The Hague
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor unleashed a nightmare of murder, rape, and amputation across Sierra Leone, U.N. prosecutors charged this week. After winning a brutal civil war in Liberia in the late 1990s, Taylor joined forces with rebel leaders in neighboring Sierra Leone. His forces went from village to village, hacking up the men, enslaving the women, and conscripting the children into militias. These child soldiers were given drugs and sent rampaging through the diamond–producing regions so Taylor and the rebels could control the mines. Thousands of civilians had limbs amputated. Taylor, who is acting as his own defense attorney, refused to appear at the opening of his war–crimes trial. “I cannot participate in a charade,” Taylor said in a letter to the court. “I choose not to be a fig leaf of legitimacy for this process.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
