Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia who was on trial at the International Criminal Court’s Special Court for Sierra Leone has been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This marks the first time in history the ICC has delivered a verdict for a head of state, judging if wartime conduct was so inhumane, so treacherous, it’s illegal. Taylor was facing 11 charges in all: five counts of war crimes, five counts of crimes against humanity, and one count of recruiting and using child soldiers, classified broadly as “a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
The Court’s ruling comes a full decade after the vicious Sierra Leone civil war was quelled. What does this ruling mean for Taylor and what does it mean for the people of Liberia? Lynn Fausett is the author of “Crimes of Humanity,” a memoir detailing a life lived along the war-torn border region of Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1998 to 1999. Elizabeth Ohene is a former Africa Editor for the BBC who interviewed Taylor on many occasions. Ohene is now an African political analyst in Ghana.
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