Charles Taylor's trial puts dictators on notice

Liberia's former president becomes the first African head of state to go on trial for war crimes Monday.

from the June 4, 2007 edition

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Other African leaders on trial

Late last year a court in Ethiopia found former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam guilty of genocide but he will escape justice because he lives in exile in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. This year, former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba was convicted by a British court of defrauding the Zambian people of $46 million, and the ICC last month began investigating allegations of mass rape committed by forces loyal to Ange-Félixe Patassé, former president of Central African Republic now in exile in Togo.

"The world has turned a page in the wake of Taylor's arrest," argues Special Court prosecutor Stephen Rapp. "[Crimes against humanity] cannot be ignored, and there will have to be prosecutions. The days are gone when leaders accused of atrocities could escape into exile."

There are concerns, however, that the arrest and trial of Taylor, who was persuaded to step down in part by an offer of safety in exile, may serve to further entrench other leaders accused of abusing power, such as Mr. Mugabe.

"Charles Taylor was promised by his colleagues, the African heads of state, that he would be safe and now he is on trial," says Mr. Caulker. "So there are positives and negatives. From Sierra Leone's point of view, the positive wins. From Zimbabwe's point of view, perhaps it is the negative."

Mr. Rapp concedes that while Taylor's trial sets a key precedent, it might also make it more difficult to oust other tyrants who have seen Taylor given asylum one moment and be arrested the next. "At the negotiating table, the offer of safety in exile will no longer wash." But, drawing an analogy with more mundane crimes, Rapp says this is a price worth paying: "I want bank robbers to know they'll be arrested and therefore stop robbing banks."

Pressing concerns for war victims

None doubt the importance of justice, but most in Sierra Leone – especially the victims – have other priorities. Five years after the war ended, Sierra Leone remains one of the world's poorest countries.

On any given day in the center of Freetown, crowds of amputees jostle with polio victims and the destitute – both young – and old to beg for money. The government, they say, gives them nothing and the court, they argue, is not really for them.

"You can free Charles Taylor today and we will not feel it much. You can kill Charles Taylor today and we will not feel it much," says Farma Jalloh, a former government soldier blinded while fighting the RUF rebels. "The international community wants to try Charles Taylor but what will it achieve for the victims?"

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