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Summary: Former president of Liberia is found to have supported rebels during reign of terror in neighbouring Sierra Leone
[26 April 2012] - Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, has been found to have "aided and abetted" war crimes by a United Nations-backed tribunal in The Hague. After four years of hearings at the special court for Sierra Leone, the disgraced one-time guerrilla leader was found to have provided sustained support for rebels during their reign of terror in the neighbouring west African state. He was also said to have participated in the planning of certain attacks, including the assault on Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The judge said Taylor would be sentenced on 30 May after a hearing on 16 May. Taylor, 64, the first African head of state to be brought before an international tribunal, had pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges. He stood at the back of the court while the judge formally found him "criminally responsible" of aiding and abetting in the commission of 11 crimes. Hands clasped in front of him, Taylor blinked as the long list of his criminal responsibility was read out. His eyes shifted not knowing where to focus. Between 1996 and 2002, the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which Taylor supported, was found by the court to have committed crimes involving terrorising civilian populations, murder, rape, sexual slavery and enforced amputations in Sierra Leone. Judge Richard Lussick of Samoa said more than 1,000 children had the letters "RUF" carved into their backs to prevent them escaping. Children were used to amputate limbs, guard diamond mines and hunt for food. Some were involved in fighting. The judge said Taylor told RUF commanders to seize and hold the diamond-producing areas of Sierra Leone so that he could continue trading gems for arms and ammunition. One diamond was said to have weighed as much as 36 carats. The court found that despite Taylor's denials, he knew from August 1997 about the campaign of terror being waged against the civilian population in Sierra Leone, including murder, rape and amputations. Taylor continued privately fuelling the conflict by providing arms and ammunition to the RUF in Sierra Leone, the judge said. His clandestine dealing helped undermine the peace process even when there was a regional arms embargo in force. Taylor's conviction will be widely welcomed in Sierra Leone but the response in Liberia, where he was once seen as a freedom fighter and retains support, may be more critical. Human Rights Watch pointed out that he was the first former head of state to face judgment in an international court on war crimes charges since judges in Nuremberg convicted Karl Dönitz, an admiral who led Nazi Germany for a brief period following Adolf Hitler's suicide. Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president, faced trial by an international criminal tribunal, but he died before a judgment was issued. Another head of state, the one-time president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, is also detained in The Hague. He will appear at the international criminal court on charges of crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch said the trial of Taylor signalled an end to an era of impunity. "Taylor's trial has immense significance for people in the west African sub-region who suffered as a consequence of the violence and instability he allegedly fomented in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire," the organisation said. "For decades, so-called "big men – people who either led armed groups or wielded significant political power – have been allowed to carry out abuses, seemingly with no fear of being investigated or held accountable by a credible judicial body. "In this trial, for the first time, such a 'big man' was taken into custody and forced to answer for his alleged crimes." The judges also had to consider how the 11 charges against Taylor fitted into three legal levels of proof: whether he aided or abetted in the execution of the crimes; whether he was involved in the offences as a joint enterprise with paramilitary groups in Sierra Leone or, most damningly, whether he exercised control and command over the other rebel groups that perpetrated atrocities. In the end they decided his role amounted to the lesser of the three categories. Taylor has 14 days from the receipt of the full judgment to file a written notice of appeal with the registrar against his convictions. Despite previous suggestions that he would not be able to attend, his lead counsel, Courtenay Griffiths QC, was in court to hear the final verdict. More information: - SRSG Coomaraswamy welcomes the conviction of Charles Taylor for war crimes against civilians including children (26 April 2012); - SIERRA LEONE: War crimes court dismissed a challenge to its impartiality (28 January 2012); - Read CRIN's editorial on Children and International Justice; - Sign up to our thematic CRINMAIL on Children and Armed Conflict - Visit the page of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict.