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Liberia's Taylor rejects war crimes charges
2009-07-15
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Charles Taylor retraced his rise to power in Liberia to war crimes judges Wednesday, casting himself as an anti-corruption fighter who ousted the military in a coup to restore democracy. Taylor is charged with 11 counts of murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers and terrorism in his role backing rebels in Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war. He has denounced the accusations against him as "disinformation, misinformation, lies, rumors." An estimated 500,000 people were the victims of killings, systematic mutilation or other atrocities in Sierra Leone's civil war, with some of the worst crimes committed by drugged child soldiers. Prosecutors have called 91 witnesses to back up their claim that Taylor provided arms, money and political support to Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for that country's mineral wealth, encouraging them to terrorize the countryside to suppress any opposition. In his second day on the stand, Taylor described a tumultuous period of coups and executions in Liberia, a West African nation buffeted by Cold War politics after a sergeant major in the Liberian army, Samuel Doe, seized power in a bloody coup in 1980. Waving his hands or pointing his finger, Taylor gave an animated account of his falling out with Doe, his flight to the United States for safety and his escape from a U.S. prison where he was being held on an extradition request after the regime accused him of embezzling $900,000. Taylor's lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths, lead his client through a reconstruction of his life, from his "humble" birth to the circumstances of his 1997-2003 presidency. That effort aimed to draw a picture of a peacemaker rather than the cannibalistic warlord described by prosecutors at the U.N.-backed court. Taylor's testimony at the Special Court for Sierra Leone is expected to take several weeks. On Wednesday, Taylor moved easily over topics ranging from tribal rivalries to big power politics to a personal life strewn with an overlapping procession of wives and girlfriends. Doe was the first Liberian leader of an aboriginal origin in a country that had been led for over 130 years by freed American slaves and their descendants. Taylor, the son of an American-Liberian judge and his maid, parlayed his mixed background to gain entry to both groups. Armed with an economics degree from the United States, he became a midlevel member of Doe's government. Taylor, who is alleged to have siphoned millions of dollars when he became Liberia's president, said he took action to rein in rampant corruption among Doe's ministers and aides. "That made me very unpopular," Taylor said. His unpopularity led to allegations that he embezzled $900,000, Taylor said, while categorically denying the claim. Taylor fled Liberia to the United States in 1983. He said he left out of fear for his life under the increasingly autocratic Doe regime and not because of the embezzlement allegations. While he was out of the country, a former close friend, Gen. Thomas Quiwonkpa, led a coup in 1985, but was killed by troops loyal to Doe, Taylor said. "He was cut to pieces and his flesh was eaten by military people" and his killing was filmed, he said. In his opening day of testimony on Tuesday, Taylor said he launched his own coup in 1989 to bring multiparty democracy and the rule of law to Liberia and insisted "I am not guilty of all these charges" regarding neighboring Sierra Leone. Dozens of witnesses, some missing their hands, testified about the brutality of the Sierra Leone rebels that Taylor allegedly supported. Other witnesses formerly associated with Taylor claimed to have passed weapons and messages to the rebels on Taylor's orders and transferred illegally mined "blood diamonds" in return. Addressing the worst accusations, his attorney asked Taylor to respond to charges that he is "everything from a terrorist to a rapist." It is "very, very, very unfortunate that the prosecution -- because of disinformation, misinformation, lies, rumors -- would associate me with such titles or descriptions," Taylor said, speaking slowly and pausing for emphasis. "I resent that characterization of me. It is false; it is malicious."
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