Liberia: No Immunity for Taylor
Peacekeeping Troops Must Protect Civilians

(New York, July 3, 2003) – If U.S. troops are sent to Liberia, they
should not make any deals that involve a withdrawal of the indictment of
President Charles Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Human
Rights Watch said today.

The top priority for any peacekeeping troops must be the protection of
civilians, who have suffered from abuses by all sides in the Liberian
conflict.

U.S. President George W. Bush has called on Taylor to step down, but
President John Kufuor of Ghana has urged that Taylor be given immunity
from prosecution in exchange for leaving office.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone recently indicted Taylor as one of
those “bearing the greatest responsibility” for war crimes (including
murder and taking hostages); crimes against humanity (rape, murder,
extermination, sexual slavery); and other serious violations of
international humanitarian law (use of child soldiers) committed in
Sierra Leone. The indictment charges that Taylor actively supported the
rebel Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone’s ten-year civil war.

The indictment was announced on June 4, 2003 while Taylor was in Ghana
attending peace talks on the recently intensified Liberian conflict.
News reports today suggest that the United States is considering sending
peacekeepers to Liberia.

Human Rights Watch considers it of utmost importance that any military
action be undertaken with full respect for international human rights
and humanitarian law. The force should have a robust mandate to ensure
the maintenance of law and order to protect civilians and help ensure
that humanitarian assistance can reach civilian populations in need.

“Letting Charles Taylor off the hook would make it harder, not easier,
to bring lasting peace to Liberia,” said Janet Fleischman, Washington
Director for Africa at Human Rights Watch. “Instead, we should look at
how we can build on Taylor’s indictment to ensure accountability for all
those responsible for war crimes in Liberia.”

Elected president of Liberia in 1997 after a seven-year war ousted
former president Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor gained international
notoriety for the brutal abuses of civilians perpetrated by his forces
in Liberia, and for his use of child soldiers organized in “Small Boy
Units.” Taylor’s support for the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra
Leone contributed to the deaths, rape and mutilations of thousands of
civilians, and led to United Nations sanctions on his regime. Taylor’s
forces have also been implicated in conflicts in neighboring Guinea and
Cote d’Ivoire.

The Ghanaian peace talks produced a ceasefire agreement on June 17,
2003. The ceasefire has been broken by several serious bouts of fighting
between the Liberian government and rebel forces in and around Monrovia.
The recent conflict has displaced thousands of civilians and exacerbated
the already dire humanitarian situation in the country, where the
majority of the population was already inaccessible to humanitarian
agencies.

According to credible sources in Monrovia, several hundred civilians
have died in the capital in the past few weeks, both from the fighting
and the increasing toll taken by disease. Much of northern and eastern
Liberia has been off limits to humanitarian agencies since the
resurgence of fighting in March 2003.

Taylor, who reportedly stated that he would step down in favor of a
transitional government, has recently wavered on that point. His past
record of broken agreements and commitments give little grounds for hope
that he will fulfill the most recent accords, or that providing him
immunity would bring stability.

“All parties involved in the Liberia peace talks must respect the Sierra
Leone Special Court,” said Fleischman. “Taylor should be handed over to
the court to face trial.”

The 1999 Lomé peace accord in Sierra Leone purportedly granted an
amnesty for crimes committed by all combatants during the civil war on
the basis that this was necessary to achieve peace. But once granted
amnesty, the rebels resumed military operations, plunging Sierra Leone
into two more years of war. The Special Court for Sierra Leone, which
has a mandate to bring those who bear the greatest responsibilities for
atrocities to justice, is one of the key mechanisms that are now
contributing to the restoration of peace in that country.

For more information, please contact:
In London, Bronwen Manby: +44.20.7713.2789
In Washington, Janet Fleischman: +1.202.612.4325

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Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-202-612-4347
Fax: +1-202-612-4333
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/