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Jonathan Salzinger |
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No Better Place than Sierra Leone, No Better Place than Africa. The time has finally arrived for the former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor to face Justice That he stripped away from many people. However the venue for this high profile trial has sparkled a heated debate in Liberia, Sierra Leone as well as in the West. The Hague, Netherlands is the preferable venue to many including the Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the President Bush.
Technicality will always divert the justice ball from rolling on its original track. Initiating another process to transfer Taylor from Freetown to The Hague will not be as speedy as it was in the case of the transfer from Nigeria via Monrovia to Sierra Leone. Any attempt to delay the trial of this ruthless dictator is not in the interest of the victims of his inhumane and barbaric atrocities he committed. The Physical evidences of Taylor’s involvement in the Sierra Leonean Conflict are fading away gradually; Phoday Sankoh is dead, General Mosquito is dead. Who else among Taylor’s affiliates in Sierra Leone has to fade away before he can face his destiny?
All of the Taylor’s victims are in Sierra Leone and Liberia; therefore it is imperative that these poor people know what happens to their oppressor. The difference between Slobodan and Taylor is that Slobodan committed his atrocities in Europe and Taylor committed his in Africa. If Slobodan’s trial took place in The Hague ( Another European City) it makes no big difference; on the other hand, Taylor committed atrocities in Africa where there a lot of poverty and hardship on the people’s mind, if the trial takes place in Africa a lot of people will be able to follow the trial easily, but if it is taken to a venue halfway across the world, the follow up will be limited to the fortunate Africans thereby leaving the misfortunate in the cold and that has the propensity of creating a cloud over the entire trial and the fairness of it. Another factor is that live witnesses will easily be accessed better in Sierra Leone than in The Hogue. Another thing is that This is the first ever trial of an ex-head of state in Africa to be tried for human right abuses ( which is rampant ) in Africa. This trial shall be sending a signal across the continent. This trial might be a tool to eradicate human right abuses and bad mode of governance in Africa.
Some are expressing concerns that Taylor loyalists might cause chaos during the trial that is why the special court is considering a change of venue; in fear of the possibility of destabilizing the sub-region. These fears have no genuine bases. Everybody in Liberia and else where who were following events during the heat of the Liberian Civil war will agree with me that if Taylor had such capability in terms of military might, he wouldn’t have easily and cowardly given up his presidency the way he did in 2003. The manner in which LURD swept through the dense forest of Liberia especially Taylor once strongholds of Bong and Nimba Counties was an indicative that his military strength had crumbled long time ago. Therefore there is no eminent threat from any of those noise makers. The special prosecutors need to get that fear out of their minds; the Taylor trial can be held without a bush shake. Let justice prevail and quickly so that the new era in Africa can begin. Sierra Leone is the best place for this trial and Africa is the best venue for Charles Ghangay Dakpana Taylor’s historic trial.
