[JURIST] The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone [official website] on Wednesday denied the request of former Liberian president Charles Taylor [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] to serve his 50-year sentence for war crimes in Rwanda instead of the UK. Taylor alleged that his detention in the UK violated his rights [AP report] because of the essentially isolated conditions and Britain’s visa process, which he claims makes it almost impossible for his family to visit. The court determined that his wife simply failed to meet the country’s visa requirements and did not accept re-application assistance. Further, the court stressed that prisoners do not have the right to choose [BBC report] the place of their detention.

Sierra Leone’s civil war [BBC backgrounder] in the 1990s resulted in the deaths of more than 50,000 people and the conviction in many leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council. Leaders were convicted of both war crimes charges, and subsequently for contempt stemming from witness tampering [JURIST reports]. In 2012 after a long legal battle, Taylor was convicted and sentenced [JURIST report] on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including terrorism, murder, rape and the use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone. He was also found guilty of supplying weapons to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in exchange for blood diamonds. The UK Parliament’s International Tribunals (Sierra Leone) Act [materials] allowed Taylor to serve his sentence in the UK at the cost of the British government. A 2013 appeal by Taylor was rejected [JURIST report] by the UN backed special court, which found that his guilt had been proven beyond doubt.