Writing in the Guardian, Geoffery Robertson QC, who served as an appeal judge for the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, has commented on the Charles Taylor verdict, noting that as the former Liberia leader is jailed, more "despots" will follow.
Excerpts have been reproduced below. See his full piece here.
Excerpts have been reproduced below. See his full piece here.
“International criminal justice grinds slowly, but it can grind exceedingly small. Charles Taylor was first indicted in 2003 for crimes against humanity, in a UN court over which I presided. Then, he strutted the world stage as a head of state. Ghana refused our request to arrest him when he visited, and Nigeria gave him refuge for several years. There was a general expectation that he would escape trial, but the whirligig of time brings its changes and revenges: Taylor was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment, for aiding and abetting 11 kinds of war crimes and crimes against humanity – ranging from terrorism, rape and murder of civilians, to recruiting child soldiers and child sex slaves. “
“Nuremberg created a precedent, but it was not until Augusto Pinochet came to London in 1998 to take tea with Mrs Thatcher that the idea of ending the impunity of political and military leaders seemed possible. In those days it was bitterly controversial: the pope, Henry Kissinger, George Bush Snr, and even Fidel Castro wrote to Jack Straw demanding that he be freed. But today there are no such efforts on behalf of Taylor: international justice is here to stay.”
“That does not mean it should be welcomed uncritically, or that its principal defect should be overlooked – namely it does not in practice apply to the "big five" powers in the security council, or to their close friends (hence Syria's Bashar al-Assad has thus far escaped indictment because Russia supports him). But justice has its own momentum, and this selectivity will change.”