Ex-Liberian President, Charles Taylor, is Sentenced to 50 Years Over Atrocities in Sierra Leone's Civil War

Issue 10, Spring 2012

G P N S T O R Y

Charles G. Taylor, the former President of Liberia and a once-powerful warlord, was sentenced to 50 years in prison over atrocities committed in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990's. Taylor was found guilty of "aiding and abetting, as well as planning, some of the most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history."

Taylor was the first head of state convicted by an international court since the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Taylor last month on 11 charges of aiding and abetting the rebels who went on a brutal rampage during that country's decade-long war that ended in 2002 with more than 50,000 dead.

Taylor showed no emotion as he stood while Lussick handed down what was effectively a life sentence.

Taylor, 64, was found guilty last month of 11 counts of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity, when supporting rebels between 1996 and 2002 in return for conflict gems. The offences included murder, rape, sexual slavery, recruiting child soldiers, enforced amputations and pillage.

Judges at a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague said his leadership role and exploitation of the conflict to extract so-called "blood diamonds" meant he deserved one of the longest prison sentences handed down so far by the court.

Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner of Human Rights Watch said: "It is really significant that Taylor's status as a former head of state was taken as an aggravating factor as far as his sentence was concerned. "That is a very important precedent and I hope that Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir take note."

In his last address to the tribunal, Taylor denied encouraging human rights abuses during the prolonged civil war in Sierra Leone, insisting he had in fact been trying to stabilise the region. "What I did to bring peace to Sierra Leone was done with honour. I was convinced that unless there was peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia would not be able to move forward. "I pushed the peace process hard, contrary to how I have been portrayed in this court."

The court's prosecutor, Brenda Hollis, said, "The sentence imposed today does not replace amputated limbs, does not bring back to life those who were murdered, does not heal the wounds of those who were victims of sexual violence and does not remove the permanent emotional, psychological and physical scars of those enslaved or recruited as child soldiers."

Taylor will serve his sentence in a British jail. His lawyers, however, said they will appeal his convictions and that will likely keep him in a jail in The Hague, Netherlands, for months.

Sources:
Bowcott, Owen and agencies (May 30, 2012). Charles Taylor sentenced to 50 years in prison for war crimes. Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/30/charles-taylor-sentenced-50-years-war-crimes

Fox News (May 30, 2012). Judges sentence former Liberia president Taylor to 50 years for 'heinous' crimes. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/30/judges-to-pass-sentence-on-charles-taylor/

Simons, Marlise and Goodman, David J. (May 30, 2012). Taylor jailed for 50 years for 'heinous' war crimes. International Herald Tribune, Global Edition of the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/world/africa/charles-taylor-sentenced-to-50-years-for-war-crimes.html

Tags: Charles Taylor | International Criminal Court | War crimes

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