War crimes court upholds 50-year sentence for Liberia’s Charles Taylor

LEIDSCHENDAM, NETHERLANDS // An international war crimes court today upheld the conviction and 50-year sentence of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for aiding rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone, saying his financial, material and tactical support made possible horrendous crimes against civilians.

The appeals chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone upheld the 65-year-old Taylor’s conviction on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including terrorism, murder, rape and using child soldiers.

Taylor’s conviction in April 2012 was hailed as ushering in a new era of accountability for heads of state. He was the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since the Second World War.

Taylor, wearing a black suit and gold-coloured tie, showed little emotion as he stood while Presiding Judge George Gelaga King read the unanimous verdict of the six-judge panel. He is expected to serve his sentence in Britain.

“Taylor’s conviction sends a powerful message that those at the top can be held to account on the gravest crimes,” said Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch.

Steven Rapp, ambassador for war crimes issues at the US Department of State — and former Prosecutor at the Sierra Leone court — said the ruling “sends a clear message to all the world, that when you commit crimes like this, it may not happen overnight, but there will be a day of reckoning.”

The court found Taylor provided crucial aid to rebels in Sierra Leone during its 11-year civil war that left an estimated 50,000 people dead before its conclusion in 2002.

Thousands more were left mutilated in a conflict that became known for the extreme cruelty of rival rebel groups who gained international notoriety for hacking off the limbs of their victims and carving their groups’ initials into opponents. The rebels developed gruesome terms for the mutilations that became their chilling trademark: They would offer their victims the choice of “long sleeves” or “short sleeves” — having their hands hacked off or their arms sliced off above the elbow.

Taylor was convicted not only of aiding and abetting Sierra Leone rebels from his seat of power in neighbouring Liberia, but also for actually planning some of the attacks carried out by Sierra Leone rebel groups the Revolutionary United Front and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council. In return he was given “blood diamonds” mined by slave labourers in Sierra Leone and gained political influence in the volatile West African region.

Importantly, today’s ruling goes against an appeals decision by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in which former Serbian Gen Momcilo Perisic was acquitted of aiding and abetting war crimes.