Sierra Leone / Defense Opens in Taylor War Crimes Trial

 

 

THE HAGUE, Netherland, July 10, 2009/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The defense in the trial of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone is scheduled to open its case on July 13, 2009 in The Hague. Taylor, who was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, is expected to be the first defense witness and to take the stand on July 14.

Taylor is being tried on 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international law committed during Sierra Leone’s brutal 11-year armed conflict, which ended in 2002. The charges are primarily for his alleged role as a major backer of the Sierra Leone rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and his alleged association with a second warring faction, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). The RUF in particular was notorious for its atrocities, including cutting off the limbs of civilians.

“Charles Taylor’s trial gives victims of heinous abuses in Sierra Leone an important opportunity to see justice done,” said Elise Keppler, senior counsel with Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. “A vigorous defense is key to ensuring a fair, credible trial.”

Taylor is being tried by the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, a hybrid international-national court that includes Sierra Leonean and international judges and staff. While the Special Court is headquartered in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, Taylor’s trial is taking place at the facilities of the International Criminal Court in The Hague because of concerns that a trial in Sierra Leone might affect stability in West Africa.

Taylor’s testimony is expected to last for several weeks.

Prior to Taylor’s arrest in 2006, Human Rights Watch worked with a coalition of African and international nongovernmental organizations to press for his surrender for trial and has closely followed the work of the Special Court since it was established in 2002.

 

SOURCE 

Human Right Watch (HRW)