Wanted by the Sierra Leone Special Court: Ghana fails to arrest Charles Taylor

6 June 2025

NEW YORK - The Lawyers Committee is disappointed that the government of Ghana failed to act this week on the arrest warrant issued against Liberian President Charles Taylor. Taylor’s indictment was announced on June 4 by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a tribunal set up with the support of the United Nations to bring accountability to those responsible for atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s 10-year brutal civil war.

An international warrant for Taylor’s arrest was transmitted to the government of Ghana, where Taylor had traveled to attend peace talks with rebels groups. Flouting its obligations under international law to execute the warrant, the Ghanaian government allowed Taylor to leave the country; he returned to Liberia on Wednesday.

Taylor was indicted for his role in fueling the conflict that raged in Sierra Leone between 1996 and 2002. He is charged with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war. Among the accusations against him are that he was responsible for terrorizing the civilian population of Sierra Leone, for crimes of sexual violence, for use of child soldiers, for abductions and forced labour and for killings and other acts of physical violence. The charges allege that these acts, and others, were committed on a widespread scale by armed groups supported by Taylor.

“Taylor’s indictment marks the second time a sitting head of state has been indicted by an international tribunal,” said Fiona McKay. The first was Slobodan Milosevic, now standing trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia in the Hague. “This indictment affirms the principle that no one - not even a sitting head of state - is immune from justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Announcement of the indictment came as Taylor was in Ghana for peace talks relating to Liberia’s own internal conflict. Ghana is acting as mediator between Taylor and Liberian rebel groups. The indictment had been issued by the Special Court in March 2003 but kept sealed until Wednesday at the request of the Court’s Prosecutor.

The establishment and coming into operation of the Court for Sierra Leone sends a strong signal to the entire continent of Africa that those responsible for crimes of international concern cannot expect impunity.

Background

The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established on the basis of an agreement between the U.N. and the Government of Sierra Leone concluded in 2002. It is charged with prosecuting those bearing the greatest responsibility for the serious atrocities perpetrated in Sierra Leone since 1996. The Court, which was given a three-year mandate, relies on voluntary contributions from states to fund its work.

The Court’s American Prosecutor, David Crane, announced its first seven indictments on 10 March 2003, and two further indictments on 17 April and 29 May. Taylor’s indictment brings the total to ten publicly announced indictments.

Unlike the International Criminal Tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (the ICTY and ICTR), which sit outside the area of conflict in The Hague and Arusha, Tanzania respectively, the Special Court is based within Sierra Leone itself. Also unlike the ICTY and ICTR, the Special Court is of mixed composition, with some judges and other staff being appointed by the U.N. and others by the host government. It also applies Sierra Leonean law as well as international law. For these reasons it is known as a “mixed” or “hybrid” tribunal, unlike the ICTY and ICTR which are organs of the U.N. and purely international bodies.

The Special Tribunal relies on the willingness of states to cooperate in order to enforce its orders, since it lacks powers to enforce its arrest warrants and other orders. However crimes against humanity and serious violations of the laws of war are crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. As a party to the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court, the Geneva Conventions and other international treaties, Ghana has recognized this and committed itself to participating actively in international action to combat impunity for such crimes.

Under its Rules of Procedure and Evidence, the Special Court will normally make public an indictment once it has been approved by the Court. However Rule 53 permits that in exceptional circumstances, a Judge may order that an indictment should not be disclosed until it is served on the accused person. This is the procedure that was followed in the Taylor case.

Indictments prepared by the Prosecutor must be approved by a Judge of the Court, who may also issue warrants of arrest addressed to third states and to international bodies such as INTERPOL. Both steps were taken in the case of Taylor.

The conflict in Sierra Leone that lasted from 1996 until 2002 claimed some 75,000 lives and was marked by particular brutality. Liberia has been implicated in backing the Revolutionary United Front and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, organised armed groups involved in Sierra Leone’s civil war. Controlling Sierra Leone’s diamond wealth was a major goal of the armed groups.

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