In the 50 year
sentence handed to former Liberian
president Charles Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone meeting at the Hague on
May 30, 2012, the world came one step closer to being able to hold dictators
accountable for war crime atrocities that go even beyond the violation of basic human
rights. In particular, the prosecutor described, "The purposely cruel and savage crimes committed
included public executions and amputations of civilians, the display of
decapitated heads at checkpoints, the killing and public disembowelment of a
civilian whose intestines were then stretched across the road to make a check
point, public rapes of women and girls, and people burned alive in their
homes.”[1] Insisting that
he never knowingly assisted in the crimes, Taylor claimed that what he did “was
done with honor.”[2] He maintained that he had been “convinced that unless there
was peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia would not be able to move forward.”[3] Nevertheless, that he paid thugs in blood diamonds for the crimes means that he
could be held accountable for the misdeeds themselves.
The full essay is at "Liberian President Gets 50."
1. Marlise Simons
and David Goodman, “Judge Gives Taylor 50 Years for ‘Heinous’ Crimes in War,” The New York Times, May 30, 2012.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
