海角大神

The guilty verdict handed down last week in the trial against Charles Taylor for聽committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone was lauded by聽the international community and human rights groups as a victory for international聽justice.

But many, both inside and outside of Liberia, are questioning when those聽responsible for atrocities committed during the nation鈥檚 brutal civil war, among them Taylor,聽will have their day in court. More than 250,000 were killed in the course of the war, which destroyed the nation's infrastructure.

鈥淭he lack of justice for the victims of the Liberian conflict is shocking,鈥� said Brima聽Abdulai Sheriff, director of Amnesty International Sierra Leone. 鈥淭he government of Liberia must end聽the reign of impunity by enacting the necessary legislation and acting on its duty to聽investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators.鈥�

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

Taylor鈥檚 defense counsel has 14 days to appeal the case. A sentence is scheduled to be delivered at the end of the month. Experts in international law expect that聽his sentence will be less severe because the prosecution was unable to prove聽allegations that Taylor had command and control over the rebel Revolutionary聽United Front.

Counselor Tiawan Gongloe, a human rights lawyer who was severely tortured聽under Taylor's orders when he criticized the government in 2002, said the verdict聽was a victory for human rights and sent out a warning message to key players in聽Liberia鈥檚 civil war that like Taylor, their time too would come.

鈥淗is conviction is the beginning of the end of impunity in Liberia because now聽the 鈥榖ig man syndrome' in Liberia is going to end and no one will feel that he or she is聽above the law,鈥� Mr. Gongloe says. 鈥淧eople will know that whatever happens in the sub-region that there is a day for accountability and this will serve as a deterrent for all聽other leaders after Taylor.鈥�

But unlike Sierra Leone, which, with the support of the United Nations, established聽a hybrid domestic and international court in 2002 to prosecute key players in its聽devastating civil war, the government in Liberia has yet to take action and prosecute聽key players in the war.

鈥淟iberia should follow Sierra Leone's example so that Liberian victims can also see聽justice done,鈥� says Elise Keppler, a senior counsel with the International Justice聽Program at Human Rights Watch.

Like many African nations emerging from war, Liberia聽had a聽Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The final report was released in 2009 and recommended 聽that 120聽people be tried for war crimes and 50 people be barred from politics for 30聽years. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf -- who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her role in reconciliation in post-war Liberia -- was listed in the latter category for sending money聽to Taylor early on in the war in order to, in her own words, 鈥渃hallenge the brutality鈥澛爋f President Doe鈥檚 regime.

Liberian civil society activist Aaron Weah says that while there were many problems聽with the TRC, the indictment of powerful members of the political establishment, such as Ms. Sirleaf and the controversial ex-warlord Sen. Prince Johnson, has been the main reason the report appears to have been shelved and its more聽punitive recommendations ignored.

鈥淭he prospects seem very remote, but it is only because of the prevailing political聽will,鈥� Mr. Weah says. 鈥淚f there is a change of regime, the conversation might change and聽the space could be opened up for prosecution and we could be involved in a new聽round of investigations.鈥�

But others argue that the recommendations of the TRC were unlikely to be聽implemented because they were deeply flawed and because the report did not build聽up a case as to why certain people should be prosecuted or banned from politics. In聽2011 the Supreme Court found the TRC鈥檚 recommendations to be unconstitutional聽because the commission violated the rights of individuals to due process.

While international rights groups are calling for the Liberian government to act,聽not everyone agrees that prosecutions are the way forward in Liberia, a nation the聽remains divided along the ethnic lines that defined the war and the rebel factions聽that took part in it.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Leymah Gbowee, who led a women鈥檚 prayer movement聽to end the war in 2003 and who is now the head of the Liberian Reconciliation Initiative, argues that prosecutions could fuel ethnic tensions. Liberia鈥檚 peace still聽remains fragile and is maintained by the United Nations Mission in Liberia and its聽force of 8,000 UN peacekeepers.

鈥淚f you decide to indict Prince and use the retributive kind of justice for prosecution,聽especially in Liberia, you need to think about how you will quell some of the riots聽and demonstrations that will come as a result of this,鈥� Gbowee said in an interview聽before the verdict. 鈥淭he question is, should we allow him to go free because of fear聽of that? The answer is no 鈥� I do not support impunity. But the other question is,聽when? Not now.鈥�

But not everyone agrees with Gbowee. Peterson Sonyah, 36, is a survivor of the聽St. Peter鈥檚 Lutheran Church massacre that claimed over 600 lives, the majority of聽them from Gio and Mano ethnic groups, and committed by members of the Armed聽Forces of Liberia in 1990, under the leadership of the then-president Samuel K. Doe.聽Sonyah now heads the Liberian Massacre Survivors Association (LIMASA).

Sonyah recounts laying still under a church pew as Doe's men shot people dead or chop them to pieces聽with cutlasses. His father was hit in the leg and later bled to death. He wants the聽government to act now.

"There should be prosecutions because maybe some people will think that they聽can go back again into the bushes and wage war on the Liberian people,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f聽people face justice they will not go back to what they did again.鈥�

International human rights advocates like Keppler argue that prosecutions will play聽an important role in Liberia turning a page on its dark history, and establishing faith聽in the rule of law.

鈥淔rom Human Rights Watch鈥檚 perspective, trials, for the gravest crimes and human聽rights violations committed are essential to making a serious break from the past,聽giving redress to the victims and the rule of law,鈥� she says.

鈥淲ar crimes and crimes against humanity cannot be forgotten and cannot聽be forgiven, certainly not by those who committed them, or by successor
governments,鈥� says Geoffrey Robertson QC, who was president of the UN鈥檚 war聽crimes court in Sierra Leone and is the author of "Crimes Against Humanity: The聽Struggle for Global Justice." Robertson says government support would be necessary if a country such as Liberia聽were to initiate prosecutions for war crimes.

鈥淲ithout commenting on the present Liberian government, I would say in general it聽would require a government to ask the United Nations for assistance in establishing聽an independent tribunal,鈥� says Mr. Robertson. 鈥淚t would be a good idea to make that聽a hybrid tribunal in which the majority of judges are appointed by the UN and a聽minority of deputy prosecutors coming from Liberia that would engage the Liberian聽lawyers and investigators by making sure that the majority of the court was聽unbiased and unaffected by the obvious prejudice that would arise from having had聽their friends or relatives killed.鈥�

Given the state of Liberia鈥檚 legal system, which often fails to serve justice even in聽cases involving minor crimes, most agree international legal and technical support聽would be required. Counselor Gongloe agrees that international support would be聽needed but argues that alleged perpetrators should be tried in county courts in the places where they are accused of committing the worst聽crimes so that victims can see justice done.

But Gongloe argues that civil society and the members of the political establishment聽will need to push for prosecutions in Liberia.聽鈥淪ierra Leoneans got justice because they wanted justice,鈥� Gongloe said. 鈥淭hey put聽justice at the front line in the search for peace. Liberians did not. The majority of the
outspoken people were not advocating for justice.鈥�

Gongloe says this is in part a result of the outcome of the war that saw Taylor聽become a democratically elected president who was able to influence public opinion聽through patronage. But Gongloe is optimistic that with Taylor behind bars and his influence declining,聽the push for justice in Liberia will begin.

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