Bloody Sierra Leone punks GUILTY – Charles Taylors’ Balls Roll Next;
FINALLY !
This gives you a short view of what Charled Taylor Caused to Happen in Sierra Leone; he cost them an entire Generation.
He btw, is on trial in the Hague for his crimes, and as of yet has not been found guilty. we are sure that after all the testimony, he is convicted. who will kill him is yet to be decided. there is no need for a lottery, because his heart will collapse under the weight in little to no time.
he is a walking dead man
Global Witness Says Charles Taylor Received 1M to Harbor Al Qaeda Operatives in Liberia
New Liberian - Mambu James Kpargoi, Jr.,Monrovia
Liberia’s former President Charles Taylor received a US$1 million payment for arranging to harbor two al Qaeda operatives in Liberia soon after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Global Witness said.
The men, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, both of whom were on the FBI’s Most Wanted List of Terrorists, Global Witness said, were hidden at the Gbartala Base in Bong County.
Testifying Friday at the Economic Crimes Hearing of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC), Patrick Alley, one of the directors of Global Witness said Al Qaeda’s interest in Liberia and Sierra Leone goes back to the late 1990s, when the Taylor-backed RUF rebels were in control of the lucrative diamond fields of Sierra Leone.
Global Witness said in 1998, soon after the attacks on US missions in Africa, a senior al Qaeda financial officer, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, arrived in Monrovia. The group said that Abdullah was introduced to RUF leaders including Sam “Maskita” Bockarie, by Ibrahim Bah.
According to Mr. Alley, the same two al Qaeda operatives traveled to Liberia in March 1999 in order to establish a diamonds for arms deal and spent a few days scouting the RUF diamond fields in Sierra Leone, as well as meeting with Bockarie and giving him US$100,000 in cash for a parcel of diamonds.
“By January 2001, employees of Aziz Nassour, who is associated with the Antwerp based diamond trading company ASA Diam, had established control over RUF diamonds in exchange for arms, and his control continued until November 2001.”
Mr. Alley said Nassour along with his business associate and cousin Samih Osailly, were named in international criminal investigations as being involved in dealing in diamonds for al Qaeda but all three men denied the allegations. But he said that Nassour, though denying any illegal wrongdoing, admitted to being involved in the diamond trade in Sierra Leone and elsewhere and also admitted to attempting to do other business deals with President Taylor.
“In fact Nassour and Taylor are quite well acquainted. Eyewitnesses put Nassour and Taylor together for a July 2001 meeting at Harper Port in Maryland County near the border with Cote d’I voire, where much of Liberia’s illicit weaponry arrives. There Nassour allegedly gave Taylor US$200,00 to ensure his support for the ongoing diamond dealing,” he said.
He said Global Witness research and investigations found that since 1993, al Qaeda was buying diamonds to make money and to commodify its assets, shifting them away from traditional bank accounts that are subjected to surveillance by financial authorities and are under threat of being frozen to less traceable commodities such as diamonds.
Under the theme: “Economic Crimes, Corruption and the Conflict in Liberia: Policy Options for an Emerging Democracy and sustainable peace,” the weeklong hearing addressed the contribution of economic crimes to the conflict including corruption and the illicit exploitation of natural resources.
The hearing also discussed the correlation between the extractive industry and the fueling of the conflict and appropriate policies aimed at reversing the unauthorized exploitation of the natural resources by individuals, groups and the government for purposes external to the national good.
Pursuant to the TRC Act of 2005, the commission is mandated to investigate gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law as well as abuses that occurred, including massacres, sexual violations, murder, extra-judicial killings and economic crimes, such as the exploitation of natural or public resources to perpetuate armed conflicts during the period January 1979 to October 14, 2003.
The commission is mandated to determine whether these were isolated incidents or part of a systematic pattern; establishing the antecedents, circumstances, factors and context of such violations and abuses; and determining those responsible for the commission of the violations and abuses and their motives as well as their impact on victims.
we will be watching this trial and reporting on it’s outcome, when there is one.
we commanded him out of Liberia and we will not rest until he is put to rest, as his victims were – bludgeoned and limbs hacked off; dismembered and disembowled; he will die and we will live to see it. there is justice, and God Shall Deliver it, soon.
This is the Video of Salma Hayek Breastfeeding a hungry malnourished Baby in Sierra Leone, on her recent fact finding trip
She says her baby would be proud to have her mom share her milk with another hungry baby. We Applaud Salma because this is the essence of healing – a Mothers Milk to Soothe the Cries of a Hungry Nation…
The RUF trio committed atrocities during the 1991-2001 civil war
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An international tribunal has found three Sierra Leone rebels guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
RUF leaders Issa Sesay, 38, and Morris Kallon, 45, were convicted of 16 of the 18 charges, while Augustine Gbao, 60, was found guilty on 14 of the counts.
The Freetown trial of the RUF rebel leaders, related to Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war, began in mid-2004.
Many RUF victims in the court sighed with relief at the verdicts. Sentences will be decided at a later date.
The BBC’s Umaru Fofana at the court in Freetown said that as the verdicts were delivered, Sesay looked very serious and Kallon, clad in a smart light green suit, could have been mistaken for one of the lawyers, while Gbao buried his face in his hands and looked very dejected.
The last case to be held at the special court had heard how the rebel leaders were involved in the rape, mutilation and killings of civilians.
Tens of thousands of civilians had limbs, noses or ears chopped off
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The three committed atrocities during the 1991-2001 civil war as senior commanders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
On Wednesday the judges concluded the rebel chiefs “significantly contributed” to a joint criminal enterprise with former Liberian President Charles Taylor to control the diamond fields of Sierra Leone to finance their warfare.
They were also found guilty of forced marriage – the enslavement that countless young girls suffered when their villages were raided and they were forced to “marry” a rebel.
‘Horrors’
The convictions mark the first time the forced marriage charge has been successfully handed down in an international court of law.
The trial heard harrowing tales from 75 prosecution witnesses of rapes and killings at the hands of the RUF.
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FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE
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The three rebels chiefs were initially indicted along with RUF founder Foday Sankoh, a close ally of Mr Taylor. But Sankoh died in custody before the case ever came to trial.
Tactics favoured by the rebels included amputating hands and arms or carving the initials RUF into the bodies of their victims.
The RUF was notorious for using the so-called Small Boys Units – child soldiers forcibly recruited and issued with AK-47 assault rifles – who had a reputation for particular cruelty among the civilian population.
By the time the conflict ended, some 120,000 people had been killed while tens of thousands were left mutilated, their arms, legs, noses or ears cut off.
Sierra Leone expert Gregory Gordon, a US law professor who has worked as a prosecutor in Africa, told the BBC’s Network Africa programme: “When we think about blood diamonds, when we think about people having their hands chopped off, when we think about child soldiers and sexual slavery and forced marriages – all the horrors of the civil war in Sierra Leone, we think about the Revolutionary United Front.”
The only trial still ongoing before the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone is that of Mr Taylor, whose case has been moved to The Hague for security reasons.
He faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Sierra Leone conflict was depicted in the 2006 film Blood Diamond, starring Djimon Hounsou, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly.
Prosecutor Says Former Liberian President Charles Taylor May Go Free
24 February 2009
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| Former Liberian President Charles Taylor sits in courtroom prior to hearing of witnesses in trial in The Hague, 08 Jan 2008 |
The chief prosecutor in the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor says Taylor may go free because of a funding shortage at the court trying him for war crimes.
Reuters news agency quotes prosecutor Stephen Rapp as saying donations to the Special Court for Sierra Leone are down because of the worldwide economic recession.
Rapp says if the court runs out of money, it is possible judges will have to release Taylor.
The former Liberian leader is charged with 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for alleged actions in Sierra Leone during that country’s civil war.
Prosecutors say Taylor’s forces murdered or mutilated thousands of civilians, and kidnapped children for use as soldiers and sex slaves.
Taylor has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He is being tried at The Hague, in the Netherlands, because of fears that Taylor’s presence in Sierra Leone could spark unrest in West Africa.
The prosecution concluded its case against Taylor last month.
The U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up to try alleged war criminals from Sierra Leone’s 1991 to 2002 civil war.
The Reuters report quotes the tribunal’s registrar, Herman von Hebel, as saying important donors such as Ireland, France and Germany have cut their contributions this year.
He says the court is seeking out other donors in the Middle East in hopes of raising $30 million to continue operating through 2010.
A Film About Liberian Women “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” Premieres in Minnesota
Feb 26, 2009 – The Liberian
A story of sacrifice, unity, and transcendence, Pray the Devil Back to Hell honors the strength and perseverance of these women of Liberia. Inspiring, uplifting, and most of all motivating, it is a compelling testimony of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations. The film has won several awards, including Best Documentary in the Tribeca Film Festival. It has received praise from movie critics from Los Angeles to Boston, including an excellent review in The New York Times (See Review).
Did you like this? If so, please bookmark it, 
Tags: blood diamonds, charles taylor, child soldiers, children, hacking, liberia, pray the devil back to hell, ruf, sierra leone, Women
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[...] gain an overall sense of the issue. To give you an example, take a moment and read the article “Bloody Sierra Leone punks GUILTY – Charles Taylors’ Balls Roll Next.” Her article includes stories from New Liberian, BBC News, Voice of America News, The Liberian [...]