Court finds Charles Taylor guilty of aiding rebels; more rulings coming back

posted on Thu, 26 Apr at 11:50

An international war crimes tribunal on Thursday found Liberia's former president, Charles Taylor, guilty of aiding rebels who raped, killed and mutilated civilians in neighboring Sierra Leone.


However, prosecutors failed to prove that he had command over the rebels, said Justice Richard Lussick of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The former war lord faced 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other international violations. The judge was still reading the verdict on the other charges.

Prosecutors accused him of financing and giving orders to Revolutionary United Front rebels in the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone that left 50,000 dead or missing.

His support for rebels fueled the bloody war that led to widespread murder, rape and mutilation in Liberia and Sierra Leone, prosecutors said.

Witnesses testified about grisly violence by the rebels during the conflict, including chopping off the arms of civilians, and shooting and disemboweling of pregnant women and children.

"Brave men, women and children have taken the stand against Charles Taylor," the prosecutor's office said in a statement. "They have included amputees, rape victims, former child soldiers, and persons enslaved, robbed, and terrorized. We are awed by their courage."

Fighters included teenagers forced to kill, rape and plunder under the influence of drugs to provoke violent behavior, witnesses said.

Prosecutors said Taylor financed the war with proceeds from the so-called "blood diamonds" used to fund rebels in conflict areas.

Taylor was president of Liberia -- where he is also blamed for fueling a lengthy civil war -- for six years until 2003 when heavy international pressure forced him out of office.

He has been on trial since 2007 at the special court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Netherlands. United Nations officials and the Sierra Leone government jointly set up the tribunal to try those who played the biggest role in the atrocities.

Closing arguments were presented last year.

During the trial, judges heard testimony from more than 100 people, including Taylor and supermodel Naomi Campbell, whom prosecutors put on the stand in an effort to tie him to blood diamonds.

Campbell told the special tribunal that she received "dirty-looking stones" she assumed were gifts from Taylor after a dinner hosted by former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1997.

"When I was sleeping, I had a knock on my door. I opened the door and two men were there. They gave me a pouch and said, 'A gift for you,' " she said. "The men didn't introduce themselves or say anything else."

Taylor has been a pivotal figure in Liberian politics for decades after he overthrew the regime of Samuel Doe in 1989, spiraling the country into a bloody civil war that left 200,000 dead over the next 14 years.

After he was forced out of office, he lived in exile in Nigeria, where border guards arrested him in 2006 as he was attempting to cross into Chad amid international pressure.

It is expected he will be sentenced to serve time in a British prison.

Source: CNN.