Thursday, April 26, 2012

It is possible to convict a Head of State


And for war crimes, no less. Unfortunately the Head of State convicted in The Hague was not George W Bush but an equally vicious, if minor, war lord Charles G Taylor of Liberia.
Charles G. Taylor, the former president of Liberia and once a powerful warlord, was convicted by an international tribunal on Thursday of 11 counts of planning, aiding and abetting war crimes committed in Sierra Leone during its civil war in the 1990s. He is the first head of state to be convicted by an international court since the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

The ruling, announced by Presiding Judge Richard Lussick of Samoa, said Mr. Taylor was guilty of involvement in crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, rape, slavery and the use of child soldiers. The court, however, said the prosecution failed to prove that Mr. Taylor had direct command responsibility for the atrocities in the indictment.

Mr. Taylor, who has maintained his innocence, will be sentenced in the coming weeks. There is no death penalty in international criminal law and any jail term would be served in a British prison.
Maybe we could offer up Dick Cheney as a sop for letting W go free?

// posted by montag @ 1:00 PM
Comments:
The bush killers were much better at it and even more worthy of a trial. Taylor is just a small boy in comparison.
# posted by Blogger One Fly : 1:06 PM
 

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