Former Liberian president Charles Taylor will answer for his alleged role in the bloody decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone before a court in The Netherlands on Monday.
But, despite the distance between the West African country that was the scene of some of the worst brutality in recent years and the court room in The Hague, the population of Sierra Leone will not be cut off from the process.
Taylor has been indicted on 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international law by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an independent United Nations-backed process.
For security reasons, his trial, conducted under the statute of the special court, takes place at the premises of the International Criminal Court.
Groups of West African journalists and civil servants will be attending the trial from Monday on a rotation basis.
”The special court for Sierra Leone is making great efforts to bridge the distance between Holland and West Africa,” Lisa Keppler of Human Rights Watch (HRW) explained in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The international rights watchdog has monitored the tribunal since its inception.
From the very beginning, says Keppler, the court set up special programmes that enabled the people of Sierra Leone and West Africa to follow the court proceedings. Several suspected perpetrators in the conflict have appeared before its Freetown court since 2004.
”Audio and video recordings are made of all sessions and distributed throughout the region. This time, the court is inviting journalists and civil society representatives to attend the court hearings by rotation,” she said.
All court expenses, including those for the special programmes, have been paid by Western donor countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and The Netherlands. In West Africa, Nigeria also made its contribution, by sitting on the management committee of interested states.
Keppler calls the Special Court ”a milestone for justice in Africa” and says: ”It sends a very strong signal that no one is above the law, not even a president.”
Taylor is the first African head of state to be indicted on serious crimes under international law by the International Criminal Court.
”Taylor will be tried under the statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which basically means that the law that will be used is a mixture of Sierra Leonean and international humanitarian law.
The court itself has a similar national-international character, as it is staffed by Sierra Leonean and international judges and staff.”
He has been charged on the basis of his alleged role as an alleged major backer of the Sierra Leone rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), and his close association with a second warring faction, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).
On Monday, a prosecutor will read out the charges against Taylor, Liberia’s elected president from 1997 to 2003.
The charges include the murder and mutilation of civilians, using women and girls as sex slaves and the abduction of adults and children who were forced into labour or to become fighters.
Asked whether HRW had faith in the special court to conduct a fair trial, Keppler said ”we have seen great progress. We have had our doubts in the past, particularly when it concerned access to resources. But many of the problem issues have been tackled. We think Taylor will receive a fair trial.”
After June 4, the court will adjourn, and will resume hearings on June 25. While Keppler expects the trial to take about 18 months, there have been estimates of proceedings stretching over two years. ‒ Sapa-DPA