Victims cheer as Taylor convicted of war crimes

Fighters in Sierra Leone raped and killed Halimatu Jalloh’s sister during the country’s civil war, but last night the 27-year-old student felt the pain of her loss ease with the conviction of Charles Taylor, the Liberian leader who backed the rebels.

Standing outside the local seat of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in Freetown, Jalloh’s hand-painted sign said it all: “Orphans, widows, widowers, rape victims, amputees, and all the war affected, wipe your tears as the dawn of justice has come.”

A United Nations-backed court in The Hague convicted Taylor, Liberia’s former president, of war crimes, marking the first time a head of state has been found guilty by an international tribunal since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg.

Taylor, 64, was charged with 11 counts of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers and sexual slavery during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, during which tens of thousands of people were killed.

For many victims of the fighting, the verdict soothed years-old pains and offered some hope that similar atrocities around the world could be avoided in the future.

“It’s good, this one is good, it’s a signal to other people that they should not completely use their money on war, ammunition, to destroy lives,” Jalloh said.

“Today is for the people of Sierra Leone who suffered horribly at the hands of Charles Taylor and his proxy forces,” said prosecutor Brenda Hollis.

“This judgment brings some measure of justice to the many thousands of victims who paid a terrible price for Mr Taylor’s crimes.”

Prosecutors and defence lawyers both said they would study the lengthy judgment to see if there were grounds for appeal.

Taylor’s attorney, Courtenay Griffiths, slammed the conviction as based on “tainted and corrupt evidence.” He claimed prosecutors paid for some of the evidence.

Griffiths said Taylor took the verdicts in his stride. “Mr Taylor has always been a stoic individual and he continued to display that stoicism,” Griffiths told reporters.

Presiding Judge Richard Lussick said the 64-year-old former warlord provided arms, ammunition, communications equipment and planning to rebels responsible for countless atrocities in the 1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war and was repaid by the guerrillas in so-called “blood diamonds” mined by slave labourers. Lussick called the support “sustained and significant.”

“Mr Taylor, the trial chamber unanimously finds you guilty” of 11 charges, including terror, murder, rape and conscripting child soldiers, Lussick told Taylor.

Taylor stood and showed no emotion as Lussick delivered the guilty verdicts at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Lussick scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 16, and said sentence would be announced two weeks later. Taylor will serve his sentence in Britain.

The court does not have maximum sentences or the death penalty. In the past, convicted Sierra Leone rebel leaders have received sentences of up to 52 years.

Human rights activists hailed the convictions as a watershed moment in the fight against impunity for national leaders responsible for atrocities.

“Taylor’s conviction sends a powerful message that even those in the highest level positions can be held to account for grave crimes,” said Elise Keppler of Human Rights Watch.

“Not since Nuremberg has an international or hybrid war crimes court issued a judgment against a current or former head of state. This is a victory for Sierra Leonean victims, and all those seeking justice when the worst abuses are committed.”

Thousands of survivors of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war celebrated after learning of the conviction.

Jusu Jarka, who lost both of his arms during the fighting in 1999, was among those closely watching the verdict. “I am happy that the truth has come out… that Charles Taylor is fully and solely responsible for the crimes committed against the people of Sierra Leone.”