Americas

Americas

U.S. hails verdict of former Liberian president

27 April 2012 03:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United States on Thursday welcomed the verdict by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which convicted Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia, of war crimes and crimes against humanity, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The judgment was an "important step" toward delivering justice, restoring peace and stability, and completing prosecution of those responsible for the atrocities committed in Sierra Leone, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

She viewed Taylor’s prosecution as a "strong message" to all perpetrators of atrocities, including the most powerful ones, that "they will be held accountable."

The statement came after international judges found Taylor guilty of aiding war crimes in Sierra Leone, at his trial in The Hague on Thursday.

According to the judges, Taylor was responsible for backing rebels who killed tens of thousands of people during Sierra Leone’ s civil war from 1991 to 2002. The rebels were notorious for using child soldiers and hacking off the limbs of civilians.

Taylor has been on trial at The Hague for almost five years and is the first African head of state to be brought before an international tribunal.

Nuland cited "enormous historical and legal significance" of Taylor’s verdict, saying that he was the first of a powerful head of state to be brought to judgment before an international tribunal on charges of "mass atrocities and serious violations of international humanitarian law."