Global Policy Forum

By Douglas Farah

A special United Nations-backed court yesterday accused Liberian President Charles Taylor of sheltering two of West Africa's most wanted war-crimes suspects and demanded that he turn them over for prosecution.

Alan White, chief of investigations for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, said his office had received "credible information" that Johnny Paul Koroma and Sam Bockarie, both charged by the court with committing crimes against humanity during more than a decade of civil war in Sierra Leone, were under Taylor's protection.

"I am calling on President Charles Taylor to immediately turn over Bockarie and Koroma to the special court," White said in a telephone interview from the court's offices in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. "Those indicted by the special court are war criminals, and anyone who aids, abets or harbors a war criminal is subject to prosecution."

Koroma is a former officer in Sierra Leone's army who presided over a military coup in 1997 and the junta that ruled the country for nine months. In legislative elections last year he won a seat in parliament. Bockarie was a senior commander in the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the rebel movement that fought for control of Sierra Leone from 1989 until last year.

Both men have long been associated with Taylor, a former rebel leader who was elected president of Liberia in 1997. U.N. officials and intelligence services in several countries say Taylor backed the RUF from its inception in 1989, helping to arm and train the rebels in exchange for gems from Sierra Leone's rich diamond fields. Because of his support for the RUF and illegal weapons purchases, the United Nations banned Taylor, his family and senior government officials from international travel in 2001.

Calls to Liberia's Information Ministry seeking comment were not answered today. After the RUF disarmed last year and participated in elections, the United Nations and Sierra Leone established a special court to try the dozen or so people deemed most responsible for atrocities committed during Sierra Leone's civil war. During that conflict, the RUF abducted thousands of children, carried out a systematic campaign of rape and enslaved thousands of people. The rebels were widely known for hacking off the arms, legs and ears of civilians, including children -- a practice employed to a lesser degree by the RUF's government and militia foes.

In March, the court indicted eight people for crimes against humanity. Of that group, only Bockarie and Koroma remain at large. Koroma was arrested in Sierra Leone earlier this year for allegedly plotting another coup against the government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, but he escaped from prison. Court officials say they believe he is being harbored by Taylor's government in Monrovia, Liberia's capital. Bockarie was widely reported by human rights groups and intelligence officials to be leading a Taylor-backed faction in the civil war in neighboring Ivory Coast. This week Bockarie reportedly set up an ambush that killed a key Ivorian rebel leader, Felix Doh.

Taylor, meanwhile, is facing an increasing challenge to his rule at home. A rebel group called Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, which includes disaffected soldiers once loyal to Taylor, has made significant gains against government forces in recent weeks.

Taylor, who is named throughout the eight indictments already issued, is widely expected to be indicted as well. Bockarie's indictment alleges that "the accused worked directly and in concert with Charles Taylor" and "received guidance and direction" from him. Koroma's says that "at all times relevant to this indictment, the accused . . . acted in concert with" Taylor.

"We have all seen the horrible consequences of their actions over the past 10 years and the continued disruption of the region," said White, the U.N. court investigator. "As a result, I am calling for the assistance of all West African leaders and supporters of international justice to assist the special court in bringing Bockarie and Koroma to justice."

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