海角大神

Liberians in the capital of Monrovia expressed sorrow and anger over聽Thursday's war crimes conviction of their former president Charles Taylor, who is still considered by many Liberians to be a hero.聽

The Special Court for Sierra Leone聽in the Hague found Mr. Taylor guilty of aiding and abetting crimes including murder, terrorism, rape, sexual slavery, and mutilations committed by rebel forces during Sierra Leone's civil war. The 11-year conflict, which ended in 2002, killed more than 50,000, and left many traumatized and maimed.聽

While Sierra Leoneans are expressing relief, the verdict was not widely welcomed in next-door Liberia. Taylor was also a central figure in Liberia's own 鈥撀爀ven deadlier 鈥撀燾ivil war but the country has not pushed for war crimes prosecutions and remained defensive on the subject of Taylor. International human rights advocates say that the victory in the Hague needs to be followed up in places like Liberia where an atmosphere of impunity lingers.聽

鈥淭aylor's conviction shows that even those at the highest levels of power can聽be held to account for the worst crimes,鈥� says Elise Keppler, senior counsel for the International Justice Program of Human Rights Watch. 鈥淟iberia has yet to initiate聽prosecutions for heinous crimes committed there, including under Taylor's聽presidency. Liberia should follow Sierra Leone's example so that Liberian victims聽can also see justice done.鈥�

In downtown Monrovia men gathered at atai shops 鈥撀爐he everyman鈥檚 political saloons where men meet to drink tea, eat cooked meat, and聽discuss politics 鈥� people sat, listening to their radios intently listening to the聽judgment.

Alfred Momo Kandakar Kromah, 40, a self-labeled political activist and ex-Taylor聽fighter stood outside a well-known atai shop: 鈥淭he most God-fearing president is the聽Messiah Taylor. The Messiah Taylor will be in Liberia on the 30th of April,鈥� he predicted, followed聽by the statement, 鈥淓llen is Evil,鈥� referring to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who had聽Taylor extradited from Nigeria to Liberia and then on to Sierra Leone where he had聽initially been held before he was transferred to the Hague.

In the Center for Excellence of Intellectual Ideas, an atai society, Secretary General聽Franklin Kasseh Wesseh, expressed his dismay when it started to become clear the聽verdict would be guilty.

鈥淚 fail to imagine why anyone would want to see their president found guilty 鈥� it聽saddens me to know that there are people out there who are taking pleasure in this,鈥� Mr. Wesseh said. 鈥淸He] should be living here happily and freely with us just as others,聽who perpetrated mayhem and other serious crimes, are living with us today on the聽basis of reconciliation, people are taking pleasure in seeing one individual being聽nailed, that is my sadness.鈥�

This is a common sentiment expressed in Liberia, a country in which many of those聽who were deeply involved in Liberia鈥檚 own 14-year civil war now hold senior聽positions in government. Liberia鈥檚 civil war killed an estimated 250,000 people and left the nation's infrastructure in tatters and Liberians with traumatic memories of rape,聽torture, and humiliation at the hands of armed factions.

Charles Wreh, a 24-year-old seller of mobile phone scratch cards outside ministry of聽education building in downtown Monrovia, does not accept the dark picture painted聽of Taylor in the verdict.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with the verdict because Charles Taylor is our president,鈥� says Mr. Wreh. 鈥淐harles Taylor said he didn鈥檛 carry war to Sierra Leone so he should have聽been free.鈥�

鈥淐harles Taylor is a good guy. He took good care of us in Liberia. He used to bring us聽food, drop money.鈥� Things rare fine now, but you have to struggle more.鈥�

In an early sign that Liberians were willing to overlook Taylor's human rights record,聽Taylor was voted president in 1997 in a campaign that included the slogan, "He killed my Ma, he killed my Pa, but I will vote for him."聽But some say Taylor's landslide victory may in聽part be attributed to war fatigue and the desire for some kind of stability.

IN PICTURES: War criminals on trial聽

But for some of those Liberians who did lose family or faced persecution, the decision in the Hague is welcome.聽

John Denker, a worker at the Ministry of Education whose father was killed by Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), sees it as a victory for human rights.聽

鈥淐harles Taylor being guilty is not a surprise to the Liberians. He brought war and聽suffering to the country,鈥� Mr. Denker says. 鈥淭he NPFL killed my father and everything I聽worked for they destroyed鈥�. He deserved it.鈥�

Counselor Tiawan Gongloe, a human rights lawyer who was severely tortured under聽Taylor's orders when he criticized the government in 2002, said the judgment was a triumph for human rights in Liberia, the聽region, and the world as a whole. But most importantly, he said, it marks an end to聽Taylor鈥檚 political influence in Liberia.

鈥淲e could never have sustainable peace in this country without a closure to the聽Taylor era. Liberia will be a peaceful place from now on 鈥� a peaceful, progressive聽and prosperous nation.鈥�