Taylor Prosecutor: War Crimes Court in Liberia 'Not A Decision For U.S.' to Make
Look to Sierra Leone: "This is not a decision for the United States; not a decision for Steven Rapp who used to be a prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone; It's a decision for the people of Liberia. What happened in Sierra Leone let's not forget is that after the end of the war, their President wrote with strong public support for a special court to be established to be a partnership with Sierra Leone and the United Nations. - Steven Rapp, Head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the U.S. Department of State
Monrovia[/B] – The head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the U.S. Department of State, Ambassador Steven Rapp says the decision over whether or not a war crimes court should be established in Liberia is not a decision for the United States of America to make but one the Liberian government will have to initiate in order for such court to become a reality.
Addressing heads of select media institutions in Monrovia Tuesday, Ambassador Rapp drew contrast between Liberia and Sierra Leone, who said initiated the discussions for a War Crimes court with the United Nations and the international community.
Said Rapp: "This is not a decision for the United States; not a decision for Steven Rapp who used to be a prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone; It's a decision for the people of Liberia."
"What happened in Sierra Leone let's not forget is that after the end of the war, their President wrote with strong public support for a special court to be established to be a partnership with Sierra Leone and the United Nations."
"And the initiative came from the Sierra Leone side and if there is an initiative from the Liberian side the rest of the world would respond to that and people in Liberia process the consultations on this issue."
The War Crimes Court in Sierra Leone originated from a June 12, 2000 letter written by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan asking the international community to try those responsible for crimes during the conflict.
The UN in turn adopted on August 10 2000, a resolution requesting the Secretary-General to start negotiations with the Sierra Leonean government to create a Special Court. On 16 January 2002, the UN and the government of Sierra Leone signed an agreement establishing the court.
Ambassador Rapp said the question of what's going to happen in the future is in the hands of the Liberian people and the democratic system but the U.S. as a partner of Liberia and strong supporter of its people, will support realistic approaches to achieving accountability and reconciliation in the post-war nation but it is not for the U.S. to decide what those approaches should be.
The U.S. envoy declined to delve into the resignation Monday of Nobel Laureat Leymah Gbowee, who stepped down from the Reconciliation Commission citing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's failure to curb corruption.
Said Ambassador Rapp: "I'm not familiar with this particular commission. This is not something I am going to comment on. This is a sovereign nation. There are people appointed to positions, there are people who resign them and do it for a variety of reasons and what we want is that good people be appointed and serve and work for reconciliation. There are many people that are in interested in that and we're hoping that the commission can move forward with people that are prepared to work with it."
The Ambassador recommended for Liberia a process that establishes the truth and recognizes the suffering of the victims which there are hundreds of thousands – dead and alive, experienced during the civil war and one that is focused on allowing people to live together in peace in the future and sends a message that these kinds of crimes, the murder and mutilation of children, the sexual violence and use of child soldiers and all of these acts, people understand is wrong and this is not the way in which you can gain or keep power and in future those kinds of things will not happen again.
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Ambassador Rapp said the question of what's going to happen in the future is in the hands of the Liberian people and the democratic system but the U.S. as a partner of Liberia and strong supporter of its people, will support realistic approaches to achieving accountability and reconciliation in the post-war nation but it is not for the U.S. to decide what those approaches should be.
[/B]The U.S. envoy cautioned that in most parts of the world the establishment of such systems is not done over night.
"These things don't happen overnight. There are countries in South America where they are happening more than 30 years after the events occurred."
"And those process are the ones in which the people in those countries took it upon themselves and seek out advice and participation from people in other countries, not necessarily South America but other countries have gone through the same kinds of things."
"As far as the specific measures I think Liberians should look at what's worked elsewhere and what would work for them and it is not for me to come up and say it has to be this model or that model."
Pressed on what time period of the war such a court should stipulate, Ambassador Rapp said Liberians should have to decide.
"These are decisions that you will have to make. In Sierra Leone, the international community made it November 30, 1996 which actually knocked out some of the crimes that happened during the war."
"As prosecutor I like to have it broader so I can have the whole picture in there. On the other hand, you have to have multiple processes. Bad things have happened in all of our countries and if you did established some kind of specialized courts there has to be a timeframe. I know in the case of the TRC, the timeframe began in '79 when the violence began and 1980 when Doe came to power. That was the sort of time period but these are the decisions for the people in this country."
Ambassador Rapp prevailed on Civil Society organizations to work with Liberians to find the best approach on the War Crimes issue. "I've met with civil society organizations and my advice to them is to consult with their fellow Liberians to use the democratic process to press those ideas forward and the ones that make sense, and have those ideas factor in decisions in terms of the way forward."
"This country has already had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and another step could be taken but we do support a process of the establishment of the truth and that would contribute to future peace and reconciliation."
Ambassador Rapp was appointed by President Obama, confirmed by the Senate, and assumed his duties on September 8, 2009. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Rapp served as Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone beginning in January 2007, responsible for leading the prosecutions of former Liberian President Charles Taylor and other persons alleged to bear the greatest responsibility for the atrocities committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone.
During his tenure in Sierra Leone, his office won the first convictions in history for recruitment and use of child soldiers and for sexual slavery and forced marriage as crimes under international humanitarian law.
From 2001 to 2007, Mr. Rapp served as Senior Trial Attorney and Chief of Prosecutions at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, personally heading the trial team that achieved convictions of the principals of RTLM radio and Kangura newspaper—the first in history for leaders of the mass media for the crime of direct and public incitement to commit genocide.
Mr. Rapp was United States Attorney in the Northern District of Iowa from 1993 to 2001, where his office won historic convictions under the firearms provision of the Violence Against Women Act and the serious violent offender provision of the 1994 Crime Act. Prior to his tenure as U.S. Attorney, he worked as an attorney in private practice and served as Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency and as an elected member of the Iowa Legislature.
He received his BA degree from Harvard College in 1971. He attended Columbia and Drake Law Schools and received his JD degree from Drake in 1974.
