SIERRA LEONE: JUSTICE FINALLY CATCHES UP WITH THE WARLORD CHARLES TAYLOR

The long running saga otherwise known as the trial of the former Liberian warlord and President Charles Taylor culminated in a verdict which many anticipated since the commencement of proceedings five years ago. Last week the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague concluded that Taylor had aided and abetted war crimes committed by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels during the course of the Sierra Leone civil war between 1991 and 2002.


Taylor's Charge Sheet

Taylor was convicted of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The specific charges made by prosecutors against Taylor included acts of terrorism, murder, violence to life, murder, rape, sexual slavery and violence, outrages upon personal dignity, cruel treatment, other inhumane acts, use of child soldiers, enslavement and pillage. Taylor is expected to be sentenced later in May of this year although one anticipates an appeal from the ever indignant defendant who continues to maintain his innocence.

The court also ruled that Taylor, 64, had provided weapons, food, medical supplies, fuel and equipment to rebels in Sierra Leone who were directly responsible for committing the crimes on the ground. Perhaps, of surprise to observers was the finding by the trial chamber, of course conveyed by its Presiding Judge, Richard Lussick, that Taylor did not instigate the crimes. In return for the arms and ammunition provided by Taylor, the rebels furnished Taylor with blood or conflict diamonds. One recalls that the matter of “blood diamonds” took centre stage and almost threatened to divert attention from the crux of proceedings when British model Naomi Campbell was summoned to the court to give evidence regarding diamonds allegedly received as a present from Taylor.


Witness Testimonies and Evidence

Evidence heard during the trial read like scenes out of horror movies with witnesses recounting numerous and gruesome incidents of rape in view of the public, enslavement, and people being burned alive, beheadings and disembowelling, amputations and mutilation. The signature attack of the rebels during the conflict was the cutting off above the hand of their victims, commonly known at the time as ‘long sleeves’ or above the elbow, also known as ‘short sleeves’. The Court surmised that the sole purpose of these atrocities was to instil terror in the civilian population.


The Special Court for Sierra Leone

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was founded in 2002 and was accorded the rather unsavoury task of bringing the perpetrators of atrocities committed during the 11-year civil war to justice. The Court has so far been successful at fulfilling its remit of bringing to justice individuals which include feared RUF rebels Issa Hassan Sessay and Augustine Gbao to justice.


Global Reaction

The conviction of Taylor has been welcomed by human rights organisations, world governments, as well as victims and survivors of the atrocities. White House spokesman Jay Carney, in the aftermath of the conviction, said: "While there is no way fully to redress the suffering and loss of those who were killed, tortured, raped, and enslaved in the service of Taylor's criminal schemes, we are hopeful that today's ruling will help to dissuade others who might follow in his footsteps”.

“Taylor's conviction sends a powerful message that even those in the highest-level positions can be held to account for grave crimes," added Elise Keppler, senior counsel for Human Rights Watch, in a statement. Touchingly Halimatou Jalloh, whose sister was raped and killed by the rebels was spotted by Reuters reporters in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, holding a sign with the words: “Orphans, widows, widowers, rape victims, amputees, and all the war affected, wipe your tears as the dawn of justice has come." Jalloh’s statement couldn’t be more poignant in the circumstances as it succinctly encapsulates the feelings of all those directly and indirectly affected by the Taylor’s deeds.


The Future

One hopes that the conviction of Taylor, once the world’s third most wanted man, will leave individuals of his ilk quaking in their boots, from Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir. Last year the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrested former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo, who is charged with individual responsibility on counts of crimes against humanity, murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, and other inhuman acts. Gbagbo currently awaits his day in a court which is likely to arrive at the same verdict handed down at the conclusion of Taylor’s trial. The victims and survivors of the brutal war which left 50,000 people dead will sleep easier from this point on, but the scars imprinted by the acts of the soon-to-be-jailed criminal will unfortunately be difficult to erase.

GLOBAL PERSONALITIES OF THE WEEK

This week, it was reported by media outlets that prominent Chinese human rights activist and lawyer Ni Yulan and her husband, Dong Jiqin, had been jailed, the former for a period of two years and eight months and the latter, for two years.

The couple, famed for their provision of advice to individuals whose homes were being seized by the government, appear to have been punished for daring to have called for protests akin to those recently witnessed in the Arab world. Yulan and Jiqin are not strangers to receiving ill treatment from the government. Yulan has been sentenced to jail on two occasions over alleged trumped up charges, has had her home demolished and has also been forced to cease practice as a lawyer by the authorities.

Amnesty International even report that her use of a wheelchair is the direct consequence of an assault she suffered at the hands of the authorities during the course of one of the many detentions she has had to endure. For most, losing the use of one’s limbs, a house and source of livelihood would be enough to persuade one to retreat from the front lines. However both Yulan and Jiqin continue to fight undeterred by the obstacles placed in their way. It is without doubt that both will again return to the frontline upon release from their latest sentences. For engaging in peaceful revolt against the authorities in such an unwavering manner, 1worldinternational salutes Ni Yulan and Dong Jiqin.

BELARUS: DOES SANNIKOV’S RELEASE SIGNAL A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR CHANGE?

In the past week, it was reported that one of the figureheads of the Belarusian opposition, Andrei Sannikov, 58, was released from prison by the authorities. The move appears to have been prompted by new sanctions imposed upon the country by the European Union (“EU”). The sanctions include the imposition of travel bans and asset freezes on high ranking public officials and leading businessmen due to concerns over human rights abuses and violations in the country.


Diplomatic spat

The sanctions followed a diplomatic spat between the EU and Belarus early this year, when EU pressure on the Belarusian government escalated into tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. The ‘tiff’ resulted in the expulsion of the EU ambassador from Belarus. The Belarusian government also recalled its own envoy from Brussels. These actions followed EU imposed sanctions on 21 Belarussian judges and police officers. In response, the 27 countries which comprise the EU all agreed to withdraw their own ambassadors on a temporary basis.


The elections

Sannikov, who was the country’s former deputy foreign minister and a leading presidential candidate, was sentenced to five years in prison last year for his part in mass protests that followed President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election for a fourth term in December 2010. In the elections which were widely criticised by Western, foreign observers and neutrals as mostly fraudulent, Lukashenko was voted back into power collating 80% of the votes cast during the elections. Unsurprisingly the country’s closest ally, Russia, declared the elections as free and fair. The aftermath of the elections is best remembered for the government’s brutal and relentless crackdown on opposition figures and protesters who took to the streets to voice their displeasure at the disputed election results. Notably, several opposition politicians and activists were detained at these rallies organised against the government and jailed afterwards, although some have since been released.


Europe’s last dictator

Lukashenko, also widely referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictator’ rules a country which has the dubious reputation of being the only nation on the European continent which still utilises the death penalty as a means of punishment for some crimes. Lukashenko, an autocratic leader in power since 1994, is also responsible for the country’s movement away from the EU and its warm embrace with the Russian republic with whom it has a symbiotic relationship with in terms of the financial support and cheap energy it receives in return for regional support. Needless to say the country’s relationship with the EU has been at its lowest ebb since the aforementioned crackdown on political opposition following protests against Lukashenko's re-election in December 2010.


The Future

The country, independent since August 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, has hardly made the progress which its neighbours such as Poland and Ukraine have made since the disintegration of the Union. Its vital statistics compare unfavourably when pitted against its neighbours hence the country having to run ‘cap in hand’ to the International Monetary Fund with a request for a financial rescue package in 2011.

One should not be deceived that the latest release of Sannikov will signal a change in the government’s relationship with opposition groups as Lukaskenko’s hand was forced by recent EU sanctions coupled with fears of the unknown, that being the potential imposition of further sanctions against the government and the complete ostrasization of the country from the global forum.

Unfortunately reports of human rights activists and presidential candidates being beaten up, unjustly jailed, or ‘disappeared’ for merely having the audacity to challenge the self-confessed authoritarian’s rule are still to be expected. What is however clear is that the Belarusian opposition have shown time and again courage and brevity similar to that displayed only recently by those who led the ‘Arab Spring’ revolutions, to topple Lukashenko’s Russian-propped regime.

GLOBAL PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK

It was reported in the last week that the Chinese dissident, Fang Lizhi had died in America at the age of 76. Lizhi left his homeland of China for America in 1990 over fears that he would be targeted by the Chinese authorities for his part in orchestrating civil protests.

Fang Lizhi famously played a major part in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing. Lizhi was said to have hosted pro-reform meetings at his residence, written to the government on several occasions urging the release of pro-reform activists and actively engaging in pro-reform activities and in the process risking his life and that of his family.

The man who defined human rights as “fundamental privileges that people have from birth, such as the right to think and be educated, the right to marry and so on” may be gone, but his legacy of risking it all for what is right will never be extinguished.

MALAWI: WHAT NEXT FOR ONE OF AFRICA’S YOUNGEST DEMOCRACIES

Late last week one of the world’s most open secrets was finally laid bare as the Malawian authorities confirmed that the country’s President, Bingu wa Mutharika, 78, was dead. The confirmation put to rest rumours which had gathered momentum in the intervening period that the President had succumbed to a cardiac arrest suffered recently. The delay in announcing the death gave rise to fears of political impasse and dispute in the background regarding the potential successor to the position of President.

One might say that whatever disputes being aired out in the political background were finally resolved when Vice-President, Joyce Banda, was sworn in as President in accordance with the country’s constitution. Joyce Banda thus becomes the country’s first female leader since it gained independence in 1964 and southern Africa’s first female leader.

Needless to say the challenges which President Banda faces, as is also the case with many other African countries or countries in the developing world, are pretty enormous to say the least. The small matters of chronic poverty, poor standards of health and education, countering the HIV/AIDS epidemic amongst numerous others await the new President.

The new President will do well to re-engage with the West as her predecessor seemed to have alienated foreign donors who had managed to keep the country’s fragile economy afloat. Observers will recall that under President Mutharika’s watch, the UK’s representative to the country was expelled after leaked diplomatic cables revealed the West’s concerns about the late President’s autocratic behaviour. Earlier in the year the late President also famously commanded, for want of a better word, the foreign donors to “go to hell”.

One doubts that a clairvoyant, fortune teller or a crystal gazing ball may be able to accurately predict the country’s future in the coming days, weeks, months and even years. What is however known is that the late President’s allies are uncomfortable with the idea of the Vice-President, whom the late President never saw eye to eye with, replacing him. One recalls that both predecessor and successor had a most public falling out over the predecessor’s plans for his brother, also the country’s Foreign Minister, to run as the ruling party’s Presidential candidate in elections planned for 2014.

These political rifts will need to heal and common ground between political opponents will need to be found if any progress is to be made in the interim. The bloodless transition is nevertheless commendable considering the still unfolding situation in Mali and other parts of the continent. As is always the case, time will tell whether this young democracy will see middle, and if lucky, maybe old age.