Charles Taylor today accused the United Nations of making him responsible for the presence of Liberian fighters among rebel forces in Sierra Leone during its 11-year conflict. This misconception, he said, had landed him in jail today.
Mr. Taylor’s defence counsel Courtenay Griffiths read from a 1998 United Nations (UN) Security Council report which stated that over 100 Liberian fighters were identified among rebel forces killed by Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) soldiers after the military intervention that forced the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and Revolutionary United Front (RUF) junta from power in 1998. The report further read that about 65 Liberian fighters had been arrested and detained at Sierra Leone’s maximum security prisons. The information is said to have been provided by Mr. Francis Okello, the then Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Sierra Leone.
Mr. Taylor denied these allegations and informed the judges that the government of Sierra Leone was aware that the Liberians fighting in Sierra Leone were not sent by him, but were former members of the Liberian army who had escaped to Sierra Leone and had become part of the Special Task Force (STF)– a group of Liberian fighters who reports indicate fought alongside the Sierra Leone military, supported the AFRC coup of 1997 and became part of the AFRC/RUF junta. Mr. Taylor has denied any associations with the STF.
“We are shocked by this because we knew, the government of Sierra Leone and ECOWAS knew who the Liberians were,” Mr. Taylor said.
Mr. Taylor said that this was the first time that such an allegation had been made against him and it only happened when he asked the UN Security Council to lift the arms embargo that had been imposed on Liberia. “For the first time, this is raised. It is a complete shock to me and my government,” Mr. Taylor said. “If Okello had taken his time to investigate the matter, he would have known that they were not my people. If he had done his homework, he would have known the fact. He did not do his homework.”
Mr. Taylor told judges that his failure to clarify the presence of Liberians in Sierra Leone is what has brought him to his present state. “We never succeeded in putting the fact that there were Liberians in Sierra Leone but not sent by Taylor. This is what got me to jail today,” he said.
The AFRC/RUF junta regime was established when soldiers of the Sierra Leone army overthrew the government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah in May 1997. The junta forces were eventually forced out of power through a military intervention by ECOMOG forces in February 1998.
The prosecution alleges that Charles Taylor supported the junta regime and provided them with arms and ammunition. The prosecution further alleges that Liberian forces under Mr. Taylor’s control were sent by him to fight alongside the rebel forces in Sierra Leone. Mr. Taylor has denied the allegations and has said in his testimony that he was in concert with other West African leaders to remove the junta from power and restore peace in Sierra Leone.
Mr. Taylor told the judges that some members of the international community did not like him being president of Liberia. “Maybe some people saw me as a problem, looking back at the coup, war, a situation where he was trained in Libya, and so they tried to stop me from being elected as president, the Liberian people did not buy the arguement, I think the word came out then that we must stop Taylor,” he said.
Mr. Taylor has also been accused of hosting RUF commanders such as Sam Bockarie for regular meetings in Liberia. Mr. Taylor said that the first time he spoke with Sam Bockarie was in September 1998 when he became member of the ECOWAS Committee of Five, a committee that was set up to facilitate a peaceful end to the conflict in Sierra Leone.
Mr. Taylor said that he had nothing to gain from destabilizing Sierra Leone as it is “only with stability in the region will Liberia get investors.”
There will be no trial sessions on Fridays during the duration of Mr. Taylor’s testimony. Mr. Taylor’s testimony continues on Monday.
Now we know where it came from…….Big game played out…
Francis Okelo was just a mouthpiece of the then President Kabbah.
Mr. Taylor may be able to fool the judges at the special court for Sierra Leone, but will he be able to fool the people of Liberia that he should not be held responsible ffor actrocities committeed in Liberia?
M. Taylor is a criminal minded tyrant that was unleashed on the people of Liberia by the CIA and Col. Kadafi.
Corfto
Corfto,
Fool What people in Liberia? If you are not a Liberian let me inform you that Mr. Taylor was the first democratically elected President of Liberia. He won with a landslide victory with over 80% of the vote. It’s amazing you people blame every atrocity on Mr. Taylor or his group. There were more than five warring factions vying to take over liberia. All there leaders ran the presidency and were roundly defeated.
My Dear Aki,
Do you think that if Charles Taylor had not waged war on the Liberian people, would all the warring factions aforementioned going to be formed in the first place? Or would some members of the Liberian army going to f lee to Sierra Leone? Even if those so called Liberians fighters in Sierra Leone were not he Charles Taylor’s men, he caused them to be in such a situation. Due to this true fact, he is equally as responsible for all the atrocities attributed to those fighters.
Yaya
Yaya,
Charles Tayor’s revolution was a people revolution. The vast majority wanted to see the back of Samuel Doe. As for your utterances about Sierra Leone. Be reminded that Sierra Leone was the back bone of Liberia’s problems beginning in 1985 when they allowed their territory to be used to invade Liberia resulting in the war being started in 1990 by agrieved people.
Yaya, you are only exposing your moral defensive and biases against President Taylor, and not on facts. According to you, If Mr. Taylor had not waged war on the Liberian people, other warring factions would not had been formed. First of all, one man can not wage war and be successful on any country, especially being incarcerated in a maximum prison facility in the USA. So, Yaya your first premise is a LIE. Secondly, based upon your own standard of measurement, wouldn’t it be fair for President Taylor to advance the same argument that if the Late President Doe had not overthrown a legitimate and constitutional government of President Tolbert, he would not have come? You are a joker.Thirdly, why should someone be responsible for another man’s crimes. You can not be serious. I know you’re a Muslim and not Christian. However, according to Christian faith, only Jesus died and paid the prize for our sins. However, President Taylor is nowhere near Jesus Christ to pay for Ellen Johnson, Prince Johnson, Daminte conneh, Tejan Kabbah, Alihaji Kromah, Lassana Conteh and his lieutenant, ect sins. Nice try Yaya. Not this time.
Yaya,
Which came first….the chicken or the egg?? What prompted Mr Taylor to bring a war??
Yaya, I’m sorry for you. You are too narrow minded to discuss important sissues like Mr. Taylor trial. We are talking about Mr. Taylor being accused of crime that he did not commit in Sierra Leone. But not what caused the war in SL. Let me ask you. Can two wrongs make a right? Even if Mr. Taylor brought war in Liberia, does that mean criminal minded people should attack, killed, rape women and cut lims in Sierra Leone? please open your eyes and mind to the issue being discuss here or just sit there and listen.
Harris
Yaya,
This is such an immatured statement. For God’s sake so Taylor is responsible for all liberians in the world committing crime too right? Come on it is time Liberians take responsibility for their own doings and Sierra Leoneans do the same. What is this blame game? Was’t there a need to remove Doe at the time? Ther majority of Liberians welcomed Taylor as a means of getting rid of Doe. Now he is the worse person to you.
Why do we always tear down our leaders? We are always trying to find someone to blame for our flaws. Taylor did not kill Liberians in 1985 November 12 or the April 12 and April 14; nor did he kill Liberians during the Nimba raid. So give it a rest please.
Corfto, what makes to think that Mr. Taylor is fooling these judges. Mr. Taylor will not be brought before any war crime court in Liberia. Was Mr. Kabbah, also an elected President brought before the war crime court in SL? Mr. Taylor during election and during conflicts had aleast 70% of the people support.
Corfto, I believe that Mr. Taylor is on trial for alleged crimes against humanity committted against the people of Sierra and not the people of Liberia. Let us continue to put the thrust of the trial into perspective. If Mr. Taylor is so merciless, why did we not experience in Liberia, the same kind of pillage that they alleged he was responsible for?
This is some news archives in January 1999:
RUF commander Sam “Maskita” Bockarie said Thursday the RUF had agreed to an unconditional cease-fire, beginning on Monday. “After that one week, if (RUF leader Corporal Foday) Sankoh is not released, we are going to resume our offensive,” he said. Bockarie said the RUF had agreed to the cease-fire at the behest Liberian President Charles Taylor. “He only said to me that we should allow a temporary cease-fire to allow the humanitarian relief officers to be given a chance and that during that period Foday Sankoh would be released. That’s why I agreed,” Bockarie said. Rebel spokesman Eldred Collins added that after “lengthy discussions” with Taylor, the rebels agreed to a week-long cease-fire. Taylor, who announced the cease-fire at a press conference in Monrovia’s Executive Mansion, said agreement with the rebels was reached after two days of stringent negotiations. He said that the rebels had agreed to institute their cease-fire at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Liberian government wanted to secure the cease-fire to allow humanitarian agencies to reach the civilian population with relief assistance, he added. Taylor said he was encouraging other parties to the conflict to respect the cease-fire, and for negotiations to continue. Despite international accusations that Liberia supported the rebels, he said, Liberia would continue its efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Liberia was suggesting that the ECOWAS Committee of Six on Sierra Leone meet in Ivory Coast within the next seven days to discuss the release of RUF leader Corporal Foday Sankoh, so that he could be part of the peace process, Taylor added. Bockarie, in a BBC interview, said that while the cease-fire was originally to have started on Saturday, difficulty in communicating with his forces meant it could not be implemented before next week. “(The cease-fire) should have started on Saturday, but after I have passed on this information to them, some of our chiefs of stations or commanders told me that some men…they have dispatched men already to go on operation, so it will take time to get to withdraw them back to return to base. So, I decided to call back to the president the number he gave me this morning to call him back. I called him and informed him that: ‘Oh, chief, yes, you have talked to me about a temporary cease-fire, but I asked him so that it shouldn’t be on Saturday again, but on Monday or Tuesday.'” Bockarie said the fighting would continue “for a couple days” because his fighters had already left to conduct operations. “You cannot just cease fire as you want,” he said. “You have to, I mean, send other men to withdraw from operations.” Bockarie said the cease-fire would take effect on Monday. “We don’t want to announce a cease-fire, then break it,” he said.
Bobson,
Sam Bockarie said “That’s Why I Agreed” if Taylor was his commander as you are suggesting he would have to take the order, not say based on what was asked that is why he agreed. You are so closed minded Bobson concerning Charles Taylor. Open your ears my brother!
the sierra leonian govt paid us to fight. they had meeting with us on the refugee camp. i have prove.
It is sadden to know that some UN Officials lik Okello will do street judgement of a sistuation and present it as a report to the UN Security Council for action. We all know from other sources including Liberia TRC hearings that Liberians who fought along side with the STF in Sierra Leone were members of Doe army that ran away from the NPFL of Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor has never denied the that Liberians were fighting in Sierra Leone, but he did not sent them. Joe Wallace, one of the commanders of the STF told Liberia TRC that they have regroup in SL in order to fight Taylor in Liberia, but they have to fight along side with the government of Sierra Leone to stop RUF rebles from taking state power. I’m sure had Okello done is home work better, he would have known these facts long before the TRC hearings in Liberia.
We know that Sam Bockarie came to Liberia on several occassions. I am very astonished at Mr. Taylor for dening such a fact. I think Mr. Taylor is not being fair to himself and the world at large.
I believe you aught to review your facts. Mr. Taylor admitted accommodating Bockarie in Liberia. So please do not mislead readers. Let us remain objective. Mr. Taylor is not on trial, because the case against him is difficult if not impossible to prove. What is on trial is the credibility, integrity and prestige of international criminal justice or in broad terms international justice. The choice of Liberia and Sierra Leone, two poor and vulnerable west African nations, as the experimental parameter is interesting if not disgusting.
Bility,
Are you a relative of Hasan??? If what you’re saying is FACTUAL, why didn’t prosecutors bring it in as evidence???
Did you watch the prosecutor showings?? Why is it 99% of her witnesses were either Muslim or Mandigo or both??
Biity, what is fair to you? Please answer this simple question.
Are you following the trial and the chronological order that it is proceeding in? If you are you will know that they are on 1998 and the issue of Sam Bokarie has not yet arisen. You will get to find out how Bokarie got to be in Liberia in the first place. Taylor is not denying anything he is stating the facts as they happened in chronological order. Up to the time he is dealing with Sam Bokarie had not come to Liberia.
As the defence Lawyer pointed out in the opening certain actions occurred with the fulkl acquiesance of the OAU, ECOWAS and the UN. Wait and see as the case develops and then you can reassess your comments.
Hey Mr Biity
You are a black lier, where did you see sam? in your dreams ? If you saw SAM why didn’t you go as a witness for the prosecutor. And corfto stop been silly this is not about liberia
BYE
Zobon
We all know what Taylor did in Liberia and Sierra Leone….. and we also know that foley Sinkor lived behind Taylor line in Firestone and Grand Bassa in 1990 – 1992….
Yeah, we aught to try Lassana Conteh, President of Guinea, Chester Cohen, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the list goes on. Let us remain objective.
You must be a great ,great,great,great,great grandson Bob Gray…ha ha. I advise that you go and read the transcripts plus the MANDATE of this court.
Sammy boy, you and who knew that Foley Sankor lived behind Taylor’s line? When you say, “we all know,” you and who make we? For me, I didn’t know.
Hey Mr. Biity
I want to correct you for the fact that Mr. Taylor is not dening that Sam Bockarie came to Liberia. He’s saying that when he allowed Sam Bockarie to come to Liberia, He ( Taylor ) was serving as chairman of the commitee of 5 heads of States to bring peace to Sierra Leone. Ant that they all agreed for him to host Bockarie in Liberia so the war could stop in Sierra Leone.I am following the trial at all time as I serve in the US Military in Iraq.
The actual transcripts have all the questions answers for you to read. From there you will know that Taylor was wrongly accused when it come to Sierra Leone. Even the President Kabah of Sierra Leone told his people that there were 5000 Liberians he has recruited to fight along side the Sierra Leonean Army and that goup was called the STF ( SPECIAL TASK FORCE ), these were Liberian who became part of the Sierra Leonean Military on salary.
Do you know that LURD had Sierra Leonean among them who were sent by Kabah to fight in Liberia. You might want know how I got to know that but I most remind you that I am a Liberian Serving in the world most powerful Military; moreover, I am a high Ranking officer as well. you need to do more research before you writing all these nonsense on here.
In as much as I don’t like Taylor, We should be fair here when you’re talking about Justic for the people. Don’t mislead the people in the name of Justice. The people of Sierra Leone did those killing of their people not Taylor. Where in Liberia did NPFL cut off the hands and legs of people? Go and see what the Sierra Leonean did to their own people!
Thanks for your service Joe. You went above and beyond the call of duties. However, these hypocrites give a little jab and hide behind their plastic jesus. They are victims of their own trap and success. Taylor will soon be walking as a free man in Liberia like Ellen Johnson, Prince Johnson, Thomas Nimeley, Alihaji Kromah, and etc.
Okello or whatever his name was could have been acting on the orders of the Britishs. Taylor is simply a victim of multinational companies who have always desire to exploit Africa’s natural resources. Remember the powerful Haliburton company had failed to secure a deal with Taylor. Taylor rejected their terms of business agreement because he knew that it would not benefit Liberia.
There are three majors energy companies that wanted to exploit SL. Guinea , and Liberia. These three companies have close working relationship , two were successful , ADM and another one but Haliburton failed to convince Taylor. Moreover, these companies also engages in gold and diamond mining. They used the very gold and diamond profit to invest their big businesses.
So these companies were mad at Taylor and used Okello I would think. This is just an analysis and not base on facts.
Can someone educate me on the Law of Evidence applied in the Charles Taylor trial, please? Courtenay Griffiths is allowed, most of the time, to ask so many leading questions which I thought are clearly objectionable. For example, Griffiths will read two sets of documents and ask his client, “Can you see THE (my emphasis) similarities between the two?” Of course, any cannibalistic murderer (alleged) will see THE similarities, wouldn’t he? Then, Taylor will be allowed to go on, on and on, telling us for the umpteenth time, the closure of the borders between Liberia and Sierra Leone by enemy forces. Who but a toddler in Liberia does not know that in the absence of motorable roads (any of which Taylor did not deem it necessary to build during his execrable presidency) numerous tracks deep in the forests are the only means of going in and out of the two countries? Enough of this charade and contrived defence!!
Gyakabo,
I advise you go to this site…. http://www.sc-sl.org/ and read for yourself. But to simply put it, this court is a joke!!!! You should have seen what the prosecutors gave us…..LIES, RUMORS and HEARSAYS.
Are you blaming the defense for telling the court that the road the prosecutors told us about does not exist??? One of her star witnesses that we are now getting to truly know about was on the double……working within GOL and having his own ARM SALES….he claimed Mr. Taylor send him with a truck full and fill with arm…..but the route he told the court DOES NOT exist….so how did he know about that route is what he was learning……..ULIMO controlled that area.
In fact those roads did exist. They were logging heavily in those areas at the early part of Taylor’s presdiency. The United Logging Company took out thousands of cubic meters of logs from that area, as did other logging companies.
The maps Taylor was looking in the trial at were from the late 1970s — long ago.
Observer,
If you think you have a more updated map then the Prosecutor and the Defense team. Then maybe you can tell us how ULIMO smuggled the arms to the RUF.
Gyakabo, you are clueless. You have no idea on what is happening. It just that plane and simple. Moreover, I think you are on your own schedule. However,Defense Council Griffiths is not given more time to ask any leading questions as you have alleged. Instead, he is cross-examining President Taylor. You are only angry because of the intellectual coherence of Griffiths and the outstanding and undisputable performance of President Taylor. Let me ask you one simple question. What do you want the court to do, Put duct tape on Defense Council Griffiths’ mouth? As the matter of facts, the judges are paying more attention to Griffiths and President Taylor”s testimony as oppose to the fake evidenc the prosecutors presented. Also, you said Taylor didn’t deem it necessary to build roads. Are we talking about Liberia development programs now? I thought we are talking about sierraleone. Gyakabo, if you want to continue this dialogue, you have to focus lik a laser beam.
Jose,
I’m not clueless. Are you telling me counsel is allowed to cross-examine his own witness in examination-in-chief during a trial? I thought it trite that it is the Prosecution that will cross-examine Taylor after he had given his evidence in chief. No, Jose, we are not talking about Liberia development programs now, but Taylor is using outdated maps on Liberia, compiled in the 70s and early 80s, long before he assumed his Presidency to show that it was nigh impossible for arms and ammunition to be transported from Liberia into Sierra Leone and vice versa. Thanks to Observer, we are reminded of companies like the United Logging Company that was hauling thousands of cubic meters of timber from the equatorial forests in the western corridor of Liberia during the relevant period. How were the heavy logs of timber transported from what Griffiths and Taylor describe as impenetrable rain forest in those locations to the harbor in Monrovia? Were they airlifted from the forest in the western Liberia? Give us a break! As for those who contend that NPFL did not commit any of the unspeakable atrocities in Liberia as was done in Sierra Leone, I wish to refer them to Taylor’s own evidence where he said that he saw nothing wrong with displaying skulls of people his militia had slaughtered on roadblocks as a means of instilling fear into people. Tell me, is the public exhibition of decapitated heads in Taylor’s Liberia not at par with the Sierra Leone amputations, if not worse? To those who also think there was no truth in Zigzag Marzah’s evidence that it was routine for Taylor and his followers to have eaten human body parts, I strongly recommend that they watch “The Cannibals’ War – Liberia” on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmrkTi3EHqk) This video, shot in the middle of the Liberian war, shows NPFL generals, adult soldiers and child soldiers openly and publicly fighting over the body parts of their victims for their pot. Was Charles Taylor unaware of this sickening phenomena that was openly occurring under his very nose? Again, give us a break!! If anything at all, the Sierra Leoneans learned about such atrocities during their training in Taylor’s camps and took it with them to their homeland where they fine-tuned and perfected them into systematic amputations, etc.
I still maintain that you are clueless, Gyakabo. You have intentionally contrived with the intent to deceive the public by giving a misleading statement. First and fore most, the road in question is the road that one of the prosecution paid witnesses Varmuyan Sherrif provided to the court. President Taylor said only he Sherrif could have known the identical road since he was a former ULIMO K General. Secondly, concerning the skull that President Taylor talked about, he emphatically said, those skulls that were permenantly displayed were COMBAT ENEMY’S SKULLS. How can you in your right mind compare civilians casualty with that of armed men? Thirdly, Mr. Taylor told you in the court that eating human meat sounds disgusting. He can not possibly imagin that someone could ever say anything like that. I personally think that President Taylor may rather prefer having a bucket of vomit than human meat. However, you referenced youtube video as one of your corroborating evidences of President Taylor eating human flesh. Did the youtube video show President Taylor eating human meat? Look, you are only scurrying and embellishing this false case to have a desired impact. Lastly, you talked about cross-examination. Cross-examination is just simply asking question within the context of the law. This is done to ascertain the veracity of the truth.
Gyakabo,
When you quote try and quote correctly. Charles Taylor said he saw nothing wrong with displaying the SKULLS of enemy fighters at check points not human heads of innocent civilians. Concerning your so called outdated maps. Do you really think that the prosecutions who have spend tens of millions of dollars on this case would bring outdated maps to the court. Remember the Defense and prosecution are using the same maps. Why didn’t you complain when Vamuyan Sherriff was shown the same map?
thanks gentle men
Okello’s investagions and Mr. Taylors’ arrogance and failures to complied with repeated request at the time to distinguished himself from those Liberians fighters caught by the ECOMOG troups in Sierra Leone as was aired on BBC focus on africa in june of 1991 has resurfaced and not good for Mr. Taylor. The issues surrending the relationship between Mr. Taylor and the RUF/AFRC continued to be admitted to and denial to some extend, but lets remind ourselves that this is the heart of this case. for the mare facts that lives were destroyed and some ruins in the hands of these blood thirsty hullagans that were fully armed and druged up by Foday Sankor,Issa Musa, Sam Bockare, Benjamin Yetent, and Mr.Taylor as their leader and the only person they all obey and listen to,is at the fore front, and flip flaping is not going to work,these judges are smarter than what the defence lawyers thinks. lies will get you nowhere.
Ziggy,
Are you CONFUSED??? We are talking about ’97 and ’98 and you are STILL in ’91??? Yes that’t the HEART of the case but let’s also remember that NONE of the RUF/AFRC defedants in Sierra Leone cases linked him as their BOSS. The man said beyond May ’92…..he cut off contact, no one has disputed that claim.
Let’s follow the case please…..one day we might have to tell it to our grand kids.
If Taylor was cooperating w the Committee of 5 to deal with the situation in SL, why did he not show them the letter he got from the AFRC requesting arms? And why did he not tell them about the AFRC delegation that came to Liberia?
Why would he hide that critical information if he was trying to find peace?
Either he was i) inept as a negotiator (in hiding relevant details of attempts to gain arms) or ii) he was hiding his connivance with the AFRC. Of course these are not mutually exclusive.
Observer, you said, ” if Taylor was cooperating w the committee of 5 to deal with the situation in SL, why did he not show them the letter he got from the AFRC requesting arms?” Oh really? Just when I think you can no longer get any dumber, is when you prove me wrong. The fact that you’re acknowledging the committee of five after refusing to accept that there was a committee of five, it shows that we are making progress. Just as a reminder, the committe of five was setup by Ecowas and endorsed by the U.N to help bring lasting peace to Sierraleone and President Taylor was named the chairman. Everything he did or interaction with the AFRC was with the acquiesce of Ecowas. He made it clear. However, Did the committee of five ever lodge any formal or informal complaints about President Taylor not being cooperative? Observer, think harder before posting on this site.
Seriously Ziggy Salis, are you serious? You can not be serious. if you are serious, than you are insane. How many times Noko4 should remind you that this case is not about 1991-1997 when Taylor was elected president. I’m warning you right now. Please do not make mention of anything from 1991-1997. A point of correction, President Taylor was never arrogant. He always reinforces his own confidence and there is nothing wrong with reinforcing your own confidence.
I think zigi need to come to noko5 for help since english is giving him problem. fool!!!!!
joe:
thanks for giving them a bit of clarity.i guess bility is a brother of hassan bility who use to be at taylor house some of the times and was one of the prosecution witness to lie on taylor?
do you think taylor was the first to brng war in the mano river union.do you think how lasana conteh in to be president?do you know that sierra leoneans and guineans fought in liberia and they were train in those countries?it is a shame on some of our diplomats and those in the international community who thinks taylor should die for them to satisfy their ego.the fact of the matter is truths that were buried will come to light and people will get to understand it by and by.taylor speak the truth and convience the world.we were your troop did not amputate people or rape.he times giving by the prosecution witnesses are comflicting their testimonies are not exact.they are saying one thing now and another thing that is not truth the next time.
some so-called diplomat said taylor has millions in banks he has defied them why can’t they bring up the amount and those companies that bought the diamond,the middle men for the transaction,the places of transaction.the world is running through a technological era so produce them in court.all through the prosecution statement they have not come to any prove of such.why?
we know the case is a formality cuz the ruling is known but taylor will say the truth that some of you will come to realise some day.
I been in Liberia the entire war till the last war and taylor left for exile to nigeria.Sierra Leone fight in Liberia and Liberian fight in sierraleone.but i know that Taylor never send no Liberian to fight in sierraleone.because i was living Logan Town bushrod island.AND bUSHROD ISLAND IS NOT FAR TO THE SIERRALEONE AND LIBERIA BORDER.eCOMOG OR ECOWAS WAS OCCUPYING THE AREA CLOSE TO SIERRALEONG AND ULIMO WAS OCCUPY THE BORDER AND PRINCE JONHSON WAS OCCUPYING COWWELLD AND SMALL OF LOGAN TOWN.I WANT TO KNOW HOW TAYLOR TAKE THE ARMS TO SIERRALONE WHEN ALL THE AREA THAT HE SUPPOSE TO PASS THE ARM THROUGH WAS OCCUPY BY HIS ENEMY.I DONT LIKE TAYLOR AND EVERY LIBERIAN SUPPORTED THE WAR IN LIBERIA.SO WE NOT TALKIN ABOUT LIBERIA IN THIS CASE WE TALKIN ABOUT SIERRALEONE.
It’s all lies. As a Sierra Leonean I know how our people are good at lying. Sierra Leoneans killed their own people and their corrupt leaders want to blame somebody eles. They are not educated, they think by lying the White Men in London will give them free money. The BBC is just good for lying
Dear brothers and sisters of Africa
I guess it is time for us to stop blaming one another. Let’s try to use our brains intelligently. We have to be fast in our think. The white men want to take over Africa again. These people analysis things in a logistic ways, they are the world most corrupted people on planet earth. Think of the money they are spending on Charles Taylor trial, it’s not fear. I think its better that they use this money on the poor people than using it on some kind of worthless trial for so call “Justice for the deaths” It makes no sense dear brothers and sisters of Africa. I don’t think Taylor life imprisonment will brings the deaths back to lives. We human being are all the same, we are injustice. We always keep the truths. As for me, I only believe in one final judgment and that’s from the almighty himself which is God.
I love my continent (Africa) and also love my people.
L.I.B – Liberian in Blood – Love in bordering countries (Liberia- Sierra Leone- Guinea) let’s try to show some love among ourselves so that our future generations will have a great smile on their face again. We need to forget about the past and facing the future. That’s how life is brothers and sisters.
you are all crazy. taylor committed atrocities in liberia and caused atrocities to be committed in sierra leone. ruf, afrc, and sl army committed atrocities in sierra leone. taylor is a bad man. so let him be convicted for war crimes whether it is for war crimes in saleone or in liberia – so be it. the more people who have committed war crimes who convicted of war crimes, the better. reason is, maybe fewer war crimes will be committed in the future. care about the people, not whether it be liberian person or saleone person. national pride is part of the problem. and greed and pettiness.
care about avoiding pain and suffering for any people wherever they are from, and punish whoever is causing it, wherever they are from.
Irene,
Sorry but international justice does not work that way. He is on trial for war crimes in Sierra Leone only. I believe you see the weakness in the prosecutor’s case this is why you want him convicted based on what you believe he did in Liberia.
Hey Yaya
The trial of Former President Charles G. Taylor is more political than legal. The International community and Press have demonized Mr. Taylor and his former Ministers and Partners. What do you think could be the out of the trial?
This case proves one thing, If you look at it from a business stand , Africans have less to criticize Europeans about since they are always begging for assistance. There is a famous African adage that says , “you cannot be sitting on the man’s shoulder and say that he is sting.” If you condemn the man he will knock you down.
On another level, this demonstrates that African leaders are cowards. That a United Nation agent would simply make false charges against a sitting African president and other African leaders will allow the removal of that president from power without the consent of the people. What kind of democracy is that? African leaders did not present any charged against Charles Taylor so why would they allow their authority to be disrespected.
It is a disgrace for those dictators and tyrants in Africa. Because most of them were not democratically elected and did not enjoy the popular will of their people like Charles Taylor. So they coward into agreeing to this injustice. This court needs to FREE CHARLES TAYLOR and go after the real dictators. gosh!!! The divide and rule is taking its toll now that some of us demanding the court to go after the real tyrants.
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With thanks,
Tracey
Jose Rodriquez, you obviously don’t know the difference between Examination-in-chief and Cross-examination, so I won’t belabor the point. From what you’re saying, Adolf Hitler has no responsibility for the Holocaust because there is no evidence that he personally put Jews in the gas chambers! In case you are not aware, Count 34 of Charles Taylor Indictment states, inter alia, “The Accused is responsible for the criminal acts of his subordinates in that he knew or had reason to know that the subordinate was about to commit such acts or had done so and the Accused failed to take the necessary and reasonable measures to present such acts or to punish the perpetrators thereof.” Jose, my point is simple. There may not be primary evidence that Taylor practiced cannibalism but there is overwhelming evidence that his subordinates did so, and he did nothing about it. As for your endorsement of Taylor displaying of what you call, “COMBAT ENEMY SKULLS” at roadblocks, my God, what has happened to the Geneva Conventions?
Gyakabo, clearly, I have every reason to believe that you have serious problem with reading comprehension and retention as evidence of your intentional or unintentional misrepresentation of my writing. However, at no time did I endorse the permanently displayed of human skull in my writing as you have said. I was only restating what President Taylor said in response to human skull. Go back and re-read my writing. Concerning the Holocaust, let me be clear, I’m not a denier of the Holocaust. Besides, what it has to do with this trial? I think this is just a mere distraction. Anyways, let’s get back to the core of this trial. You rightfully stated Count 34 against President Taylor. Notwithstanding, the AFRC/RUF was not in any way, shape, or form President Taylor’s subordinate as far as the record is concern. In the court of law, the burden of proof is strictly on the shoulder of the prosecutors. So far, not only they have failed to so, but also fell way too short to provide any linkage. Gyakabo, if you want to continue this dialogue, I will appreciate if you fucus on the trial like a laser beam and not distraction.
Gyakabo,
If you want to talk about the Geneva Conventions. Remember George W. Bush was the first to say unlawful enemy combatants are not protected by the Geneva Convention. You can’t have it both ways Gyakabo! Lastly, for the millionth time to you all, this case is about Sierra Leone not a picture of cannibals who we don’t know which faction they belonged to. By the way cannibalism has been practiced throughout history in wars. Ask any of your Nigerians friends whay happened during their civil was in the 1960’s.
Aki, high fives, chest and fist bumps to you and the rest of the guys. Good job gentlemen. Keep up the good work. By the way, if President Taylor was not in the situation that he is in (whiteman’s custody), the International Community would had said, President Taylor is meddling in the affairs of Liberia as evidence of the overwhelming support for “THE MAN,” on this website, even though he is a Liberian citizen and former president. However, some people with different views from us, are accusing us of either being Taylor’s rebel, wicked people, paid agents of Taylor propaganda quote unquote from the BILLIONS OF DALLARS HE HAS IN FOREIGN BANKS, and at large, sinners. None of the name calling will work. We are independent people of independent views and the whiteman knows it.