Constance Ikokwu
21 August 2007
Washington DC — Former Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra-Leone (SCSL), Prof David Crane has said the 2003 peace deal that granted asylum to former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor in Nigeria, had no legal effect under international law and cannot be a basis for instituting legal proceedings against the country.
According to the Distinguished Professor of Practice at the College of Law, Syracruse University, United States (US), the Nigerian government took the right step by handing over Taylor, as international law requires all state parties who have signed various conventions to turn over individuals indicted for international crimes to the appropriate authorities, in spite of any previous agreements made between states.
Responding to a question on whether Taylor's lawyers could institute legal proceedings against Nigeria claiming a breach of an existing agreement, Crane said "no, not all. There's no legal effect to that agreement at all, it .that's a political arrangement not a legal one so Charles Taylor's lawyer in my opinion would not have the legal standing by which to sue anybody."
The hand over of Taylor does not amount to a betrayal of trust because Nigeria had no legal authority to convey immunity for crimes against humanity on behalf of the international community, says acting Associate Clinical Professor, Vanderbilt University Law School, US, Mike Newton.
"So whatever agreement he (Taylor) signs is between him and domestic governments. The jurisdictional authority of the tribunal springs from the UN and another government. That's why there's no immunity because the government of Nigeria does not have authority to grant immunity for those crimes vis-à-vis the UN or the government of Sierra-Leone," he adds.
Crane further stated that Taylor's trial would set the tone for the rule of law in African countries where the leaders hitherto governed for personal gain. He observed that the recent effort by the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnshon-Sirleaf to seize Taylor's assets is a proper move on behalf of the Liberian people.
Asked if the US had the moral standing to ask for Taylor's extradition when it strongly opposed and still opposes similar international tribunals such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), Crane answered in the negative.
His words: "Certainly the United States and its moral standing in the world is rather low right now so certainly from a practical and a political point of view, the US does not have a great deal of standing arguing these types of things. But again the bottom legal principle is that all state parties and members of the UN must turn over indicted war criminals for an appropriate and fair trial. Certainly the US and Nigeria were mandated to do that."
When quizzed about the continued existence of Guantanamo Bay prison set up by the US and its effect on international law, Crane had this to say: "Certainly the Guantanamo Bay is an embarrassment to the United States of America (USA). Under international law it is probably violating various conventions, treaties and other types of law within the international scheme. Under the US domestic law, the Guantanamo Bay is legal but under international law it is not. Some of the things that are going on in Guantanamo are also potential violation of US law but again under international law, Guantanamo is certainly practically politically and legally a disaster for the US."
Taylor who is currently facing trial for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra-Leone caused a stir last year when he escaped his asylum home in Nigeria in an attempt to evade trial. He was later captured and was handed over to the tribunal for trial. He is the first African Head of State and second in the world, after Slobodan Milesovic, to stand trial at an international tribunal.
Taylor's supporters say his hand-over was clearly a breach of the agreement that saw him voluntarily leave Liberia in order to end the 14-year civil war in that country.
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