Queonba, he asked his men to make Doe's body into broth, and then distributed this broth to all his men.
Later, when mentioning Doy, people always associated him with the name of African tyrant, from the former arrogance to the later death of the whole body, Doe's life can be said to have experienced great ups and downs, perhaps when he killed himself, he never thought that one day he would be killed by others.