A SAMOAN judge in The Hague made history today by declaring that Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, was guilty of aiding and abetting the multiple atrocities committed by a rebel force in neighbouring Sierra Leone. It was a rare example of a former head of state being convicted by an international court, and advocates of cross-border justice immediately hailed the verdict as a welcome precedent.
However, the verdict in the high-profile case fell short of the outcome sought by the prosecution, which had argued that Mr Taylor not only facilitated terrible crimes but was also directly to blame. Direct responsibility had not been established, said the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an ad-hoc tribunal set up to consider the legacy of Sierra Leone's civil war, which broke out in March 1991 and raged for 11 years. It now seems likely that Mr Taylor, once a wealthy and self-confident figure who boasted of his high-level connections in places ranging from Libya to the United States, will be sentenced to a long prison term, to be served in Britain. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial, insisting that he had tried to be a peace-maker.
Mr Taylor's trial was conducted in The Hague for fear of destabilising his home region in West Africa, but all the court's other proceedings—financed by the voluntary contributions of about 40 countries—have taken place in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown. Eight rebel leaders have received heavy sentences for their part in a war that featured amputations, mass rape and the recruitment on a huge scale of child soldiers.
The verdict on Mr Taylor was welcomed in Sierra Leone but received with more scepticism in his Liberian homeland, where he still has supporters. One British barrister who took part in the Freetown proceedings said that taken as a whole, the court's record had been a disappointment. "The court's aim of promoting the rule of law in a region of failed governance was a good one," said John Cammegh, "but too often the court seemed out of its depth, the trials were too remote from ordinary people and they took too long." He said the court had focused on the misdeeds of rebel groups while dealing much more leniently with the actions of pro-government forces. Nonetheless, today's decision seems likely to be met with relief by an American diplomat who—according to a Wikileaks document that was mentioned in court—opined in a cable that "the best we can do for Liberia is see that Charles Taylor is put away for a long time."
