The Hague takes Charles Taylor and gives Africa a much needed reprieve… -The iPINIONS Journal

He is accused of funding Sierra Leone’s former rebels, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) by selling diamonds on their behalf and buying weapons for them….The RUF were notorious for mutilating civilians, by hacking off their arms or legs with machetes. [BBC News Africa]

Yesterday, pursuant to an enlightened UN resolution drafted by Britain, former Liberian president Charles Taylor was flown to the Netherlands to be tried for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Thus, even though others were (and are) equally deserving of the dubious honor, Taylor becomes the first former African head of state to face justice before an international tribunal for his gross abuses of universal human rights.

However, as I wrote in this previous article on 31 March 2006, Taylor’s critically acclaimed appearance in The Hague was almost foiled by Africans who wanted him to face justice on African soil. But here’s how I addressed their argument in that article, and why I think this move amounts to a reprieve for Africa:

…Liberian nationalists and prominent pan-Africanists have argued that Liberia’s sovereignty and regional dignity would be undermined if Taylor is not tried in Liberia (or, at worst, in Sierra Leone). But this argument reflects misguided jingoism and foolish pride. After all, if the trial of Saddam Hussein in Iraq has taught us anything, it’s that such a trial would probably make a national martyr of Taylor, fuel an insurgency against Johnson-Sirleaf’s government and detract national attention and resources from the important work nation building. By contrast, when the Serbs consented to have their former leader and accused war-criminal Slobodan Milosevic tried in Hague, it sealed his fate to die with a whimper in relative obscurity.

So here’s to the fate that awaits Charles Taylor (think Slobodan, not Saddam).

Nevertheless, I appreciate why so many Liberians wanted Taylor to face trial in their national courts. After all, they believe that his exploitation of their diamond mines and involvement in narcotics trafficking caused more human rights abuses in Liberia than the abuses that were caused by his support of the RUF, which constitute his 11 war crimes charges. Yet, upon sober reflection, even Liberia’s fiercely independent and visionary new leader “iron lady” Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has come to realise that shipping Taylor off to The Hague is good not only for her country but also for the continent of Africa.