Post-Carnage
"He's caused untold suffering for thousands, if not tens of thousands, of victims in Sierra Leone. Today's judgement brings some measure of justice for those victims who suffered so horribly."
Prosecutor Brenda Hollis, Special Court for Sierra Leone
"From day one, my position has been that the trial of Mr. Taylor was orchestrated by the powers that be -- the Western powers. This was an international conspiracy; so I am not surprised or disappointed" by the verdict.
Arthur Saye, brother-in-law to Charles Taylor, Paynesville, Liberia
Abandoned: People living in makeshift apartments
at a former presidential palace look out from a balcony to Sierra
Leone's capital Freetown
Photo: Fanny SchertzerThe appeals chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone upheld conviction of the 65-year-old Taylor on eleven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Terrorism, murder, rape and the use of child soldiers. The final ruling of the court "affirms Taylor's criminal responsibility for grave crimes" stated prosecutor Brenda Hollis. Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch stated that "Taylor's conviction sends a powerful message that those at the top can be held to account on the gravest crimes."
They can, but will they be? The International Criminal Court has charged the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, with war crimes in Darfur. He was indicted with five charges of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes. He has yet to face justice. He has appeared at Arab League meetings, he has presented himself in person within various Middle East countries and nowhere is there within that milieu condemnation of his crimes.
The ambassador for war crimes issues at the U.S. Department of State, former prosecutor at the Sierra Leone court, stated the ruling "sends a clear message to all the world, that when you commit crimes like this, it may not happen overnight, but there will be a day of reckoning." Does that, then mean that there will be a time in the not-too-distant future when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may stand before an international criminal court to account for his massive crimes against his people?
Taylor, found the court, had provided critical aid to the Sierra Leone rebels throughout the country's eleven-year civil war. A war that left stark devastation with an estimated 50,000 dead before it concluded in 2002. President Bashar al-Assad has handily doubled that figure with his regime responsible for countless deaths of Syrian Sunnis. In Sierra Leone, thousands were mutilated as rival rebel groups hacked limbs off their victims.
Photo: Spyros DemetriouIn return for his invaluable assistance to the Revolutionary United Front and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council in Sierra Leone, Charles Taylor received "blood diamonds" mined by slave labourers in Sierra Leone. Mr. Taylor gained political influence in West Africa. And in South Africa he was a dinner party guest, invited by then-president Nelson Mandela, where Taylor met Naomi Campbell, and gifted her with a "blood diamond". Mia Farrow just had the pleasure of meeting the murderous culprit, sans diamond gift for herself.
Nelson Mandela is
pictured with guests at a party in South Africa in 1997. The interaction
of Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell and Mia Farrow at the event is likely
to come under the spotlight at The Hague when Farrow and Campbell
appear as witnesses at Taylor's war crimes trial.
Photograph: Sipa Press / Rex Features
Labels: Africa, Atrocities, Controversy, Crime, Human Relations, Justice
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, September 28, 2013
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