Why is Chuckie Taylor not being prosecuted in Liberia or before an international war crimes tribunal?
Chuckie Taylor could in theory be tried by domestic courts in Liberia or an international or hybrid international-national war crimes tribunal. Human Rights Watch has called for justice for widespread human rights abuses committed in Liberia. However, serious deficiencies persist in the Liberian judicial system as it tries to recover from 14 years of armed conflict. A truth and reconciliation commission has been established to help bring accountability for past crimes, which has the authority to refer cases for prosecution. But no cases have yet been referred or otherwise initiated. While a hybrid tribunal was created to try crimes in Sierra Leone, no such court exists for Liberia. The International Criminal Court, which has a wider geographic reach, has a mandate to prosecute only crimes committed after 2002. It is often the case that national courts in countries where torture and other serious human rights violations have been committed have little or no capacity to prosecute such cr
