By Polly Johnson
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands – The three-year long trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was indicted while in office in 2003 for large-scale atrocities committed in Sierra Leone, came to an end this week.

In closing arguments, the defense argued that Taylor had been a victim of politically motivated selective prosecution and that rebel groups were solely responsible for committing the atrocities.  The prosecution contends that Taylor used the rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF), among others, as proxy groups to gain control over Sierra Leone to exploit its mineral resources, giving the rebel groups weapons in exchange for “blood diamonds.”

The RUF engaged in a ten-year spree of terror in Sierra Leone, using rape and murder as weapons to terrorize the population. The group became notorious for slicing off human limbs.

Taylor has denied the charges against him, including murder, rape and using child soldiers during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

The prosecution painted Taylor as a charismatic figure apt to fool those around him into thinking he was a peacemaker, rather than a leader responsible for terrorizing a nation. In response to defense counsel’s contention that documentary evidence failed to establish Taylor’s guilt, the prosecution indicated that the documents merely showed Taylor’s public denial of his involvement with RUF. In private, the prosecution stated, Taylor engaged in arms deals to gain access to diamonds.

The defense focused its rebuttal on denying the existence of joint criminal enterprises between Taylor and the various rebel groups.

At the conclusion of trial on Friday, the judges had received testimony from one hundred and fifteen witness and one thousand ninety-seven exhibits. It is expected to be months before a verdict is rendered.

If convicted, Taylor would serve his sentence in the United Kingdom.

For more information, please see:

Philadelphia Inquirer – After 3-year trial, Liberian awaits war-crimes verdict – 12 March 2011

BBC – Charles Taylor’s Sierra Leone war crimes trial closes – 11 March 2011

Radio Netherlands – Charles Taylor trial concluded – 11 March 2011

Charles Taylor Trial – Defense Concludes Closing Arguments, Attacks Credibility of Prosecution Witnesses – 10 March 2011