Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Liberia: Taylor Diamond Trial Enters Final Stage

Mr. Charles Taylor

Source: allAfrica.com

Lawyers for former Liberian President Charles Taylor are presenting their closing arguments at his war crimes trial in the Hague on Wednesday and Thursday. Taylor is accused of arming Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for blood diamonds.

The closing arguments will be followed by a last chance on Friday for the defence and prosecution to make final statements.

A verdict is expected in the middle of this year, after the judges have deliberated. The trial has lasted more than three years.

Taylor has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly arming Revolutionary United Front rebels who killed and maimed with impunity.

Some 120,000 died Sierra Leone's civil war with RUF rebels between 1991 and 2001. Thousands had their limbs cut off.

Prosecutors have described the RUF as Taylor's "surrogate army".

One witness said he pleaded with RUF fighters to cut off his remaining hand so they would spare his toddler son.

Others said Taylor's fighters strung human intestines across roads, removed foetuses from the wombs of women and practised cannibalism.

"He must account for what he did to the people of Sierra Leone," says Lamin Jusu Jarka, a Sierra Leonean whose hands were cut off by the RUF. "We're anxious to see that the law take its course to wipe out impunity."

But US diplomatic cables will be cited in Taylor's defence, according to John Richardson, the head of the Association for the Legal Defence of Charles Taylor.

Cables from the embassy in Liberia make reference to Taylor's popularity and express concern that he could be found innocent, says Richardson.

The cables say they "must begin to create alternative excuses to re-arrest Mr Taylor and possibly take him to America and charge him with terrorism and mail fraud".

"They basically talk about a conspiracy to remove Mr Taylor from power and create false charges against him," he says. "This was basically a manoeuvring by certain Western countries rather than anything to do with human rights or justice."

Taylor dismisses the charges as "lies", denies having received any diamonds, and rejects testimony that he had eaten human flesh.

Judges have heard testimony from 94 prosecution witnesses and 21 for the defence, and have admitted 1,093 exhibits. The trial transcript is more than 49,000 pages long.

The trial had been moved from Freetown, where the court is based, for fears that Taylor's presence in the African country could destabilise the region.

It was scheduled to start in June 2007, but was delayed when Taylor boycotted its opening.

News Headline

Inside Liberia with Bernard Gbayee Goah

Everyone is a genius

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein

Drawing the line in Liberia

Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah



Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause

They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.

If Liberia must move forward ...

If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's greatest problem!

While it is true that an individual may be held responsible for corruption and mismanagement of funds in government, the lack of proper system to work with may as well impede the process of ethical, managerial, and financial accountability - Bernard Gbayee Goah

What do I think should be done?

The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Solving problems in the absence of war talks

As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah

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