Taylor prison location holding up trial

Legal wrangling over which European country might house the indicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor should he be convicted by the International Criminal Court, means he is unlikely to be moved out of Freetown until at least next month, experts warned. Taylor, whose charges include responsibility for murder, mass rape and sexual slavery, mutilation, and use of child soldiers in Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war, was arrested in late March. Officials for the Special Court for Sierra Leone, citing regional concerns that Taylor is a potential security threat and that the trial could take many months and even years, requested immediately that the proceedings be transferred to the ICC in The Hague. The Netherlands agreed to allow the Sierra Leonean Special Court to use ICC courtrooms, cells, and facilities in The Hague. But it dictated that the UN Security Council had to authorise the trial; that the ICC and the Sierra Leoneans agree on cost sharing; and that arrangements be made for the transfer of Taylor to another state once the trial is over. A spokesperson for the ICC confirmed to IRIN on Thursday that the governing body of the ICC and the Special Court for Sierra Leone had reached an agreement on the use of ICC facilities, and on how to split the cost of the trial. But “there is still no news on which country will take him after the trial”, said Tessa Martens, a spokesperson for the Netherlands Foreign Ministry in The Hague. Richard Dicker, head of the international justice programme at the NGO Human Rights Watch, warned that leaving Taylor in his cell in Freetown was “a bad thing for the people of West Africa”. “It’s imperative that the international community step forward and offer up facilities to incarcerate Taylor if he’s convicted at trial. It’s disturbing given that Taylor is in effect recognised to pose a threat to the peace and security of West Africa that states have not been more forthcoming in offering up their prison facilities to house him,” said Dicker. Sweden, believed by some analysts to be the current frontrunner to house Taylor if he is convicted, will not reach a formal decision on the matter until some time in June. Nina Ersman at the Swedish Foreign Ministry in Stockholm confirmed Sweden had been approached by the UN, and that the government last month submitted legislation to the Swedish parliament that would change Swedish laws to allow it to host an international war criminal, but that parliament would not meet on the matter until after 1 June. “The appeal must be passed through the parliament as Sweden cannot in its present legal framework receive this person. The legislation still has to be passed and then there has to be a decision on the case. The request was put forward specifically because of the Charles Taylor case,” said Ersman. Ersman said it would be premature to say it has been decided that Sweden will offer to hold him. “I have a feeling the last hasn’t been said on this,” she added. Another Scandinavian country, Finland, is also a possible venue, should Sweden not pass its legislation. “The name of Finland has been mentioned informally but no official request has been made yet,” said Erja Tikka, spokesperson for the Finland Foreign Ministry. “Finland does have the right legislation for this,” she added. A Danish government official told IRIN that a prior UN request to Denmark to house Taylor had been rejected. “Denmark is a country that has always promoted international law and the rule of law so it was a natural one to think of. We’ve also taken some people convicted in the Yugoslav tribunal, so there is a tradition of these kinds of cases. But Denmark does not have the facilities needed to house Charles Taylor,” the official said. US’s daily, The New York Times, reported on Friday that Austria was also asked to provide a prison by the UN but declined. Austrian government spokespeople were not available for comment. Charles Taylor, a US and Liberian citizen, broke out of an American jail in 1985, where he was being held on charges of stealing US $1 million from the Liberian government. He fled back to West Africa where he resurfaced in Libya, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, and launched a rebellion that cost more than 300,000 lives. He has been indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.