In Monrovia, Taylor supporters angry with a guilty verdict for a former Liberian president

Apr 26 2012 under liberia | 4 Comments

Today (April 26), the UN-backed international Special Court for Sierra Leone found former Liberian president Charles Taylor guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It was the first time since the Nuremberg trials that a former head of state has ever been convicted by an international court.

Taylor was accused of supporting and directing members of a rebel movement in neighbouring Sierra Leone during an 11-year civil war that left 50,000 dead.

A summary of the court’s judgement. And from the Guardian:

Between 1996 and 2002, the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which Taylor supported, was found by the court to have committed crimes involving terrorising civilian populations, murder, rape, sexual slavery and enforced amputations in Sierra Leone.

Judge Richard Lussick of Samoa said more than 1,000 children had the letters “RUF” carved into their backs to prevent them escaping. Children were used to amputate limbs, guard diamond mines and hunt for food. Some were involved in fighting.

….

Taylor continued privately fuelling the conflict by providing arms and ammunition to the RUF in Sierra Leone, the judge said. His clandestine dealing helped undermine the peace process even when there was a regional arms embargo in force.

I spent my morning in Monrovia waiting for the verdict at an impromptu rally of pro-Taylor supporters that formed nearby a BBC News camp.

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Ahead of Charles Taylor verdict, Liberia’s former child soldiers still struggle

Apr 25 2012 under liberia | Leave a comment

A version of this article was originally published at Canada’s Toronto Star on April 25, 2012.

It was mid-day in downtown Monrovia and Mohammed Kromah and his friends were mobbing a busy intersection, jumping up and down and shouting at passing cars.

Down the street where it was quieter, Kromah explained that the boys – all in their mid-twenties and all former combatants from Liberia’s 14 years of civil wars – were trying to attract customers for a car wash.

Kromah fought with former Liberian president – and warlord – Charles Taylor’s NPFL and later, an opposition faction, ULIMO-K. He recounted that after the conflict ended, he went through the United Nation’s disarmament and reintegration programs. But those projects were short-lived and inadequate, the young men complained.

“We are so frustrated,” said Maxwell “Target” Sackor, a friend of Kromah’s and a former combatant for LURD, a faction notorious for its recruitment of child soldiers. “We’ve tried armed robbery, but we felt that was not good for us. So we left armed robbery and we went to the street and tried stealing, but that wasn’t good for us. So we brought ourselves to wash cars.”

Kromah admitted that he’s addicted to heroin, a habit he said he picked up during the conflict. “Most of us are involved in drugs,” he lamented. “It’s like the war is still punishing people.”

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