InfoAnda - Taylor verdict takes aim at Africa Big Man impunity |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

U.N.-backed panel disqualifies Afghan poll candidates | | 7 July 2010
Wal-Mart to sell iPhone but not at big discount | 27 December 2008
Samsung Group to lift investment by 18 percent in 2011 | 5 January 2011

Miffed maestro withdraws from Mass. concerts | 25 November 2008

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Taylor verdict takes aim at Africa Big Man impunity |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Fred Kempe Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Photos of the week Our top photos from the past week. Full Article Images of March Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read France votes, economy clouds Sarkozy's chances 11:48am EDT Away from unrest, Bahrain Grand Prix plays to empty stands 12:08pm EDT Wal-Mart silenced Mexican bribe inquiry: NY Times 1:00am EDT More agents likely to go over Secret Service scandal: U.S. lawmaker 21 Apr 2012 French voters frustrated on eve of election day 9:11am EDT Discussed 181 Trayvon Martin’s killer showed signs of injury: neighbors 95 Nugent says had ”solid” meeting with Secret Service 88 Human-made earthquakes reported in central U.S Watched Bull on bull in South Korean sport Fri, Apr 20 2012 IMF officials keep up pressure on Europe Sat, Apr 21 2012 Repaired A380 set for takeoff Sat, Apr 21 2012 Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Weird world records From who can wear the most bees to who can unicycle the longest. Slideshow Protests in Bahrain Anti-government demonstrations continue in Bahrain. Slideshow Taylor verdict takes aim at Africa Big Man impunity Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Bashir says Sudan to teach South "final lesson by force" Thu, Apr 19 2012 No clear way to court for Syria war crimes suspects Fri, Mar 30 2012 Analysis & Opinion Sadly, human trophies are as old as war itself The case for letting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed live Related Topics World » By Thomas Escritt and Simon Akam THE HAGUE/FREETOWN | Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:07am EDT THE HAGUE/FREETOWN (Reuters) - Begging outside a supermarket in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, Tamba Ngaujah has little doubt who was behind the Revolutionary United Front rebels who, 20 years ago, gave him "short sleeves". "They put my arms on the sticks, took machetes, and cut them ... They only thing I can tell you about Charles Taylor: I heard from the RUF who amputated my hands that they were supported by Charles Taylor," 46-year-old Ngaujah said. On Thursday, a special court in The Hague will give its verdict on just what level of responsibility former Liberian President Taylor had in these war atrocities. Taylor himself denies any responsibility. In an 11-year conflict which by 2002 left over 50,000 dead and become a byword for gratuitous violence, "short sleeves" was the macabre tag used to distinguish amputations like Ngaujah's at the elbow from less drastic "long sleeve" cuts at the wrist. Prosecutors allege Taylor, from his base in neighboring Liberia, directed and armed the Sierra Leonian rebels and so bears responsibility on 11 counts including murder, mutilation, rape, enslavement, and recruitment of child soldiers. Whether Taylor is found guilty or not, the verdict will be the first in a court of this kind against a former head of state on serious violations of international law. Yugoslav ex-leader Slobodan Milosevic died in 2006 before the judgment was due in the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal, also in The Hague In 2009, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has ordered his arrest on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide related to the conflict in Darfur. Bashir rejects the charges. "The Sierra Leone conflict was brutal, and Charles Taylor was seen as a 'Big Man' in the region," said Elise Keppler, senior counsel at Human Rights Watch of the slowly dwindling club of those ruling with impunity in Africa. "Regardless of the verdict, this will send a clear signal that people implicated in the worst crimes will face justice no matter how important or powerful they are," she said. 'STRANGE TO US' Since Taylor's indictment in 2003, the Special Court for Sierra Leone - a so-called "hybrid" court staffed by both international and Sierra Leonian personnel - has produced testimony ranging from the horrific to the titillating. As prosecutors sought to link Taylor to the locally-mined "blood diamonds" which helped fuel the war, the court heard the bafflement of supermodel Naomi Campbell at the uncut diamonds - or "dirty little pebbles" in her words - delivered during the night to her hotel room after a 1997 charity dinner with Taylor. It also featured victims of amputation who displayed remains of mutilated limbs, and graphic accounts of massacres, torture and cannibalism as the prosecution called 91 witnesses whose accounts are included in almost 50,000 pages of transcripts. Typical is the description by one such witness of the mutilation and execution of his brother by rebels. "They cut off all his 10 fingers," Patrick Sheriff said. "They put them in (a) cup, then they shot him." Another witness described fighters betting on the sex of a pregnant woman's child. According to the prosecution: "The rebels shot the woman dead, opened her belly, took out the baby... The baby cried and then died." For prosecutors, the challenge is to show a link between Taylor and such crimes. Much depends on the evidence of seven radio operators who allegedly kept him in touch with rebel groups. Taylor does not deny atrocities, but does deny any role. "We did hear of certain actions that were going on in Sierra Leone that ... were a little strange to us, because these things were not happening in Liberia," he said at the trial. MENACE TO STABILITY Former Special Court of Sierra Leone lawyer Sareta Ashraph argued that even if a link between Taylor and RUF rebels is demonstrated, it would be harder to show he had a clear planning or command role in the late-1990s period covered by the court. "It difficult to see the motivation for putting himself in charge of the RUF," said Ashraph, who is writing a history of the Sierra Leone war. "He was already president of Liberia, was making money off them and would have realized the best the RUF were going to do is force the government into a stalemate." Rebels and government signed a 1999 peace deal but fighting continued for nearly three years until the RUF was defeated with military help from ex-colonial power Britain and U.N. forces. While Taylor, 64, was deemed enough of a menace to West Africa's stability that his trial was moved to The Hague after his March 2006 arrest during exile in Nigeria, his present-day influence is harder to define. The region is still plagued by mercenaries like those who created havoc two decades ago. But militant Islamists such as Nigeria's Boko Haram or al Qaeda agents in the Sahel zone are now the bigger threat, alongside the growing narcotics trade. Nonetheless, acquittal for Taylor would be an uncomfortable prospect for Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who became his arch-enemy after withdrawing support for him early in the Liberian civil war of the 1990s that brought him to power. "I never speak about Charles Taylor," Johnson-Sirleaf told Reuters during her successful re-election campaign last year. Yet while he is abhorred by many of Liberians, Taylor remains a local hero and symbol of national pride for some. "The best president I have seen in my time is Charles Ghankay Taylor. He is better than Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf," 40-year-old farmer Karhn Dayplay told Reuters. "Taylor must come back here to rule this nation. We are waiting for him," said the resident of Karnplay, one of the Nimba County towns from which Taylor launched his 1989 rebellion to unseat the then President Samuel Doe. OLD ENEMIES A man used to giving orders, Taylor has wanted to be closely involved in shaping his defense, taking the witness stand for seven months with confident, forthright performances. As he awaits the verdict, he has immersed himself in study of the Jewish faith to which he converted before arriving in The Hague. He has regular visits from a rabbi and does not receive his lawyers on the Sabbath. His library - now put in storage - had occupied an entire room at the seaside detention facilities used by the tribunal and the International Criminal Court, where he is said to maintain cordial relations with old enemy Laurent Gbagbo, the former Ivory Coast leader transferred there last year to face charges of crimes against humanity. His defense team reports that he is reading "Strategic Vision," the latest book by former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, and that Taylor followed last year's upheavals in North Africa with avid interest. He has benefited from the company of other African detainees including Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo to go through legal briefs and cook home favorites together - one domestic option he may lack in the British maximum security prison due to house him if found guilty. While some Africans see the long list of countrymen due to be tried in The Hague as evidence of bias in the international legal system, others see the Taylor verdict as one step towards breaking down the impunity many of its biggest criminals enjoy. Liberia itself has made little progress in prosecuting those responsible for crimes in its war, while abuses committed by northern rebels who backed Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara in last year's conflict have yet to be fully investigated. "This is part of a global process of increasing accountability for the worst crimes," said HRW's Keppler. "In the world of justice versus impunity, justice is still young." (Additional reporting by Alphonso Toweh and Clair MacDougall in Liberia; Mark John and Richard Valdmanis in Dakar; Writing by Mark John and Thomas Escritt; Editing by Philippa Fletcher) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Sunday, 22 April 2012
Dutch train crash injures 125: police |
Nigerian kidnappers release Spanish doctor |
South Sudan says troops bombed during flashpoint pullout |
Dutch elections loom as budget talks collapse |
Loyalist soldiers move into Mali's rebel-held north |
Motorola CEO pay package rose to $47 million in 2011 |
Voting begins in France, economy may doom Sarkozy |
F1 teams to race while rage boils on Bahrain streets |
Chinese firm suspected in missile-linked sale to North Korea: U.S. official |
Australian parliament speaker stands aside amid lawsuit row |
Dutch train crash injures 125: police |
Fifteen killed in northern Mexican bar shootout |
China military warns of confrontation over seas |
Bee Gee Robin Gibb wakes from coma: report |
Dark Shadows TV star Jonathan Frid dies at age 87 |
Violence persists in Syria as Annan urges truce compliance |
Taylor verdict takes aim at Africa Big Man impunity |
Russian Orthodox Church rallies faithful after criticism |
Brazil's Rousseff achieves record approval: newspaper |
International Committee of Red Cross aide abducted in Yemen |
Israel cabinet OKs break-up of big conglomerates |
China's geologist premier meets unease in Iceland |
Sudan says repulses rebel attack in border state |
James Cameron eyes co-production projects in China |
Hunger Games gives up box office crown |
DJs battle with dance music dominance in U.S. pop music |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01