International judges sentenced former Liberian President Charles Taylor, 64, to 50 years in prison Wednesday, saying he was responsible for some of the most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history. Taylor was found guilty of arming and supporting Sierra Leone rebels in return for “blood diamonds.”
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Taylor is the first former head of state to be convicted by an international war crimes tribunal since World War II.
According to The Associated Press, Taylor will serve his sentence in a British prison, but his lawyers will likely appeal the conviction, which will keep him in a jail in The Hague, Netherlands for a while.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Taylor last month on 11 charges of aiding and abetting the rebels, who went on a vicious killing spree during Sierra Leone’s decade-long war that ended in 2002 with more than 50,000 dead.
Prosecutors asked for a 80-year sentence, but presiding Judge Richard Lussik said:
“An 80-year sentence would have been excessive as Taylor was convicted of aiding and abetting crimes and not direct involvement, but the Judge added, “ Taylor was in a class of his own” compared to others convicted by the United Nations-backed court.”
Prosecutor Brenda Hollis said the sentence would provide a measure of closure for victims of one of Africa’s most savage conflicts, but will not heal the deep wounds left with victims – both metaphorically and literally.
“The sentence that was imposed today does not replace amputated limbs. It does not bring back those who were murdered,” she said. “It does not heal the wounds of those who were victims of sexual violence and does not remove the permanent emotional and psychological and physical scars of those enslaved or recruited as child soldiers.”
The cruel and savage crimes committed included public executions and amputations of civilians, the display of decapitated heads at checkpoints, the killing and public disembowelment of a civilian whose intestines were then stretched across the road to make a check point, public rapes of women and girls, and people burned alive in their homes.
With Bashar al-Assad murdering women and children Game of Thrones-style, it’s a relief to see one warlord brought to justice. Thankfully they didn’t kill him; death would be too easy for a man like Taylor.
Hopefully al-Assad receives the message sent by this monumental conviction.
