UN Council authorizes trial of former Liberian President in the Netherlands
Citing reasons of security and expediency, the Security Council today paved the way for the transfer of former Liberian
President Charles Taylor to The Hague, Netherlands from Sierra Leone, where he is now awaiting trial under a United
Nations-backed tribunal on charges related to his role in that country's bloody civil war.
Through an unanimously adopted resolution drafted by the United Kingdom, the 15-Member body requested Secretary-General
Kofi Annan “to assist, as a matter of priority, in the conclusion of all necessary legal and practical arrangements,”
for Mr. Taylor’s transfer and the provision of the necessary courtroom facilities for the conduct of a trial under the
auspices of the Special Court of Sierra Leone.
Saying that the ex-Liberian leader’s continued presence in the West African sub-region “is an impediment to stability
and a threat to the peace of Liberia and of Sierra Leone,” and that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
(ICTR) was already too busy to handle the case, the Council decided that the Special Court would retain “exclusive
jurisdiction over former President Taylor during his transfer to and presence in the Netherlands.”
The Netherlands is willing to host the Special Court for the trial, the Council noted in its text, and the International
Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, is willing to allow the use of its premises for the detention of Mr. Taylor
and the trial proceedings.
Mr. Taylor faces an 11-count indictment for crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international
humanitarian law, including sexual slavery and mutilations allegedly committed during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil
war.
But the Special Court, as well as newly-elected Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, feared that Taylor’s presence
in the countries where he allegedly fomented uprisings during the 1990s could shatter the fragile peace that was taking
hold in the long-troubled West African region.
Shortly after Taylor’s arrest, the Netherlands expressed its willingness to host the Special Court, and just yesterday,
the British Government said Taylor could serve his prison sentence in the United Kingdom if he was convicted, a decision
immediately hailed by the Secretary-General as “another step forward in our battle against impunity for the most heinous
crimes.”
Expressing a similar sentiment in its resolution today, the Council said that the proceedings in the case against Mr.
Taylor would contribute to achieving truth and reconciliation in Liberia and in wider West Africa.