Trials Without Borders

Sierra Leoneans have the most vested in the outcome. How will they be able to access a trial thousands of kilometers away?
The courthouse [in Freetown] will remain open for people to watch the trial on television, and there will be an intensified outreach program, including thousands of meetings across the country and monthly video screenings showing highlights of the trial. We're expanding that effort to Liberia, as well. It's certainly my highest priority to maintain a closeness between the trial in the Hague and the situation in Sierra Leone.

What would a guilty verdict mean for West Africa and for the world?
A fair trial for Charles Taylor would itself be a very important contribution to justice, whatever the end result. On the other hand, as prosecutors, we've prepared a strong and compelling case that supports a verdict of guilt, and we think that such a verdict would send a clear message that no man is above the law, and that the age of leaders who could commit great atrocities against their own people and the people of other countries, and essentially get away with it--that age is really over. That message, we think, can help deter future crimes and protect victims of suffering.

Kenya is the latest African country to boil over into violence. Does the Taylor trial have any implications for peace and justice in Kenya?
I think so. I think that people there are reflecting on [past judgments against human-rights violators] constantly, and it's having a restraining effect. Obviously it's not restraining as much as we'd like, but it's restraining the situation, at the moment, from becoming worse than it is. People who believe very much in human rights are very excited about the work of these courts and are seeing an impact in their countries.

Do people seem to believe that the work of international courts will create a more peaceful future?
I heard people in Darfur saying, "Who's going to stop this? Ocampo will stop this!" They're putting quite a lot on the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court [Luis Moreno-Ocampo]. But people now really are pulling themselves back and watching their tracks and perhaps not going to the extremes that they would otherwise.

In Sierra Leone itself, we just went through a very contentious election in which the incumbent president's party lost power and the opposition gained power--with no significant violence. I've talked to people, even those that at one time had negative views of the court, who said that the fact that those who commit violence have seen what's happened to others has caused them to pull back and let the process go forward peacefully.

© 2008