By Ted Townsend
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor continued into its eighth week with grisly tales of cannibalism and further descriptions of terror tactics by Taylor’s ‘death squad’ commander. Joseph Marzah, also known as “Zigzag,” testified in open session that Taylor ordered his fighters in Liberia to eat the flesh of their enemies in order to “set an example for the people to be afraid.” The majority of the victims of cannibalism were members of the Krahn tribe of former Liberian president Samuel Doe, whom Taylor ousted from power in 1989. In addition, Marzah testified that Taylor ordered the forces to eat African and UN peacekeepers, specifically recalling that Taylor said the white UN peacekeepers could be “used as pork to eat.” According to Marzah, none of these atrocities were perpetrated without a direct order from Taylor.
On cross examination, the defense asked Marzah how the militia would prepare these human beings for eating. Marzah vividly described splitting, cleaning, decapitating and cooking the corpse with salt and pepper. He added, “we slit your throat, butcher you… throw away the head, take the flesh and put it in a pot… Charles Taylor knows that.” Marzah added that “when someone wants to kill you and your family, you kill and eat them for revenge.”
Marzah was with Taylor’s National Patriotic Front for Liberia (NFPL) from the beginning until the end and had risen to become Taylor’s Chief of Operations. He was also commander of the Death Squad, which specialized in executions. He agreed to testify in open session only after promises of protection were made for him and his family.
In addition to the cannibalism, Marzah testified to executions of women, children and babies. He described how he had killed so many men women and children that he had lost count, and that he had slit open the stomachs of pregnant women on multiple occasions. Marzah also vividly described the murder of babies, saying “it’s not hard, you hit them against a wall, throw them in a pit or in a river, and they are dead. And then you give the report to Charles Taylor.” He added that Taylor ordered him to kill any baby he saw, offering financial incentives to those who succeeded in executing the infants under a program called “No Baby on Target.”
Marzah and NPLF forces were told by Taylor on numerous occasions to show no mercy to civilians, believing most were collaborating with the enemy. Marzah described militia checkpoints, meant to terrify the population, where human heads were mounted on sticks, and intenstines were used to barricade roads. The militia was also encouraged to “play with human blood” so that enemy forces would fear them.
Marzah also testified that he regularly smuggled weapons and diamonds for Taylor.
On cross-examination, defense counsel Courtenay Griffiths worked to discredit Marzah’s testimony, attempting to find inconsistencies in what Marzah told prosecution investigators and attorneys in the past and what he was telling the court at the trial. Griffiths also accused Marzah of testifying because he didn’t want to be prosecuted himself, and that he was exaggerating his importance in Taylor’s organization, stating that Marzah was never senior enough in command to receive direct orders from Taylor. The Defense also focused on the fact that Taylor could not be expected to control all his commanders at one time, and that Sierra Leone and Liberia were “chaotic places over which Taylor did not have effective control.”
Taylor is accused of orchestrating atrocities during the civil war in Sierra Leone, including murder, rape, and forced conscription of children into his army. He has pled not guilty to all charges. The 59 year old is the first former African head of state to appear before an international war crimes tribunal.
For more information, please see:
BBC News – Taylor ‘made rebels eat enemies’ – 13 March 2008
allAfrica.com – NPFL Insider ‘Zigzag’ Marzah alleges Taylor Ordered Atrocities in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and Traded Arms for Diamonds With the RUF – 13 March 2008
allAfrica.com – ‘Zigzag’ Marzah says Taylor Ordered Cannibalism; Defense Works to Discredit His Testimony – 14 March 2008
The Trial of Charles Taylor, http://charlestaylortrial.org – last accessed 14 March 2008
CNN.com – Top aide testifies Taylor ordered soldiers to eat victims – 13 March 2008
AFP – Former Liberian fighter describes rebel atrocities – 13 March 2008
The Associated Press – Terror Tactics Described at Taylor Trial – 13 March 2008
VOA news – Militia Commander Testifies at War Crimes Trial of Liberia’s Taylor – 12 March 2008