Dear Roger,
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with my classmates and I. From blogging with you we are able to learn so much more about the world than we ever could in the classroom. My name is Katie Sherrard and I was amazed to hear that you were the person who arrested Charles Taylor in 2006. I can only imagine what it must have felt like to finally have him in your custody after so many years of him terrorizing innocent civilians. There is a lot I would like to know about the arrest but I will only ask one particular question. My question is when arresting someone like that do you feel as though it is a huge accomplishment or only one small step in achieving human rights and justice for all people?
~Katie Sherrard
1 comment:
Katie - My apologies for taking so long to answer this but I have been absent for the last part of December 2008. Just came back from Cyprus. As for Charles Taylor I would like to clarify a couple of issues. I was in Liberia from 1999 until the end of 2002 (3 years). We were there during his Presidency and during the conflict with the LIURD that finally had him go to Nigeria in exile. Our job at the time was to track his atrocities so that he could perhaps be brought to justice. I personally did not have anything to do with Taylor's arrest but the UN did. On the other hand I have been personally involved with the transport of a number of the International Criminal Court's (ICC in The Hague) currently held Bad Dudes such as Jean Pierre Bemba, Thomas Lubanga and Ngodjolo. I am also involved in some of the issues before the ICC as a result of Darfur Sudan where I spent near four (4) years working among The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Another case before the court is one of the most sought after Criminals on this Continent in the form of Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who although is from Uganda has been operating in Sudan, the Congo and runs to the Central African Republic when things get too hot? Your question is a difficult one to answer even with our experience mainly it is difficult to measure the "impact" of such an action? There are precedents for this type of activity such as the Reconciliation Process for South Africa after Apartheid. There are the Trials of Abuja Tanzania where the folks accused of Genocide in Rwanda are being tried. The ICC and most of these types of Processes are trying to send a "Message". The message is that there should be no one individual who can be above the Law. Crimes against Humanity should not go unpunished and should not benefit by being granted Immunity with implied Impunity? That is why the ICC is going after such characters as Taylor and President Bashir in Sudan. The message is to hopefully have Leaders think twice before doing their crimes. See what I mean about it being difficult to measure its impact. If you consider President Mugabe in Zimbabwe, does anyone believe that he is concerned about whether he will be tried or not. Unfortunately he may be thinking that he will not live long enough to be arrested anyway and therefore his concern for his actions may be reduced tremendously. There are huge problems with Courts and Procedures such as these. The Court must be seen as "Protecting" the Human Rights of the Accused. That is why the trials are so long and drawn out. It also provides a "Platform" for the accused to spread their brand of Philosophy to a wider audience who may be willing to listen and go along with their concepts. So let us not call it a "huge accomplishment" nor should we call it "only one small step"? We can only hope that not only Leaders but their followers will think twice before issuing that next order to wipe out a village or to use Child Soldiers in their Militias or to use Rape as a Weapon of War in their next campaigns. I hope I have answered your query Katie. Good Luck in for all of 2009 and beyond.
Roger Arsenault
06 January 2009
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