International Community Takes Some Responsibility

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor is up for trial for suspected war crime crimes, most notably in Sierra Leone during his time as President. Mr. Taylor who has been charged with 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other nefarious violations, undoubtedly deserves to be reprimanded. The ex-president is accused of financing the rebel force in Sierra Leone, the RUF, by selling diamonds on their behalf and then supplying them with arms. His rebel army was notorious for "raping civilians and for using machetes to kill people and to hack off limbs and other body parts"!!! It was the classic depiction of a 'warlord state'.

In order to insure that justice is served, Great Britain has offered to have Mr. Taylor serve his sentence, if he is convicted, in their own prison facilities. Other European countries have refused, but Britain the former colonial power in Sierra Leone, has taken responsibility and has promised to facilitate justice and accountability in its former colonial provinces. Apparently Great Britain feels partly responsible for the anarchy that has been going on in Africa for the past 40 years. Lord Triesman, the minister for Africa was quoted as saying, "that it had started the process [decolonization] and now we want to finish it".

Lord Triesman should be applauded for his ambitious initiatives in Africa. All we need is more of the international community to come in and help "clean up". This does not just apply to countries that colonized but should also apply to the United States who helped support illegitimate countries during the Cold War (i.e. Angola, DRC, and Kenya) . Loss of Cold War patronage have hurt these countries just as much as colonization, and as a result countries like the DRC are torn apart by rebel forces.

This is not to say that the International Community is completely responsible for the clean up of Africa because that would be far from the truth. The truth is that the hard part will be for Africans themselves; actually setting up liberal democracies. But it is up to the International Community to facilitate this process of democritization. Political institutions and bureaucracies have atrophied for too long, and traditional checks and balances must put back into the system. It will be through institutions like the International Criminal Court (ICC) that accountability will be placed back on these capricious African rulers. With England helping to put a corrupt ex-president on trial in the Hague, where justice is sure to be served, this is one small step towards this vision.