VI. AnnexThis Annex provides a basic overview of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and information concerning the alleged crimes committed by Charles Taylor during Sierra Leone’s armed conflict. Basic Overview of the Special Court for Sierra Leone33The Special Court is a U.N.-backed court charged with bringing to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity, other serious violations of international humanitarian law, and certain violations of Sierra Leonean law committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone since November 1996.34 The Special Court came out of an initiative by Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who asked for U.N. assistance in establishing a national-international court to try “members of the R[evolutionary] U[nited] F[ront] and their accomplices.”35 In August 2000, the Security Council authorized the U.N. secretary-general to enter into negotiations to establish such a court, and in January 2002, the United Nations and the Sierra Leone government signed an agreement creating the framework for the court.36 The Special Court has indicted thirteen individuals from three warring factions – the government-backed Civil Defense Forces and rebel forces, the RUF and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). The indictees are charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of humanitarian law for crimes including murder, rape, extermination, acts of terror, enslavement, looting and burning, sexual slavery, conscription of children into an armed force, and attacks on peacekeepers and humanitarian assistance workers. Until Taylor’s surrender, nine accused were currently facing trial. Two other indictees, Foday Sankoh and Sam “Mosquito” Bockarie, died in 2003, after which their indictments were withdrawn. The whereabouts of the remaining indictee, Johnny Paul Koroma, is uncertain; he is believed to be dead or missing. The Special Court represents a significant new model of international justice, often referred to as a “mixed” or “hybrid” tribunal. Unlike the so-called ad hoc tribunals, the ICTR and ICTY, the Special Court: Another difference is that the Special Court is set up to be “leaner and meaner” than the ad hoc tribunals, partly in response to criticisms that they are too costly and slow. The Special Court has operated at lesser expense for three years than one year of operations at the ICTY and the ICTR in recent years.37 The Special Court was further set up to be dependent on voluntary contributions, instead of on funding through U.N. assessed contributions,38 and is expected to function for less time than the ad hoc tribunals.39 The Special Court’s mandate is also limited to prosecuting those who “bear the greatest responsibility” as opposed to “persons responsible” and has indicted many less individuals than the ad hoc tribunals.40
Each of the existing international justice mechanisms has been tailored to a particular situation and is defined by the historical circumstances and negotiations under which it was created. Each model also has advantages and challenges. The Special Court model provides the benefits of enabling the accountability process to be accessible to the population most affected by the crimes and to leave a legacy with this population, while remaining insulated from deficiencies which may characterize a local justice system.
Taylor’s alleged crimes and surrender to the Special CourtThe Special Court has indicted Taylor for war crimes (murder, pillage, outrages upon personal dignity, cruel treatment, terrorizing civilians); crimes against humanity (murder, mutilation, rape, enslavement, sexual slavery); and other serious violations of international humanitarian law (use of child soldiers) in the course of Sierra Leone’s armed conflict.41 Taylor is charged with, as president of Liberia, providing training and financing to the main rebel group in Sierra Leone, the RUF. The indictment also alleges that members of the rebel alliance made up of the RUF and the AFRC, who committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international law, were assisted by, acted in concert with, were under the direction or control of, or were subordinate to Taylor.42 Taylor’s support for the RUF allegedly contributed to the deaths, rapes and mutilations of thousands of civilians in Sierra Leone, prompting U.N. sanctions on his regime. The eleven-year war in Sierra Leone claimed the lives of tens of thousands, and left many more wounded and mutilated. In 2002, the two rebel factions signed a peace treaty with the government and the war officially ended. Elected president of Liberia in 1997 after a seven-year war that ousted former President Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor gained notor iety for the brutal abuses against civilians committed by his forces in Liberia. His presidency from 1997 to 2003 was characterized by serious human rights abuses, including the repression of civil society, journalists and anyone opposing his government. Taylor’s forces have also been implicated in conflicts in neighboring Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. A rebel incursion beginning in July 2000 prompted another conflict in Liberia.43 On June 4, 2003, the Special Court for Sierra Leone “unsealed” its indictment against Taylor while he was attending peace talks in Ghana, after which Taylor promptly returned to Liberia. In August 2003, as rebels moved on the Liberian capital, Monrovia, Taylor left Liberia for Nigeria. Taylor accepted an offer of asylum from the Nigerian government, which was made with the support of the United States, the African Union and other international actors as a temporary measure to end the bloodshed in Liberia and secure a peaceful transition to a new government. Taylor settled into exile in Calabar, Nigeria, until March 2006, when the Nigerian government agreed to a request from Liberia’s newly-elected government that he be surrendered to the Special Court. On March 25, 2006, President Obasanjo informed President Johnson-Sirleaf that Liberia was "free to take former President Charles Taylor into its custody,” although Nigeria did not arrest Taylor at that time.44 Within forty-eight hours, Taylor had disappeared.45 However, on March 29, Taylor was detained by Nigerian police near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon. He was then sent back to Liberia, where he was taken into U.N. custody and transferred to the Special Court in Freetown. In November 2005, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Liberia had been given authority to detain and transfer Taylor to the Special Court for prosecution if he were to enter Liberian territory.46 [33] For more detailed discussion of the work of the Special Court, see “Bringing Justice” and “Justice in Motion.” [34] Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, art. 1.1. [35] United Nations, Letter from President of Sierra Leone to the Secretary-General (2000), Annex S/2000/786. [36] U.N. Security Council Resolution 1315 (2000), S/RES/1315; Agreement Between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone, January 16, 2002. [37] ICTY, “General Information: Regular Budget,” n.d. [online], http://www.un.org/icty/glance/index.htm (retrieved August 5, 2004); ICTR, “General Information: Budget and Staff,” n.d. [online], http://www.ictr.org/default.htm (retrieved August 5, 2004). [38] United Nations, Agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone on the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone (2000), Annex S/2000/915. [39] The ad hoc tribunals were not created with any predetermined expectations with regard to their length and functioned for about a decade each, only in the past few years developing a “completion strategy” that provides for phasing out operations by 2010. See United Nations Security Council, Resolution 1503 (2003), S/RES/1503. Since its creation, however, there has been a widely held expectation that the Special Court would operate for a short period of time, possibly as short as three years, although this is not explicitly stated in the court’s founding documents. [40] Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, art. 1; Statute of the ICTR, art. 1; Statute of the ICTY, art. 1. The ICTR has indicted over seventy individuals, while the list of indictees at the ICTY tops one hundred and sixty. ICTY, "Key Figures of ICTY Cases," Updated April 13, 2006 [online], http://www.un.org/icty/glance-e/index.htm (retrieved April 14, 2006); ICTR, "Status of Detainees," March 24, 2006, http://69.94.11.53/ENGLISH/factsheets/detainee.htm (retrieved April 14, 2006). [41] Taylor was initially indicted on seventeen counts, but an amended indictment was approved in March 2006 which reduces them to eleven counts. This change was made according to the Special Court prosecutor in order to better ensure a “more focused and speedier trial” while maintaining “the gravity” of the allegations in the original 17 count indictment. See The Prosecutor against Charles Ghankay Taylor, Indictment, Special Court for Sierra Leone, March 7, 2003; Amended Indictment, Special Court for Sierra Leone, March 16, 2006. See also “The Prosecutor’s Meeting with Civil Society of Sierra Leone, 31 March 2006. [42] The Prosecutor against Charles Ghankay Taylor, Amended Indictment. [43] Human Rights Watch, “Back to the Brink: War crimes by Liberian government and rebels,” A Human Rights Watch Report, vol. 14, no. 4(A), May 2002 [online], http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/liberia. [44] "Statement by the Federal Government of Nigeria - Former President Charles Taylor to be transferred to the custody of the Government of Liberia," March 25, 2006 [online], http://www.nigeriafirst.org/article_5687.shtml (retrieved April 14, 2006). [45] Lydia Polgreen, “Nigeria Says Ex-President of Liberia Has Disappeared,” The New York Times, March 29, 2006; “Liberia: Nigeria reacts to Charles Taylor’s Disappearance,” Nigeria First, March 28, 2006 [online], http://allafrica.com/stories/200603280707.html (retrieved April 10, 2006). [46] U.N. Security Council Resolution 1638 (2005), S/RES/1638.
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