The Non Trial of Charles Taylor

Why Put Charles Taylor on Trial

We are two of Taylor's many victims.

Charles Taylor was President of Liberia when the Tribunal for Sierra Leone indicted him.

The list of Taylor s crimes is long, and the evidence against him is overwhelming.

Indeed, Taylor continues to incite trouble.

Taylor has undermined a string of peacekeeping interventions in the region.

Yet Obasanjo has said that he would release Taylor only to an elected government of Liberia, and many believe that Taylor is waiting it out until his allies are in a position to let him return with no threat of prosecution.

But President Olosugun Obasanjo of Nigeria has, so far, turned a deaf ear to calls to surrender Taylor.

In Liberia, for example, he signed 13 agreements and violated them all.

Similar pressure must be brought to bear to compel Nigeria to surrender Taylor to the Special Court in Sierra Leone.

Taylor s warmongering also paved the way for military coups in Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

But Taylor has wielded a heavy hand in the campaign, his impunity making a mockery of international justice.

In 2003, while Taylor was under rebel attack, he organized and supported an incursion into Côte d Ivoire.

What shall we tell him? We have a duty to seek justice for the victims of Charles Taylor's crimes.

Now, inspired by Jill Bolte Taylor last year, I didn't bring a human brain, but I did bring a liter of bone marrow.

Even if there were instant peace, the region will pay the price for Taylor s bloodlust for decades to come.

In the summer of 1997, David was in Monrovia when Charles Taylor was inaugurated President of Liberia following an eight year civil war.

The trials of Slobodan Milosevic and Charles Taylor have demonstrated that even heads of state are no longer safe from prosecution.

Taylor still faces the prospect of trial and, another former dictator, Saddam Hussein, is now on trial before a national court in Iraq.

In 2000, Taylor used those same thugs to attack Guinea, in an assault that left hundreds dead and destroyed the city of Guekedou.

So I was discussing this. And I actually went to the Marginal Revolution blog by Tyler Cowen. I don't know if anybody knows it.

He kidnapped 500 troops from the regional peacekeeping force, ECOWAS. Before the hostages were released, Taylor killed six soldiers and stole their weapons and cars.

Mrs. Taylor Roberts (Jamaica) My delegation wishes to thank you, Mr. President, for convening today's meeting at the request of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations group.

Ms. Taylor Roberts (Jamaica), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said that the Group attached great importance to the work of special political missions and to the Secretary General's good offices.

Though exiled two years ago, Liberia s former President Charles Taylor still looms large in the country s first elections since the end of its brutal civil war.

The presidential poll to be held on October 11 could help Liberia determine a new course. But Taylor has wielded a heavy hand in the campaign, his impunity making a mockery of international justice.

Nigeria, which is giving Taylor sanctuary, is obliged to turn him over to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, created by the United Nations in 2003 to prosecute those responsible for the bloodletting in West Africa s in the 1990 s.

The best containment strategy is to put Taylor in the custody of the Special Court that indicted him in 2003 for war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the war in Sierra Leone.

Ms. Taylor Roberts (Jamaica), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, observed that, following the establishment of the new Department of Safety and Security in February 2005, a revised approach to the implementation of a standardized access control system had been proposed.

But, despite the advent of true democratic elections, Liberia and all of West Africa will be trapped in an unending cycle of violence unless Taylor is put in the dock for war crimes.

Ms. Taylor Roberts (Jamaica), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said that the comments which she had made at the Committee's 23rd meeting concerning the turnstiles project related to procedure rather than to the technicalities of the installation.

Instead, Taylor is housed in a villa on the sandy beaches of Calabar on Nigeria s southeastern coast, as key international players including France, the United Kingdom,and South Africa remain silent.

As a rebel leader, he waged an eight year uprising against Samuel Doe in Liberia a conflict that left 300,000 people dead and displaced more than a million others in a population of just 3.3 million.

Ms. Taylor Roberts (Jamaica), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and referring to the Secretary General's report on gratis personnel, stressed that, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 51 243, gratis personnel should be used on an exceptional and temporary basis and for specialized functions only.

The Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia won seven seats, the Unity Party four and the Congress for Democratic Change, the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, the Liberty Party and former President Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Party three each.

It is for this reason that we support the mandate that this resolution gives to the United Nations Mission in Liberia, within full respect for the sovereignty and legal order of Liberia and in coordination with the Government of that country, to apprehend Mr. Charles Taylor and to facilitate his transfer to the Special Court for Sierra Leone for prosecution in the event that he returns to Liberia.

Nigeria, which is giving Taylor sanctuary, is obliged to turn him over to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, created by the United Nations in 2003 to prosecute those responsible for the bloodletting in West Africa s in the 1990 s. Indeed, Nigeria now holds the key to peace in the region.

If my intuition is correct, Taylor and his fellow travelers will never be convinced that they are wrong. Accepting the idea that central bankers may be doing the best they can in a difficult situation would require entertaining the possibility that markets are imperfect and fallible.

The women and children whose limbs Taylor ordered to be hacked off bear testimony to his brutality, and the countries left in turmoil make clear that there can be no durable peace in West Africa unless the man who unleashed these conflicts is stopped.