Liberian President Charles Ghankey Taylor was indicted by the UN-backed
Special Court for Sierra Leone on Wednesday, June 4. The indictment
charges Taylor with bearing the greatest responsibility for
war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious violations of international
humanitarian law within the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November
1996.
The
indictment was announced and a warrant for Taylors arrest
was issued while Taylor was in Ghana for peace talks with Liberian
rebels who have been fighting to topple Taylors regime for
the past three years. At the conference Taylor announced that he
would step down from the presidency at the end of the year, but
did not make any mention of his indictment. "Some people believe
that Taylor is the problem. I will remove myself from whatever process
that continues to perpetuate conflict in Liberia," he said
in Accra. "If it would bring peace, I will remove myself as
president...Let a process be put in place that will ensure a smooth
transition from war to peace."
Shortly
after the charges were made public, Taylor fled the conference to
return to Liberia. The chief prosecutor of the Special Court for
Sierra Leone, David Crane, said a warrant for the arrest of the
Liberian president was served on Ghanaian authorities and sent to
Interpol, but Taylor nonetheless flew home on one of Ghanas
official jets. Ghanaian diplomats believe the government decided
not to arrest Taylor because their priority was to ensure the future
of the Liberian peace talks. Mr. Crane clearly expressed his disappointment
at the Ghanaian government's failure to arrest him, saying: "I
regret that the international community has disappointed the people
of Sierra Leone and West Africa. Instead of delivering a strong
message about accountability, they provided weak excuses. Any nation
that finds Taylor within its borders is legally bound to execute
[the warrant]."
While
prosecutor Crane carefully timed the announcement of Taylors
indictment with his visit to Ghana in to bring legitimacy to the
peace talks and to facilitate his arrest, the Organization of West
African States, which organized the peace talks criticized Mr. Cranes
timing. The executive secretary, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said that
announcing the charges against Charles Taylor as he was about to
open the peace talks had "put a damper on the negotiations
where President Taylor was making helpful offers "opening up
tremendous opportunities" to end the Liberian conflict. However,
Mr. Crane insisted that, it is imperative that the attendees
know they are dealing with an indicted war criminal. These negotiations
can still move forward, but they must do so without the involvement
of this indictee.
Despite
the criticism from the organizers of the peace talks, many human
rights advocates hailed Taylors indictment as a positive step
towards international justice. Charles Taylor is one of the
single greatest causes of spreading wars in West Africa," said
Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division of
Human Rights Watch. "His indictment is a tremendous step forward,
but his arrest would be even better."
Related
Chapters from Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know
Crimes
Against Humanity
Genocide
Liberia
War
Crimes, Categories of
Related
Links:
West
Africa: Taylor Indictment Advances Justice
Human Rights Watch, June 4, 2003
Special
Court Indicts Liberian President Charles Taylor
IRIN news, June 4, 2003
Special
Court for Sierra Leone
Liberia
chaos as leader returns
BBC, June 5, 2003
Fighting
nears Liberian capital
BBC, June 6, 2003
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