Liberian Ex-President Charles Taylor Guilty of War Crimes
By Bruno Waterfield in The Hague, The Daily Telegraph, London – April 26, 2012
An international court has delivered its verdict on Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor, finding him guilty of arming Sierra Leone’s rebels who paid him in “blood diamonds”.
Taylor helped rebels in Sierre Leone with the preparation and execution of crimes by helping to “design” their strategy.
War crimes “resulted directly from (these) plans” but he did not command the execution or instigate them, said Richard Lussick, a UN judge. “The trial chamber uanimously finds you guilty,” he said.
Taylor’s practical assistance, including trade in blood diamonds and moral support had substantial impact on the commission of war crimes and “he knew it well”, the UN court judged.
“The accused knew of atrocities being perpetrated against civlisans in Sierre Leone and of propensity to commit crimes. Notwithstanding such knowledge, the accused continued to provide support to the RUF during the period crimes were committed,” the judge said.
“The trial chamber finds, there fore, beyond reasonable doubt that the accused knew that his support would provide practical assistance, encouragement and moral support to them in the commission of crimes duting the course of their military operations in Sierre Leone.
“The trial chamber finds beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is criminally responsble for aiding and abetting the commision of crimes.”
Taylor stood and showed no emotion as Lussick delivered the guilty verdicts at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Lussick scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 16 and said sentence would be passed two weeks later. Taylor will serve his sentence in Britain.
Human rights activists hailed the convictions as a watershed moment in the fight against impunity for national leaders responsible for atrocities.
“Taylor’s conviction sends a powerful message that even those in the highest level positions can be held to account for grave crimes,” said Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch. “Not since Nuremberg has an international or hybrid war crimes court issued a judgment against a current or former head of state. This is a victory for Sierra Leonean victims, and all those seeking justice when the worst abuses are committed.”
Taylor had pleaded not guilty to all counts, claiming in seven months of testimony in his own defense that he was a statesman and peacemaker in West Africa.
While judges convicted him of aiding and abetting atrocities by rebels, they cleared him of direct command responsibility, saying he had no direct control over the rebels he supported.
During Taylor’s trial which began proper on June 4, 2007, some 94 witnesses took the stand for the prosecution and 21 for the defence. Taylor himself testified for 81 hours.
Model Naomi Campbell and actress Mia Farrow gave headline-grabbing evidence in August 2010 about a gift of “dirty” diamonds Taylor gave to Campbell at a charity dinner hosted by then South African president Nelson Mandela in 1997.
Judges also heard gruesome testimony from victims of the Sierra Leone conflict, including a witness who said he pleaded with RUF rebels to cut off his remaining hand so they would spare his toddler son.
Others said Taylor’s fighters strung human intestines across roads, removed foetuses from women’s wombs and practised cannibalism, while children younger than 15 were enlisted to fight.
One witness said he was present when the Liberian leader ate human liver.
During his own testimony, which began in July 2009, Taylor called the trial a “sham” and denied allegations he ever ate human flesh.
Nigerian authorities arrested Taylor in March 2006 when he tried to flee from exile in Nigeria after stepping down as Liberian president three years earlier in a negotiated end to a civil war in his own country.
He was transferred to the SCSL in Freetown, but in June 2006 a UN Security Council resolution cleared the way for him to be transferred to The Hague, saying his presence in west Africa was an “impediment to stability and a threat to the peace.”
The court, set up jointly by the Sierra Leone government and the United Nations, has already convicted eight Sierra Leoneans of war crimes and jailed them for between 15 and 52 years after trials in Freetown.
4/26/2012
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