Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
Last Thursday, the Federal Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit’s three judge panel upheld the conviction and 97 year sentence of Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Chuckie Taylor. Emmanuel is the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, and is notorious for leading a violent paramilitary unit, Anti-Terrorism Union, ordering the torture of dozen’s of his father’s political opponents between 1997and 2003.
The panel also affirmed the constitutionality of the Torture Act, a 1994 law allowing prosecution for torture acts committed overseas. Emmanuel’s attorney’s argued that the torture law was broader than the Convention Against Torture treaty which authorized his prosecution. Attorney’s also claimed the provision making use of a firearm during the crime an additional violation should not apply to overseas actions. The criminalization of foreign government actions they argued, was outside the jurisdiction of the United States. The panel held that Congress’s power to criminalize torturous acts was “a valid exercise of congressional authority,” under the Torture Act, rejecting all of the arguments.
United States Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus wrote that “The facts of this case are riddled with extraordinary cruelty and evil.” Emmanuel, now 33, a Boston born United States citizen was convicted in 2008. His convictions included the use of gruesome techniques including electric shocks, cigarette burnings, the use of scalding water, shoveling biting ants onto prisoners and using water filled holes on torture victims. Five Liberian torture victims sued Emmanuel after his criminal trial, winning $22.4 million in damages. Emmanuel blasted his charges “deceptive propaganda,” claiming the U.S. was using him as a “poster boy for human rights abuse.”
Associated Press reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tracked Emmanuel for years for possible illegal arms violations. After attempting to get a passport by using a fake name for his father on the application, Emmanuel was arrested at a Miami airport in February of 2006. Emmanuel pled guilty later that September. Emmanuel’s father remains on trial for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone in The Hague, Netherlands. His father is facing 11 counts of violations of the Geneva Convention, crimes against humanity and efforts to terrorize the civilian population of Sierra Leone.
For More Information Please See:
Jurist Federal appeals court upholds sentence for son of Liberia ex-president 16 July 2010
Associated Press Court upholds torture conviction of Taylor’s son 15 July 2010
