By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The trial against Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, continued this week with testimony from a Gambian who served in Taylor’s Special Security Service (SSS). The Prosecution continued their examination of Suwandi Camara, who testified regarding Taylor’s presence in Libya in the early 1990s, his use of child soldiers, his forces in Liberia, and his ties to the rebel group Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
Camara testified that he saw Taylor in Libya twice and detailed his various assignments at that time. He also testified that while an instructor at Cobra Base, which was used to train soldiers about guns and to give them advanced commando training, he saw many thirteen year old boys being trained. He testified that the Small Boy Units (SBU) would often have 230-240 soldiers and that some of the soldiers could be as young as nine or ten.
The cross-examination of Camara challenged the majority of what he had stated, arguing that Camara had not personally seen or heard the evidence he testified to. Camara responded that 75% of his testimony was what he saw or heard himself. Camara had also given several interviews to the prosecution, which resulted in statements and clarifications as well as interview notes written by the investigators. The cross-examination focused heavily on inconsistencies between those written documents and the testimony given in court.
After a brief redirect Court was adjourned until next week, when Crimebase Witness TF1-026 will take the stand in open court, but with a pseudonym and screen.
For more information, please see:
AllAfrica.com – Prosecution Witness Testifies Concerning Taylor’s Presence in Libya – 11 February 2008
AllAfrica.com – Prosecution Witness Camara Continues Testimony – 12 February 2008
AllAfrica.com – Cross-Examination of Suwandi Camara Continues – 13 February 2008
AllAfrica.com – Cross-Examination of Camara Concludes; Defense Counsel Accuses Witness of Lying – 15 February 2008
