By Impunity Watch Africa

Charles Taylor’s boycott and refusal to show at the first day of his trial in The Hague for war crimes that occurred in Sierra Leone has sparked much response and criticism from scholars and commentators.  Instead of attending the first day of his trial, Taylor sent a letter from his cell calling the court a “charade” and firing his counsel, apparently intending to represent himself.

The former founding Chief Prosecutor David Crane of the Special Court for Sierra Leone indicted Charles Taylor, Liberia’s former President, on March 3, 2003. The original indictment included seventeen counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including rape, murder, pillage, enslavement, mutilation, and unlawful recruitment of child soldiers.   It was later changed to eleven to make for more concise charges.

Former Prosecutor David Crane attended the opening statements.  His response to Taylor’s boycott is that “Taylor and his counsel are predictably providing the histrionics that accompany the public disgrace of a bloody tyrant.”  He saw Taylor’s actions as no different from those of Milosevic or Hussein or any other former head of state on trial for war crimes.

With a three-week break before the trial begins, many are cautioning the court to ensure proper control over the proceedings in order to prevent a disaster.  The presiding judge in this case has started well, and was able to manage the defense counsel’s attempts to derail the opening statements and was able to get the proceedings back on track.  Corrine Dufka, a West African researcher for Human Rights Watch, noted that the judge has already started off well.  Unlike the Milosevic trial where the defense and prosecution were allowed to go on and on and there was a lack of management from the bench, here the judge has already instituted order and is working to ensure a fair trial.

The trial resumes in three weeks on June 25.

For more information, please see:

Jurist – An Empty Chair at The Hague: Trying Charles Taylor – 08 June 2007

World Politics Review –  Accountability in West Africa: Charles Taylor on Trial at The Hague – 07 June 2007

VOA – Charles Taylor Boycotts His War Crimes Trial in The Hague – 04 June 2007

Guardian – Liberia’s Taylor Snubs War Crimes Trial – June 2007

By Myriam Clerge

Impunity Watch, Africa

The Mungiki is an outlawed religious sect inspired by the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s against British colonial rule. Banned in 2002, the sect is accused of mutilating and beheading around 20 people during the recent months. Among the murdered was a constituent of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. According to Police Chief Albert Kimanthi, leaflets circulated in the Mathare slum, which is home to some 500,000 people, threatened that more beheadings were imminent unless residents and traders pay between $1 and $3 as protection fees.

President Kibaki warned that the government would not “allow criminals to get away with wanton acts of violence.” On Thursday May 31st, the government spokesperson announced that 2,464 members of the Mungiki sect were arrested.

During a police raid on Tuesday June 5th, in which 21 people were killed after a shootout, a BBC reporter and a reporter for Reuters news agency claim to have seen a woman holding her baby clubbed in the throat by an officer and nearly 40 women and children forced to lie face down in the mud.

Mungiki leaflets accuse Kibaki’s administration of failing to honor election pledges made in 2002 to create jobs and rewrite Kenya’s constitution. Even more leaflets claim that high-level government officials, lawmakers and over 16,000 member of Kenya’s security force are members of the sect.

Many fear the sect may disrupt the December election in which current President Kibaki is expected to seek his second term.

For more information please see:

Yahoo – Kenyan president vows crackdown on sect as killing rage – 01 June 2007

Yahoo – 2,464 sect suspects arrested in Kenya – 01 June 2007

BBC – Kenya police shoot sect suspects – 07 June 2007

By Meryl White

Impunity Watch, Africa

In the Republic of Congo, Frederic Bistangou, also known as Pastor Ntumi, has agreed to destroy some of his arms in a ceremony. Bistangou is the leader of the “Ninja Rebels,” a renegrade group that named themselves after the famous Japanese warriors. These rebels were responsible for the five-year insurgency in south-eastern Republic of Congo that lasted until 2003. The intense fighting between the rebels and the government displaced thousands of civilians who resided in the southern Pool region. In March 2003, Pastor Ntumi agreed to end the insurgency and allowed for the government to maintain control over Pool region.

Pastor Ntumi now plans to play an active role in the peace and reconciliation efforts. Furthermore, Ntumi wants to transform the “Ninja Rebels” into a political party. In May 2007, there were a significant amount of negotiations between Pastor Ntumi and President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Nguesso plans to keep 60 bodyguards while absorbing 250 rebels into the national army. The remaining rebels will enter a disarmament and reintegration program.

There will be a two day ceremony to mark the commencement of the disarmament process. This ceremony will take place in Kinkala, the provincial capital of the southern Pool region. The Pool region was once deemed the “breadbasket of the Congo,” but after the civil war, this area has suffered from poor infrastructure, poverty, and famine.

Analysts are skeptical of Ntumi’s power to influence the rebels to disarm. Historically, the Ninja fighters have shown a deep seeded mistrust of the government. In 2003, under the first peace deal, very few of the Ninjas accepted the government’s offer of amnesty in exchange for disarmament.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Country Profiles: Democratic Republic of Congo – June 2007

BBC – Congo’s Ninja Leader to Disarm – 06 June 2007

VOA – Congo Brazzaville’s Nguesso Names Ex-Rebel to Government – 23 May 2007

By Impunity Watch Africa

On June 1 hundreds of women and children fled from Darfur to neighboring Central African Republic after planes and helicopters attacked their village.   The 1,500 refugees walked 125 miles in 10 days and told UN officials that janjaweed militia had attacked their town and that their homes had been bombarded with air attacks.    The UN and African Union peacekeepers have regularly reported Sudanese air force bombs, even though a UN resolution forbids such attacks.

This recent attack has fueled even more calls for action in Sudan.  The UK has stated that they will push for tougher UN sanctions against Sudan if its government does not support international efforts to end the conflict.  The US and Britain have been working on expanded UN sanctions resolution and a no-fly zone for weeks, but Russia and South Africa have questioned the timing and China continue to oppose further penalties.

At the G8 Summit in Germany France has begun pushing for an aid corridor from Chad into Sudan’s Darfur region as a humanitarian solution to the crisis.   Chad and Sudan, however, continue to be hostile to a corridor and a Western presence.  France would also like to create a contact group on Darfur, which would include the UN, AU, Sudan, Chad, and other African heads of state, and China.  France currently has 1,000 troops in Chad but would like to see additional European Union troops involved.

Today the UN and AU were close to a deal on sending 23,000 peacekeepers to Darfur.   Full deployment however is not expected until next year at the earliest.  Sudan has yet to approve the plan, and if they continue to refuse the US and Britain will push for increased sanctions.   Disputes over command and control over the hybrid force has held up the negotiations.  Both Sudan and the AU have objected to giving the UN total control.  AU and UN officials will explain the newest proposal to Sudan at a meeting June 11-12 where it is hoped that an agreement can be reached.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Africa Pushes Darfur Aid Corridor – 06 June 2007

Reuters – Plans Ready for UN Darfur Force but no Deployment – 06 June 2007

NY Times – Darfur Refugees Flee in 125-Mile Trek – June 2007

Yahoo – UK Says Sudan Faces Tough Action if no Darfur Progress – June 2007

By Impunity Watch Africa

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has gone on trial in The Hague for his alleged role in backing Sierra Leone’s brutal rebels.

People in Sierra Leone and Liberia share their thoughts (from BBC Online):

Saffie Kamara, Freetown:
“It does not make any difference to me where Charles Taylor is tried, as long as he answers for his alleged crimes.”

Deddeh Lavala, Monrovia:
“I want the trial to be free and fair so that if Taylor is guilty of what he is accused of doing, he will be convinced that he is guilty and face the consequences. But if he is not then surely the law should set him free. Witnesses being called must feel free to testify in the name of fairness.”

Alphanson Nimene, Monrovia:
“I am 100% convinced that the trial will be free and fair. The international community has all the resources available to do anything they like to Mr Taylor. Yet they have decided to bring him before an international court to set an example.”

Amalia Smart-Kamara, Freetown:
“I have come to the special court to listen to how the proceedings are going. I believe in justice and I am happy that Mr Taylor is facing justice. It is one of the happiest days in my life.”

Jerine Colendo, Monrovia:
“I feel bad that Charles Taylor as a former president has been taken to a foreign land for trial. Whenever his birthday comes, I think about him. But equally so, justice has to be done. He has to face justice and there is nothing that we, Liberians, can do about it.”

Ibrahim Khalil Sesay, Freetown:
“Members of my family were killed by rebels. Without him the rebels would not have been as strong. I did not have the chance to go to watch the trial, but the trial starting is good news for the people of Sierra Leone, both dead and living.”

Josephus Kennedy, Monrovia:
“Mr Taylor is not going to get a free and fair trial. One does not have to be a brain surgeon to establish this. The court has failed to be transparent. It whisked him off from Sierra Leone to The Hague without any reference to his lawyers. Mr Taylor’s resignation and exile was part of the peace accord.”

Alusine Fofana, Sierra Leone MP:
“Even though Charles Taylor did not appear, I feel happy that his trial has started. I feel good that the day of justice is here and he will answer to any part he played in the destruction of Sierra Leone.”