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Diamonds are forever: the trial of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor for war crimes is only a first-step towards justice in Africa.

Article Excerpt
On April 4 this year, Liberian leader Charles Taylor made his first appearance before the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The Special Court was set up in 2002 to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Sierra Leone's armed conflict. The first African head of state to be indicted for war crimes, Taylor has been charged with arming, training and financing the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during Sierra Leone's 11-year civil war.

There is little doubt of Taylor's guilt. He came to power at the head of his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel group in UN brokered elections in 1997, after a nine-year civil war. The corruption and brutality of his regime soon provoked a new insurgency, ending with his downfall and exile to Nigeria in 11 August 2003. Taylor's quest for power and wealth ravaged not only his own country through decades of war, but also those surrounding it. At least 300,000 people died in conflicts he stoked in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Unfortunately for him, he was as reckless as he was rapacious, sponsoring a number of regional insurgencies. While there was little the weak and fractured government of Sierra Leone could do to withstand the RUF onslaught, Taylor's support of rebel movements against regional strongmen in Guinea and Ivory Coast proved his undoing, when they reciprocated with rebel movements on Liberian soil.

Nine other alleged leading...

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