At the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, the trial of Charles Taylor is heating up. The family of a key witness for the prosecution, Varmuyan Sheriff, has been threatened in an attempt to discourage him from testifying against the Charles Taylor. His family home in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, was invaded by “unknown men”, shouting threats and insults at them, and days later a leaflet was dropped into their yard repeating the threats. Charles Taylor is the former President of Liberia, the small country in western Africa to which freed African-American slaves emigrated in 1822, creating a government which reflected the experience of the diaspora more than traditional African lifestyles. He is the first African leader to face an international court of justice. Varmuyan Sheriff, Taylor’s former aide, has given an eyewitness account to the collaboration between Taylor and the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) rebels. The RUF is known to have committed countless atrocities during the 1991-2001 conflict, including mass killings, sexual slavery, and using child soldiers.
The RUF activity in Sierra Leone is characterized by a distinctive brutality; they are notorious for their forced amputations of civilians for the purpose of creating fear in the hearts of their enemies. It is unknown exactly how many of these amputees exist, but the number is thought to be in the thousands. Charles Taylor was a warlord who fought for control of the lucrative diamond trade in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Cote d’Ivoire, as well as these countries other natural resources like timber, utilizing this brutal rebel force for his purposes, allegedly knowing and condoning their methods and activities. He was forcibly ousted from the presidency of Liberia in 2003, and was exiled to Nigeria. In 2006 he was arrested while fleeing the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone, and was handed over to the UN for criminal proceedings. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges. His trial began in June of 2007. The countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia still struggle to rebuild after the conflict.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7208497.stm
There is a movie called the Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars which gives the perspective of the civilians in the area. This is a trailer for it. It is available on Netflix, probably anywhere else too.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=slrefugeeallstars
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4871656.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2963086.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4857482.stm
1 comment:
It is unbelievable how long these people survive after doing things like this. Hopefully Varmuyan Sheriff stays strong and is protected in order to testify. If would not make up for the acts, but it may give some satisfaction to the thousands of amputies. It's sad, but the only way to visualize stuff like this from our stand point is through movies like 'Lord of War' and Blooddiamond'. After all that has happened through out history it is a wonder that these violent leaders can still follow through with out people stopping them. And it's hard to picture a leader like this character after all we know now. It just goes to show how we have no comparison of life to the people who live in these nations.
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