June 15 – Special Court: How do you impose justice post-war

Previously I mentioned that many of the ex-pats I have met here in SLE work with the UN Special Court of Sierra Leone so I would like to let you know what this court is doing because I find it quite interesting.

At this point most of you know of the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia that took place in the 90s/early 00s. The purpose of this court is similar to Nuremberg trials after WWII and more recently, those held in the Hague regarding Kosovo. They are putting various war criminals on trial for atrocities that occurred in this country.

One of the biggest stories/trials is that of Charles Taylor the former president of Liberia. (1997 – 2003). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taylor there’s a good bit on this page about the SLE civil war too.)

The revolutionary campaign that started the war here was supported by both Muammar Qaddafi and Taylor. Among other roles it is said that these two men supplied the rebels with arms in exchange for diamonds and helped the leaders of the revolution to organize their armies. Basically he supported the war in SLE and later was became Liberia’s president.

On 7 March 2003, the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) indicted Taylor, charging him with crimes against humanity, an indictment which still stands. The trial work began when he was captured and turned over to the UN in Sierra Leone in 2006. The actual trial started June 4th in the Hague and the legal teams are headed their next week to support the trial.

Many of the lawyers I have met here are working on the case including on both sides of the courtroom and all have their own opinion on the purpose/value of the Special Court and the prosecution of war criminals in general.

I would be lying to say that I have never thought through this concept before. I have always been interested in the aftermath of WWII and all of the effort over many years focused on bringing justice to the world. I’ll keep my opinion to myself and let you take a look at the following article:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/06/03/taylor.legacy.ap/index.html

Some of the things in this blow my mind and it all makes me remember (again) how lucky we are to live in the ‘free world’.

On a much lighter note, big plans for the weekend.  Look for loads of updates on Monday and enjoy yours!