Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor could be transferred to The Hague within weeks to stand trial for war crimes, the Sierra Leonean tribunal where he is being held said on Friday.
Britain promised on Thursday to jail Taylor, one of Africa's most feared warlords, if he is found guilty, paving the way for the trial to move to the Netherlands from the UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown.
The Freetown tribunal had asked the Netherlands to host the case at the International Criminal Court because of security concerns but needed a third country to volunteer as his jailer.
"It's a matter now partly of legal issues and partly of logistics. It's not as easy as just calling in an airplane and saying we have a passenger for you," Special Court spokesman Peter Andersen said. "It could happen fairly soon. We do not want to talk about the exact timing, but it will not be a matter of months."
Sierra Leone's government welcomed Britain's announcement, saying removing Taylor from West Africa would improve security in the region, with both the former British colony and neighbouring Liberia still fragile after years of conflict.
"Taylor's continued stay in Sierra Leone is a continued threat to the peace of Sierra Leone as well as the West African region," Sierra Leone's Vice President, Solomon Berewa, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"As a government we are grateful to Britain, the people of the Netherlands and the Secretary-General of the United Nations ... With Charles Taylor to be tried outside Sierra Leone it will help the government to concentrate on other areas of security."
Taylor, seen as the mastermind behind intertwined conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone, is being held in a prison cell guarded by Mongolian UN peacekeepers, nestled among the rolling, shanty-covered hills of Freetown. He faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for backing Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front rebels, who sent drugged child soldiers into battle and mutilated and raped civilians during the conflict.
Some in Sierra Leone have voiced concern that moving Taylor's trial to Europe will mean those who suffered in the war will not see justice being served at first hand.
"Victims of atrocities in Sierra Leone have long waited for Charles Taylor to face trial," Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
"Security concerns may well merit moving the trial to The Hague, but the Special Court needs to explain this more fully to the people of West Africa," he said.
The court, which already runs an "outreach" programme which includes sending video and audio summaries of proceedings around the country, said it was discussing the possibility of streaming the trial live by television back to the Freetown court. "Making sure that the people of Sierra Leone are not kept in the dark is certainly a great concern," Andersen said.
Britain's announcement, subject to approval by parliament, clears the way for a UN Security Council resolution in circulation authorising Taylor's transfer to The Hague.
The British ambassador to the UN, Emyr Jones Parry, has said the resolution has been drafted and is ready to be put to a Council vote. The measure is on the Council's agenda for Friday and is likely to be adopted.
Comments
Comments are closed.