The Inquirer (Monrovia)
16 May 2008
Liberia's ex-President Charles Taylor rejected complaints from Sierra Leone rebels about atrocities committed by his fighters, his ex-deputy has said.
The RUF rebels were notorious for mutilating civilians but their leader Foday Sankoh complained to Mr Taylor about Liberian troops, said Moses Blah.
Mr Blah told Mr Taylor's war crimes trial that his former boss responded by threatening to withdraw his troops.
Mr Taylor denies 11 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Mr Blah, who briefly succeeded Mr Taylor as president, is the most senior figure to testify in The Hague.
He is accused of helping Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in their brutal conflict with the government.
Mr Blah told the court that RUF rebel leader Foday Sankoh personally complained to Mr Taylor about the rape, looting and killings committed by Liberians helping the RUF.
"He [Mr Taylor] said this kind of thing must happen when you're fighting war," he said.
The RUF has a reputation for brutality, such as chopping off the arms and legs of civilians, as well as killings and rape.
Mr Blah also said that Mr Taylor mediated in arguments between the rebels. He said on one occasion a rebel commander had disagreed with the Liberian president's judgement but said he had to accept "the chief's decision".
Mr Blah further said that RUF fighters tried to help Mr Taylor's forces against Liberia's Lurd rebels, who eventually forced him from power in 2003.
Mr Taylor sat taking notes during his former deputy's testimony. Mr Blah earlier said that the commander of one of Mr Taylor's units in Liberia "had a habit of eating fellow human beings".
He said he saw Nelson Gaye roast a human hand on a fire and eat it with boiled cassava.
Mr Blah said that Mr Gaye's Marine unit was one of Mr Taylor's forces, which he had been told should not be pursued if they committed atrocities.
But Mr Taylor is only on trial for his alleged role in the Sierra Leone conflict, not that in Liberia.
As Mr Blah took the witness stand on Monday, he was careful not to look at the man he served for nearly 20 years.
He gave the court a detailed account of Mr Taylor's bloody rise to power and acknowledged the use of child soldiers.
Mr Blah became vice-president of Liberia in 2000. He became president after Mr Taylor was forced into exile in 2003.
However, he was only Liberian president for two months, until October 2003, when a United Nations-backed transitional government was sworn in.
He came to the Hague reluctantly, but said he intended to tell the truth. "I'm not going to crucify him - he's my former boss," Mr Blah told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme before travelling to the Hague.
"I have nothing personal against President Taylor - we worked together almost like brothers; we had a revolution going together, so I don't think I'm going to betray him."
'Aggressive' In court, Mr Blah provided a detailed insider's account of the early days of the civil war.
He said he was one of the first 20 or so rebel fighters who received training at a military base in Burkina Faso.
It was not until a larger group was assembled at a military camp in Libya that Mr Blah met Mr Taylor.
They trained alongside rebels from The Gambia, Sierra Leone and the Philippines, all of them supported by the Libyan authorities.
He told the court that when the time came to invade Liberia, three truck loads of weapons were provided by the defence minister of Ivory Coast.
Within days of crossing into Liberia in 1990, Mr Blah says he was briefly detained by child rebel fighters recruited by his own side.
He said they were used because they took orders and were "unreasonable and aggressive".
A lawyer representing Mr Taylor, Terry Munyard, told the BBC his client was not worried about Mr Blah's evidence and if he told the truth there was nothing to fear.
Mr Taylor took up arms in Liberia in 1989, before being elected president in 1997 after a peace deal.
He is accused of sending guns and fighters to Sierra Leone in exchange for diamonds.
During Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war, which officially ended in 2002, tens of thousands of people died and thousands more were mutilated or raped.
Mr Taylor's case has been transferred from Sierra Leone to The Hague for security reasons, although it is still being conducted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.
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Thank you brother. This is really a so-called world crimes court. What type of court is that? This court only arrested Mr. Taylor and left others who committed same/worst crimes than Taylor unarrested. Myabe the whiteman think that we are stupid around here. Please note that Mr. Taylor is being prosecuted today because he did not kiss the asses of both George Bush and Tony Blair and not for the crimes that he was accused of committing. I bet, if Mr. Taylor had given the whiteman some pieces of Diamond/gold or had bowed to these guys, he would had been… [Read Full Text]
What happens to Ellen Sirleaf,Tipoteh,Fahnbulleh,Dew mayson,Harry Greaves,Alhaji Kromah,Goerge Bolay and others?
\ Must Taylor bear the burdens alone?Please let there be a war crime court established for all of them.
May God judge them.Amen.
May the God of venegance answers the cries of innocent blood crying in the grave.
May the God of wrath visit these evildoers.
Charles Taylor's trial for world crimes does not prejudice the Liberian people crying for his subsequent trial for crimes against the Liberian people. Indeed his present trial is not only against Sierra Leoneans but against the civilised world. Eating human flesh for which Liberians had long been known for in the region is uncivilised and this impunity must stop. You don't have to say yes to kissing arses before you are considered civilised and non-criminal. It is just decent not to harm other human beings in the way Charles Taylor did and would have done to any one disagreeing with… [Read Full Text]
Taylor was the mastermind to all these warcrimes and must be held accountable. He was in a position of authority and could have stopped the eating of human flesh, and other gruesome rituals and genocides.The Black on Black atrocities must stop and we have to stop the madness about accusing the whiteman for the problems of Africa. We are our greatest enemies and must assume the responsibility of ending the violence against each other and the lack of respect shown one another.
I’m quite, understanding the feeling of the first writer, the need for justice and get away from impunity in Liberia.
I ‘m asking all Liberian to support TRC in other for us to get some sort of justice, in Liberia, is important that all what happen in Liberia, is put to book and set example for people responsible the crimes committed against our people.
For us to get justice, we need, first support the work of TCR that will outline who to be punishes and to be free.
Liberian are suffering for many reasons but if put in place good… [Read Full Text]
Mr. Charler Taylor's trial in the so-called world court in he Hague has become a mockery to the enite justices and the world at large. How can people who commited hinious crime against humanity consider witnesses when infact they themselves were worst than Taylor in the exection of the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone? What can really Moses Blah and all of the officials who directly worked with Taylor tell anyone now anything positive other than to exonerate themselves and go free with impunity. The court needs to exercise justice on all of the people who commited crimes against… [Read Full Text]