Charles Taylor Alleged Escape : Is Obasanjo Obstructing Justice?
By Joseph S. Sherman, Washington, DC
Wednesday March 29, 2006
Reports that war-crime indicted criminal, Ex-president Charles Taylor has mysteriously disappeared form his safe haven in Calabar, Nigeria, leaves many questions for President Obasanjo of Nigeria to answer.
Charles Taylor has been indicted on 17 counts of war crimes against humanity for his role in the armed conflict in Sierra Leone. The crimes include killings, rape, sexual violence, sexual slavery, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, abduction, and the use of forced labor by armed opposition of groups.
President Obasanjo has since resisted surrendering Charles Taylor to the Special Court in Sierra Leone. He has indicated, however, that he would consider returning Charles Taylor to Liberia upon the request of a duly elected government. In a bold step to stand against the culture of impunity practiced by many African leaders, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf made a request to Obasanjo to have Taylor extradited to the Special Court in Sierra Leone.
If President Obasanjo is serious about regional stability and justice for the thousands of people killed and maimed in Sierra Leone, he should have listened to the call of prosecutors of the Special Court and Human Rights organizations to have Taylor arrested and detained in order to face justice in Sierra Leone.
The obligation of all states to cooperate with the Special Court in Sierra Leone which is under the auspices of the International Tribunal is further set forth in Article 29 of the Tribunals Statute which provides for (1) the general obligation to provide any cooperation that may be required to facilitate investigation or prosecution of alleged perpetrators and (2) the obligation to comply without undue delay with a specific request or order issued by a Trial Chamber, including arrest warrants.
The establishment of the Special Court in Sierra Leone is intended to bring a halt to what the international community rightly believe grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. If President Obasanjo does not allow the mandate of the Special Court to be executed, it will set a disturbing precedent, namely the rules governing armed conflict can be disregarded with impunity.
Since independence, injustice and impunity have permeated African governments- killing of political opponents, arbitrary arrests without due process of law, dictatorship and various human rights abuses have become immured in the politics of most African leaders. If Obasanjo allows Charles Taylor to escape Justice, it will send a signal to other rogue African governments that they have nothing to lose by engaging in such criminal acts.
