Search Results for: charles taylor

Aiding and abetting a crime has long been a societal sanction in domestic legal systems throughout the world. Within modern international criminal law, it is also a crime and a viable charge in any indictment. By way of a recent example, one only has to look at former President Charles Taylor of Liberia who is [...]

“The bottom line is this – we have a political moment here, where the world is somewhat united about doing something about Russia, particularly the crime of aggression,” said David Crane, former Chief Prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone and founder of Global Accountability Network (GAN).  What action the world will take in [...]

The Global Accountability Network (GAN) released a white paper Wednesday carving out a detailed path to prosecute Russia, and even its standing leader Vladimir Putin, for the international crime of aggression. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute) defines the crime of aggression in the following terms: The planning, preparation, initiation or [...]

Twenty years ago this week, pursuant to a UN Security Council resolution, the United Nations (UN) entered into a bi-lateral treaty with the Republic of Sierra Leone, to create the world’s first hybrid international war crimes tribunal, the Special Court for Sierra Leone. A delegation travelled to the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, to hold [...]

4,017,208 dead; 11,727,541 battling death. The above figures only begin to demonstrate the horrific reality and intolerable burden posed to the world at present due to Covid-19. The pandemic is more than just a health crisis, it is also a test of how effective international courts are when it comes to dealing with such unprecedented [...]

I have been taking on dictators, tyrants, and thugs for decades, holding them accountable and making them pay for the atrocities they cause. Just ask former President Charles Taylor who now sits in a maximum-security prison in the United Kingdom for aiding and abetting international crimes.  My signature is on his indictment.  Additionally, I have [...]

After the age of accountability in the 1990’s and early 21st century, there are certain lessons that have been learned since then. One of those lessons is that the beast of impunity must be faced down…always. International courts seeking justice for atrocity crimes in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone were beacons of light [...]

On Friday the United States and people who respect justice around the world lost a very special jurist, William Ramsey Clark (December 18, 1927 – April 9, 2021), a man unique among lawyers for his steadfast commitment to justice for all.  He served his country as the 66th Attorney General of the United States from [...]

The trial of Sierra Leone national Gibril Massaquoi, accused of committing serious war crimes during Liberia’s second civil war between 1999 and 2003, began Monday in Findland’s Tampere District Court, where the state prosecution outlined the extent of the accused’s suspected crimes. Having lived in the Tampere region for the past 10 years as a [...]

Canada has failed to bring individuals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice, according to a report released Tuesday by human rights organization Amnesty International Canada. The new report is part of a series that documents how judicial systems around the world fail to prosecute those accused of crimes under international law [...]