Charles Taylor Convicted of All Charges

The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) judges in The Hague found Charles Taylor guilty of all 11 charges of aiding war crimes and crimes against humanity including rape and the use of child soldiers. The Court did not find that Taylor had control over the rebel groups as many human rights group had hoped.  Taylor denied all charges and insisted that he was simply a peacemaker. The Court obviously did not agree with Taylor’s self-assessment. This is the first time since the Nuremberg Trials that a sitting head of state has been found guilty of war crimes.

The Court found that during Sierra Leone’s civil war from November 1996 to January 2002, Taylor supported the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and other rebel groups through guns for diamonds deals. As former child soldier Kabbah Williams told the Daily Telegraph, the verdict brought mixed emotions for former child soldiers.

The Rome Statute

The Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court at The Hague, may offer the strongest protection measures for child soldiers. Under Article 8(2)(b)(xxvi), conscripting or enlisting children under the age of fifteen or using them to participate in hostilities is defined as a war crime. The first case to be tried at the International Criminal Court is that of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, who was tried for enlisting and conscripting children and using them in armed conflicts. Lubanga was the head of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) during the conflict in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 1999 to 2003, and has been accused of having as many as 30,000 boys and girls serving under him.

Director of Research Projects Kate Davey has been covering the Lubanga Trial since it began in 2009.  Since then, she has written more than thirty reports and trial updates focusing in particular on child soldier issues.  She also has written 2 reports on the use of child soldiers by former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

Trial Reports are organized by date