Nigeria: Charles Taylor, Impunity and Liberia Elections

Press Statement Issued 1st September 2005

Liberian Elections and Charles Taylor:
As Campaigns for Liberia’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections kick off, African and International Organisations Call on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and African Union Chairperson President Obasanjo of Nigeria to Ensure Charles Taylor Does Not Interfere in Liberia’s Democratic Process from Nigeria where he is currently exiled.

In a statement issued today, Mr Shina Loremikan of the Coalition Against Impunity campaigning for the trial of the former Liberian leader before the UN- supported Special Court for Sierra Leone stated “ECOWAS and President Obasanjo must ensure that Charles Taylor does not, cannot and is unable to distort Liberia’s electoral process and results.”

He continued, “It is bad enough that Taylor who is wanted by Interpol for crimes against Sierra Leonean, Liberian and other West African citizens is being sheltered from justice by the government of President Obasanjo. All indications are that he has the freedom to influence affairs in Liberia from Nigeria. President Obasanjo must guarantee that Taylor does not have any opportunity to affect the outcome of the Liberian elections”.

“Liberia is the epicentre of instability in West Africa and Taylor is the Chief Architect of this instability,” added Chima Ubani of the Civil Liberties Organisation. “The elections in Liberia are a crucial opportunity for Liberians to stabilise their country and by extension neighbouring West African countries”.

“ECOWAS cannot afford further conflict. Charles Taylor is responsible for launching 15 years of conflict which has affected four countries: Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote D' Ivoire and Liberia, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced millions” emphasised Zainab Bangura founder of Campaign for Good Governance and currently Director of National Accountability Group in Sierra Leone. She noted further that “the Presidents of Guinea and Sierra Leone and the interim President of Liberia have also publicly expressed concern over the capacity of Charles Taylor to destabilise the sub-region from Nigeria and issued a communiqué in July asking President Obasanjo to review the terms of Taylor’s asylum.”

“Justice is a necessary condition for peace,” stressed Tajudeen Abdulraheem, Director of Justice Africa. “President Obasanjo cannot shelter Taylor indefinitely. A newly elected government in Liberia needs to be free of the influence of Charles Taylor. The best foundation for reconstruction of Liberia is for Taylor to be transferred to the Special Court for trial. This will ensure that whatever government emerges in Liberia will not live under his violent shadow”

“The people of Nigeria, having lived under military dictatorship, are committed to justice and democracy in Liberia.” Added Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre in Nigeria. “This is why we are shocked that President Obasanjo's government is now persecuting members of the Coalition Against Impunity campaigning for the transfer of Charles Taylor to the Special Court. In early August Nigeria’s State Security Service arrested several persons in connection with distribution of Interpol red notices issued for Charles Taylor. Members of the Coalition have been declared wanted by Nigerian security services, campaign posters of the Coalition have been confiscated and offices of the Coalitions printers have been shut down.”

“The fact that President Obasanjo is turning on his own citizens rather than turning over a war crime indictee to have his day in court raises questions about his commitment to upholding standards of the African Union of which he is the current Chairperson” underlined David Mafabi, Director of Political Affairs of the Global Pan Africa Movement. .“African leaders and institutions must ensure justice is done for countless victims of rape, child soldiers, journalist’s, amputees, refugees and others whose lives have been wasted in the Liberian, Sierra Leonean and other conflicts.”

“We the undersigned Liberian, Nigerian, Sierra Leonean, other African, and international organisations are therefore calling on President Obasanjo to immediately end his governments persecution of human rights campaigners, reassure Liberians and all Africans that Charles Taylor will not, shall not and cannot be allowed to subvert the collective will of the ECOWAS, African Union and the World Community, and hand him over to the Special Court for trial.”

Signed:

African Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMNET),
L. Muthoni Wanyeki

Association of Environmental Lawyers of Liberia (Green Advocates), Atty. Alfred Brownell

Catholic Justice & Peace Commission (JPC), Atty. Augustine Toe

Center for Democratic Empowerment (CEDE), Ezekiel Pajibo

Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Chima Ubani

Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani

*Coalition Against Impunity, Shina Loremikan

CREDO for Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights, Rotimi Sankore

Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy (FOHRD), J. Aloysius Toe

Foundation for International Dignity (FIND), Sam Hare

Global Pan African Movement, David Mafabi,

International Press Centre, (IPC), Lanre Arogundade

International Refugee Rights Initiative, Olivia Bueno

Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER), Wale Adeoye

Justice Africa, Tajudeen Abdul Raheem

Liberia Democracy Watch (LDW), Cllr. Jerome Verdier

Media Rights Agenda, Edetaen Ojo

MWENGO, Ezra Limiri Mbogori

National Accountability Group, Zainab Bangura

Pan African Development Education and Advocacy Programme, PADEAP-
Nigeria. AbdulRahman Abdul Yekeen,

ENDS

Notes For Editors: Questions & Answers

v Who is Charles Taylor? Charles Taylor is former rebel leader of the National Patriotic Forces of Liberia (NPFL). In December 1989, he led rebel forces of the NPFL to invade Liberia triggering nearly 15 years of war in Libe ia and its neighbouring countries. In 1991 Mr. Taylor’s NPFL forces linked up with rebels of the Revoutionary United Forces (RUF) led by former Corporal Foday Sankoh to levy war against Sierra Leone with a view to controlling Sierra Leone’s rich diamond resources. In 1997, a war-weary Liberian population elected Mr. Taylor President. In august 2003, leaders of the African Union escorted Mr. Taylor into exile in Nigeria where he currently lives in the south-eastern Nigerian city of Calabar, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon.

v Special Court: The Special Court for Sierra Leone was established in 2002 under an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone to try persons “bearing the greatest responsibility” for the grave violations of the laws of war and crimes against hum anity committed in the conflict in Sierra Leone.

v Indictment of Charles Taylor: In March 2003, the Special Court indicted Mr. Charles Taylor, then President of Liberia, as a person bearing the greatest responsibility for the crimes in the war in Sierra Leone for on charges of crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Convention and other serious violations of inter national law. The Court unsealed the indictment on 6 June 2003 and served it on the government of Ghana where Mr. Taylor had just arrived to undertake negotiations in connection with ending the war in Liberia. Unable to arrest Mr. Taylor, the government of Ghana gave him safe passage back to Liberia from where two mont s later he went into exile in Nigeria.

v *Coalition Against Impunity: The Coalition against Impunity is a Coalition of over 340 African and international NGOs campaigning together for Nigeria to transfer Charles Taylor to have his day in court before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The Coalition includes Amnes ty International, Human Rights Watch, the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Amputees Rehabilitation Foundation, and the Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Liberia’s Transitional Justice Working Group, and organisations in 17 African countries.

v Interpol Red Notice: Interpol is the International Police Organization devoted to providing: a global police communication system; criminal databases and analytical services; and proactive support for police operations throughout the world. A Red Notice is not an arrest warrant as such. Red notices allow the warrant to be circulated worldwide with the request that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition. The persons concerned are wanted by national jurisdictions (or the International Criminal Tribunals, where appropriate) and Interpol's role is to assist the national police forces in identifying or locating those persons with a view to their arrest and extradition.

Interpol distinguishes between two types of Red notice: the first type is based on an arrest warrant and is issued for a person wanted for prosecution; he second type is based on a court decision for a person wanted to serve a sentence. Charles Taylor’s Red Notice is the first type. Interpol member countries comply with their national laws in deciding whether a Red Notice represents a valid request for provisional arrest. Some countries permit the wanted person to be provisionally arrested pending extradition formalities, while others treat such a notice as a request for information and location of the individual, with no particular legal significance. The existence or not, of a bilateral extradition treaty, convention or other legal instrument containing provisions on extradition is an important factor in the decision.

v The SSS: The SSS is established by the National Security Agencies Act, first promulgated by Nigeria's then military regime as a decree in 1986. The Decree was later transformed unchanged and specially entrenched in Section 315(5) of Nigeria's 1999 Constitution. It can only be changed by the same procedure for amending the Constitution. The SSS is set up under this Act to prevent and ensure prosecution of crimes against Nigeria's internal security.

v Those arrested/wanted: on Monday, 1 August 2005, operatives of the Nigeria's State Security Service (SSS) arrested Steve Omali and Michael Damisa at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. Steve and Michael are professional printers. They had printed a set of posters on the "Charles Taylor Wanted" campaign for the Coalition Against Impunity. About 15:00 hours on Monday afternoon, Matthew Damisa, Steve's brother, went to visit his brother at the SSS Headquarters in Abuja. The SSS also arrested him. Steve Omali, Michael and Matthew Damisa were detained incommunicado and released on 4 August. The SSS confiscated 10,000 copies of the posters and subsequently sealed up the printers premises. Since the beginning of August, the SSS have declared leaders of the Coalition against Impunity in Nigeria wanted, including Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, a Nigerian lawyer working with the Africa programme of the Open Society Justice Initiative, and one of the leading members of the Coalition.

Appendices: (see attached PDF files)* The list of organisations in the appendices are provided for the medias convenience and are not necessarily here as supporters of this statement.

v List and contacts of parties contesting in Liberian elections.

v List and contacts of some national and international organisations in Liberia.

v SPAN>List and contacts of some national and international organisations in Sierra Leone.
Contacts

For Media in Nigeria
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani , Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre
+234-8033844646, rafsanjani@kabissa.
For Media in Liberia
J. Aloysius Toe , Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy (FOHRD),
[email protected]; or [email protected] * Tel:+231-6-51-51-58
For Media in Sierra Leone
Zainab Bangura, National Accountability Group.
Tel: +232-22-240995, Fax: +232-22-241054
Email: [email protected]
For Media in Eastern Africa
African Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMNET)
L. Muthoni Wanyeki, Tel: (254) 20-3741301/20, Fax: (254) 20-3742927
Email: [email protected]
For Media in Southern Africa
Centre for the Study of Violence & Reconciliation, Ahmed Motala
Tel: +27 (11) 403-5650, Fax: +27 (11) 339-6785, e-mail: [email protected]
For International Media
*CREDO for Free Expression & Associated Rights. Rotimi Sankore,
Tel: +44 207 787 5501, Fax: +44 207 787 5502, email:[email protected]
*International Refugee Rights Initiative, Olivia Bueno Tel: 1-212-377-2700 ext 416. Fax: 1-212-377-2727, E-mail: [email protected]