Sierra Leone War Crimes/Charles Taylor GUILTY of Aiding Sierra Leone War Crimes
Considering how many lives that were affected by militant groups this is a historic conviction. The people in Sierra Leone suffered through mass murders, child soldiers, decapitations, rapes & sexual slavery that will affect generations of families for decades. I'm not sure if any of the people affected truly will ever receive justice & the sad part about this is that it's still happening. Don't get me wrong, the conviction was very historic, but they didn't get the conviction they wanted, they wanted Taylor to be found guilty of "joint criminal enterprise" & being directly involved as the superior leader of the groups that committed the atrocity of crimes against the people of Sierra Leone. My question is when Taylor file his appeal will he be doing that from prison???
Here's the article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17852488
International judges have found former Liberian leader Charles Taylor guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes during the Sierra Leone civil war.
Taylor, 64, has been on trial in The Hague at a UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone for almost five years.
He was accused of backing rebels who killed tens of thousands during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war.
Taylor was convicted of 11 counts including terror, murder and rape - but cleared of ordering the crimes.
He is the first former head of state convicted by an international court since the Nuremburg military tribunal of Nazis after World War II.
Human rights groups described the judgement as historic.
"This is an incredibly significant decision," Elise Keppler from the campaign group Human Rights Watch told the BBC.
Sierra Leonean traditional chiefs, legal experts and victims of the war here breathed a sigh of relief when the guilty verdict was read out.
They filed out of the courtroom in Freetown where they had been watching the verdict by video link with quiet satisfaction written on their faces.
Jusu Jarkar, whose arms were hacked off by rebels during the war, said: "This is a happy day. I have not been able to do many things because my arms were cut off, but today I am happy."
"Tomorrow I will be happy too", Mr Jarkar added, "because it is Sierra Leone independence day".
Brima Sheriff of Amnesty International said the sentence would serve as a deterrent. Asked whether this was "victor's justice", Mr Sheriff said: "No, this was a fair trial. The defence as well as the prosecution put their case."
Rights group Amnesty International said the verdict sent an important message to all high-ranking state officials.
"While today's conviction brings some measure of justice to the people of Sierra Leone, Taylor and the others sentenced by the Special Court are just the tip of the iceberg," the group's Brima Abdulai Sheriff said in a statement.
The US State Department said the ruling sent "a strong message to all perpetrators of atrocities, including those in the highest positions of power, that they will be held accountable".
Diamonds for weapons
Chief prosecutor Brenda Hollis said it was "confirmation of what the people in Sierra Leone told us from the beginning of our investigations, and that is that Mr Taylor was one of those who bore greatest responsibility for the crimes against them".
But defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths denied this, saying the verdict was a "major blow to the prosecution" as it had failed to show that Taylor was part of a conspiracy led by Libya to take over West Africa.
The judges, Mr Griffiths added, had also rejected the contention that Taylor was micro-managing events in Sierra Leone.
Judge Richard Lussick said the court was satisfied Taylor had aided war crimes
Reading out the verdict in The Hague, Judge Richard Lussick said Taylor had been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt in connection with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Those included terror, murder, rape, and conscripting child soldiers, he added.
Judge Lussick said that as Liberian leader, Taylor had extended "sustained and significant" support to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
The judge said the accused had sold diamonds and bought weapons on behalf of the RUF - and knew the rebels were committing crimes.
But Judge Lussick added that this support fell short of effective command and control over the rebels.
Taylor timeline
• 1989: Launches rebellion in Liberia
• 1991: RUF rebellion starts in Sierra Leone
• 1997: Elected president after a 1995 peace deal
• 1999: Liberia's Lurd rebels start an insurrection to oust Mr Taylor
• June 2003: Arrest warrant issued; two months later he steps down and goes into exile to Nigeria
• March 2006: Arrested after a failed escape bid and sent to Sierra Leone
• June 2007: His trial opens - hosted in The Hague for security reasons
• April 2012: Convicted of aiding and abetting the commission of war crimes
"The trial chamber finds the accused cannot be held responsible for ordering the crimes," he said.
He also said the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Taylor was part of a joint criminal enterprise.
In the Liberian capital Monrovia, newspaper publisher Tom Kamara hailed the verdict, saying "justice has been done" and it was "an end to impunity".
However young supporters of Charles Taylor took to the streets brandishing placards reading: "We love you Taylor, God willing you will come back."
A sentence hearing will be held on 16 May, with the sentence to be handed down on 30 May, he added.
Taylor has a right to appeal against the conviction.
If he loses the appeal he is expected to serve his sentence in a British prison as the Dutch government only agreed to host the trial if any ensuing jail term was served in another country.
Taylor, a warlord in the 1980s and early 1990s, was elected president of Liberia in 1997 following a peace deal than ended a brutal civil war.
He governed for six years before being forced into exile in Nigeria following a second conflict.
In 2006 he was arrested, repatriated to Liberia and eventually sent to The Hague to be tried.
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