RIGHTS: Sierra Leone’s War Crimes Tribunal Continues to Stir Controversy

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Abdullah Dukuly

MONROVIA, Liberia, May 14 2003 (IPS) - Controversy has arisen between the UN-backed Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal and the Liberian government over the jurisdiction of the court.

As the Special Court demanded the handover of two fugitives from Liberia, the government of President Charles Taylor questions the court’s jurisdiction – saying it is not bound by it.

It all began last week when Allan White, the Special Court for Sierra Leone chief prosecutor, accused President Taylor of harbouring two of that country’s main fugitives – Johnny Paul Koroma (former junta leader) and Sam Bockarie (the notorious rebel commander) – all indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

White demanded that President Taylor immediately hand over the two men as they "bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes" during Sierra Leone’s decade-long war.

He warned that if Taylor failed to turn over the two indicted war suspects to the Special Court, "he (Taylor) could be subject for prosecution for aiding and abetting those war criminals".

"Charles Taylor could be charged with obstruction of justice in terms of the Special Court for Sierra Leone", he said.

Such a nerve-wracking remark seemed not to have gone down well with Liberia officials. They swiftly denied having the two Sierra Leonean war crimes suspects.

Presidential press secretary, Vaanii Paassewe, told the private KISS FM radio that "Sam Bockarie and Johnny Paul Koroma, wanted in Sierra Leone, will find Liberia an uncomfortable place".

"This is because", he said, "they will be arrested." Paassewe said the government’s move "in is line with the anti-mercenary laws of Liberia".

As the bickering over the two fugitives heightened, Liberian forces on the borders with Cote d’Ivoire killed Bockarie, the leading commander in Sierra Leone’s brutal war. He was killed on May 6 in a gun battle with Liberia’s government forces as they tried to arrest him, a government statement said.

According to the statement, Bockari sustained "serious wounds after he, and his bodyguards, put up stiff resistance when government forces attempted to arrest him".

Liberia’s Information Ministry said "Bockarie and a small unit of bodyguards were spotted crossing into Liberia from an Ivorian border in the early hours of Tuesday morning".

The announcement of Bockari’s death came shortly after President Taylor himself told a news conference that his government was not harbouring the Sierra Leone war crime suspect.

Taylor said he had ordered the search for Bockarie if he was anywhere in Liberia. He said Liberia had no direct dealing with the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

In an apparent response to the order of the Court to turn over the fugitives, President Taylor says his government reserves the right to accept or reject any decision by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

He said Liberia was not bound by any decision of a Sierra Leone judge. The court was created on the request of the Sierra Leone government. As such, Taylor said the Liberian government sees it as a Sierra Leone court.

However, he said, his government will work along with Sierra Leone government to ensure that warlords of that country, if found in Liberia are arrested and turned over to Sierra Leone government.

Shortly after news of Bockarie’s death, the Special Court demanded that the body be flown to Freetown, Sierra Leone capital, for post mortem examinations.

Liberia officials have deposited Bockarie’s remains to an expensive mortuary in Monrovia, the capital. But they appear to be refusing to abide by the order of the Special Court, saying "We have no direct dealings with the Court".

"We see the jurisdiction of the court as being limited to Sierra Leone," Paassewe said in another interview with the state-owned LBS radio this week. "If the Sierra Leone government were to request for the remains of Sam Bockarie, we have no qualms about that. We are not interested in Sam Bockarie’s remains".

But the Special Court says its jurisdiction goes beyond Sierra Leone. White believes Taylor "can be charged under the statute that has been created for the Special Court for Sierra Leone. We have the authority to indict and arrest a Head of State for war crime violations".

"We have the authority to go back to the United Nations Security Council and directly request their intervention in executing an arrest warrant to be issued by the Special Court for Sierra Leone," he said.

Such a veil threat and warning against a sovereign head of state appear to have infuriated the Liberian government to the extent of almost refusing to recognise the authority of the court. Pro-government lawyers contend that a foreign court cannot indict Taylor because he is a President of a sovereign nation.

So far, the court has indicted eight individuals thought to "bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity" during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

Six of the suspects, including the country’s Internal Affairs Minister Sam Hinge Norman, who was commander of the then pro-government militia known as "Kamahis", are currently in the custody of the court and have made preliminary appearances.

Also detained by the court is the former leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Foday Sankoh who is down with partial stroke and reportedly "mentally unbalanced".

In almost all the indictments served, President Taylor’s name features prominently in alleged gun-running and so-called "blood diamond" smuggling deals with the RUF.

Previous reports quoted the Special Court prosecutor David Crane as saying: "This case is far beyond Sierra Leone. It is national, regional and international. I will follow the evidence wherever it leads and whoever may be involved."

"No matter the status and nationality of a war crimes suspect, as long as he or she falls within the category of those most wanted, I will indict that person," Crane added.

President Taylor already has enormous domestic problems ranging from a bloody rebellion mounted by his opponents, to a collapsing economy due to years of UN-imposed sanctions.

The conflict in Sierra Leone, which ended in July 1999, left behind more than 30,000 dead, thousands mutilated and about a quarter of the country’s five million population scattered as refugees in neighbouring countries.