ECLI:NL:GHSHE:2017:2650

English translation of ECLI:NL:GHSHE:2017:1760 Links Rechtspraak.nl Judgement Criminal law section Case no. : 20-001906-10 Judgement : April 21, 2017 DEFENDED ACTION Ruling of the three judge panel at the Court of Appeal in ’s-Hertogenbosch, rendered, after referral of the case by the Supreme Court following the appeal lodged against the judgement of the District Court in The Hague of June 7, 2006, case no. 09-750001-05, in the criminal case against: [Defendant] Born in [place of birth] on [date of birth] 1942, without a known address or residence in the Netherlands correspondence address: [correspondence address] in which: The defendant was acquitted of the charges under 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B; The defendant was sentenced for “complicity in a deliberate violation of a rule laid down by article 2 (old) of the Sanctions Act 1977, committed multiple times” and “complicity in a deliberate violation of a rule laid down by article 2 of the Sanctions Act 1977, committed multiple times” to a term of imprisonment of 8 years, less the time spent in pre-trial detention in accordance with article 27 of the Dutch Criminal Code; - The court issued an order for the return of items seized from the defendant. Appeal Both the defendant and the public prosecutor lodged an appeal against abovementioned judgement. In its ruling of 10 March 2008, case no. 22-004337-06, the Court of Appeal in The Hague set aside above mentioned judgement and fully acquitted the defendant of the charges against him and ordered the return of items seized from the defendant. In its ruling of April 20, 2010, no. S 08/01322, the Supreme Court set aside the judgement rendered by the Court of Appeal in The Hague and referred the case to this Appeals Court to retry the existing appeal case and give judgement. Extent of the appeal At the hearing of the Court of Appeal on 6 February 2017, the advocates general (the prosecutors on appeal) informed the court that all seized objects about which no decision had been taken yet, shall be returned to the defendant. The court will therefore, with the consent of the defence and the advocates general, not take a decision concerning the seized objects. Hearing of the case This judgement has been rendered following the hearing of the case in court. The court has taken note of the demand submitted by the advocates general and of all issues brought forward on behalf of the defendant. In their demand, the advocates general have requested the court to set aside the contested judgement and to render a new judgement, whereby they have requested the court: To acquit the defendant of the charges under 1A primarily and in the alternative, 1B, 2A primarily and in the alternative, 2B, 3A primarily and in the alternative and 3B; And with regard to the charges under 1A in the further alternative, 2A in the further alternative, 3A in the further alternative, 4 and 5, to sentence the defendant to a term of imprisonment of 20 years, less the time spent in pre-trial detention in accordance with article 27 of the Dutch Criminal Code. Furthermore, the advocates general demanded the court to order the imprisonment of the defendant. The defence has pleaded: Primarily, to declare the inadmissibility of Public Prosecution Service; In the alternative, to fully acquit the defendant of all charges; In the further alternative, should the defendant be found guilty, not to impose a prison sentence on him, since he is unable to undergo imprisonment. Contested judgement The contested judgement shall be set aside because it is incompatible with the judgement to be rendered hereafter. Indictment After the modification of the indictment during the hearing of the case in the first instance, the defendant is charged with the offences as mentioned below: COUNT 1A Primarily that he, at (one) (or more) points in time in or around December 1, 2000 through March 1, 2001, at least in the year 2000 and/or 2001, and/or (also) in or around the period from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002, in Guéckédou, at least in Guinea, together and in conjunction with (

1. an)other(s), (each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
2. an)other(
3. s)was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
4. an)other(
5. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
6. an)other(
7. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
8. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that he, the defendant, (
9. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or (one or more) of his co-perpetrator(s), being Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 4] and/or [co-perpetrator 5] and/or [co-perpetrator 6] and/or [co-perpetrator 7] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or (one or more) other(
10. s)(person(
11. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present) then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
12. a)civilian(
13. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
14. a)person(
15. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in article 130 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (“Third Geneva Convention” 1949) and/or - the stipulations set out in article 147 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civil Persons in Time of War (“Fourth Geneva Convention”, 1949) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
16. a)member(
17. s)of and/or participant(
18. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to an (international or non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia and/or Guinea (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
19. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
20. a)civilian(
21. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
22. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
23. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • by using AK 47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or mortars and/or other fire weapons, fired (at random) at the town of Guéckédou, without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians, while knowing that this (type
24. of)attack(
25. s)would cause excessive loss of human lives, injuries to civilians and/or damages to civilian objects and/or • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
26. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
27. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • set fire to (
28. a)house(
29. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
30. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
31. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause were still staying and/or • cut off the head(
32. s)of three, at least one or more civilian(
33. s)and/or (members) (
34. of)(the) personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
35. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (subsequently) threw (one) (or more) baby/babies against walls and/or threw (one) (or more) baby/babies into wells and/or • forced (one) (or more) civilian(
36. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
37. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause to gather in (one) (their) house(
38. s)and/or (subsequently) threw (
39. a)grenade(
40. s)inside as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilians and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
41. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
42. a)woman/women and/or (
43. a)child/children and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
44. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
45. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
46. of)(members
47. of)the armed forces. Alternatively: in so far as the above should not or could not lead to a conviction that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 4] and/or [co-perpetrator 5] and/or [co-perpetrator 6] and/or [co-perpetrator 7] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or (one or more) other(
48. s)(person(
49. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present) at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the period of December 1, 2000 through March 1, 2001, at least in the year 2000 and/or 2001, and/or (also) in or around the period from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002, in Guéckédou, at least in Guinea, together and in conjunction with (
50. an)other(s), at least alone (each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
51. an)other(
52. s)was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
53. an)other(
54. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
55. an)other(
56. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
57. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 4] and/or [co-perpetrator 5] and/or [co-perpetrator 6] and/or [co-perpetrator 7] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or (one or more) other(
58. s)(person(
59. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present) then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
60. a)civilian(
61. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
62. a)person(
63. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in article 130 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (“Third Geneva Convention”, 1949) and/or - the stipulations set out in article 147 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civil Persons in Time of War (“Fourth Geneva Convention”, 1949) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
64. a)member(
65. s)of and/or participant(
66. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to an (international or non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia and/or Guinea, (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone's life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
67. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
68. a)civilian(
69. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
70. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
71. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • by using AK 47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or mortars and/or other fire weapons, fired (at random) at the town of Guéckédou, without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians, while knowing that this (type
72. of)attack(
73. s)would cause excessive loss of human lives, injuries to civilians and/or damages to civilian objects and/or • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
74. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
75. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • set fire to (
76. a)house(
77. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
78. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
79. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause were still staying and/or • cut off the head(
80. s)of three, at least one or more civilian(
81. s)and/or (members) (
82. of)(the) personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
83. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (subsequently) threw (one) (or more) baby/babies against walls and/or threw (one) (or more) baby/babies into wells and/or • forced (one) (or more) civilian(
84. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
85. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause to gather in (one) (their) house(
86. s)and/or (subsequently) threw (
87. a)grenade(
88. s)inside as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilians and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
89. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
90. a)woman/women and/or (
91. a)child/children and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
92. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
93. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
94. of)(members
95. of)the armed forces Which crime(
96. s)was/were deliberately solicited (each time) in or around the period from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2002 in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or (
97. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia and/or in Guéckédou, at least in Guinea by the defendant, together or in conjunction with (
98. an)other(s), at least alone, by means of gifts and/or promises and/or abuse of authority and/or violence and/or threat and/or deception and/or by providing the occasion and/or means and/or information, which implies that he, the defendant, (
99. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or his co-perpetrator(s), then and there (each time) intentionally • sold and/or supplied (a load
100. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or ammunition that belonged to the above mentioned arms, and/or mortars to Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • placed his/their (own) staff member(
101. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at the disposal of the (armed) conflict and (subsequently) deliberately let them join in the fight with their (own) weapons and/or ammunition (being one or more AK-47’s and/or one or more RPG’s and/or one or more GMG’s and/or one or more mortars) (obtained) from OTC and/or RTC, and/or • threatened to dismiss or suspend (indefinitely) his/their (own) staff member(
102. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) if this/these staff member(
103. s)refused to participate in the (armed) conflict and/or • placed one (or more) helicopter(
104. s)and/or (
105. a)truck(
106. s)and/or (
107. a)(pick-
108. up)truck(s), at least one or more vehicles, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, for the benefit of the transport of armed forces and/or weapons and/or ammunition and/or food and/or clothing and/or uniforms, at least goods for use by the (armed) conflict and/or combatants, and/or • placed an RTC camp, in any case a (meeting) place, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • supplied and/or gave money and/or cigarettes and/or marihuana, at least (
109. a)controlled drug(
110. s)to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
111. of)(the government
112. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • gave (
113. an)instruction(
114. s)and/or (
115. an)order(
116. s)with regard to the use of (heavy) weapons and/or battle methods to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
117. of)(the government
118. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, which instruction(
119. s)or order(
120. s)implied (among other matters) that heavy weapons had to be used and/or that in the shortest possible time as much as possible should be destroyed (also expressed by the phrase “enter, destroy and escape”) and or that nobody should be left alive (also expressed by the phrase “no baby on target”) and/or to set fire to houses and/or to order the armed forces to plunder anything they wanted In the further alternative, in so far as the above should not or could not lead to a conviction that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 4] and/or [co-perpetrator 5] and/or [co-perpetrator 6] and/or [co-perpetrator 7] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or (one or more) other(
121. s)(person(
122. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present) at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the period of December 1, 2000 through March 1, 2001, at least in the year 2000 and/or 2001, and/or (also) in or around the period from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002, in Guéckédou, at least in Guinea, together and in conjunction with (
123. an)other(s), at least alone (each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
124. an)other(
125. s)was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
126. an)other(
127. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
128. an)other(
129. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
130. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 4] and/or [co-perpetrator 5] and/or [co-perpetrator 6] and/or [co-perpetrator 7] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or (one or more) other(
131. s)(person(
132. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present) then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
133. a)civilian(
134. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
135. a)person(
136. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in article 130 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (“Third Geneva Convention”, 1949) and/or - the stipulations set out in article 147 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civil Persons in Time of War (“Fourth Geneva Convention”, 1949) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
137. a)member(
138. s)of and/or participant(
139. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to an (international or non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia and/or Guinea as (
140. a)member(
141. s)of and/or participant(
142. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to an (international or non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia and/or Guinea (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
143. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
144. a)civilian(
145. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
146. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
147. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • by using AK 47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or mortars and/or other fire weapons, fired (at random) at the town of Guéckédou, without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians, while knowing that this (type
148. of)attack(
149. s)would cause excessive loss of human lives, injuries to civilians and/or damages to civilian objects and/or • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
150. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
151. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • set fire to (
152. a)house(
153. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
154. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
155. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause were still staying and/or • cut off the head(
156. s)of three, at least one or more civilian(
157. s)and/or (members) (
158. of)(the) personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
159. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (subsequently) threw (one) (or more) baby/babies against walls and/or threw (one) (or more) baby/babies into wells and/or • forced (one) (or more) civilian(
160. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
161. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause to gather in (one) (their) house(
162. s)and/or (subsequently) threw (
163. a)grenade(
164. s)inside as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilians and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
165. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
166. a)woman/women and/or (
167. a)child/children and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
168. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
169. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
170. of)(members
171. of)the armed forces whereby the defendant, together and in conjunction with (
172. an)other(s), at least alone, in or around the period from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2002 in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or (
173. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia and/or in Guéckédou, at least in Guinea, deliberately provided the occasion and/or means and/or information and/or then and there deliberately aided and abetted to commit that/those crime(
174. s)which implies that he, the defendant, (
175. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or his co-perpetrator(s), then and there (each time) intentionally • sold and/or supplied (a load
176. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or ammunition that belonged to the above mentioned arms, and/or mortars to Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • placed his/their (own) staff member(
177. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at the disposal of the (armed) conflict and (subsequently) deliberately let them join in the fight with their (own) weapons and/or ammunition (being one or more AK-47’s and/or one or more RPG’s and/or one or more GMG’s and/or one or more mortars) (obtained) from OTC and/or RTC, and/or • threatened to dismiss or suspend (indefinitely) his/their (own) staff member(
178. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) if this/these staff member(
179. s)refused to participate in the (armed) conflict and/or • placed one (or more) helicopter(
180. s)and/or (
181. a)truck(
182. s)and/or (
183. a)(pick-
184. up)truck(s), at least one or more vehicles, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, for the benefit of the transport of armed forces and/or weapons and/or ammunition and/or food and/or clothing and/or uniforms, at least goods for use by the (armed) conflict and/or combatants, and/or • placed an RTC camp, in any case a (meeting) place, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • supplied and/or gave money and/or cigarettes and/or marihuana, at least (
185. a)controlled drug(
186. s)to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
187. of)(the government
188. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • gave (
189. an)instruction(
190. s)and/or (
191. an)order(
192. s)with regard to the use of (heavy) weapons and/or battle methods to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
193. of)(the government
194. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, which instruction(
195. s)or order(
196. s)implied (among other matters) that heavy weapons had to be used and/or that in the shortest possible time as much as possible should be destroyed (also expressed by the phrase “enter, destroy and escape”) and or that nobody should be left alive (also expressed by the phrase “no baby on target”) and/or to set fire to houses and/or to order the armed forces to plunder anything they wanted and/or COUNT 1B that [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 4] and/or [co-perpetrator 5] and/or [co-perpetrator 6] and/or [co-perpetrator 7] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or (one or more) other(
197. s)(person(
198. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), being (among others) (
199. a)staff member(
200. s)of OTC and/or RTC, in any case (
201. a)person(
202. s)employed by and/or subordinate to the defendant, at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the period of December 1, 2000 through March 1, 2001, at least in the year 2000 and/or 2001, and/or (also) in or around the period from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002, in Guéckédou, at least in Guinea, together and in conjunction with (
203. an)other(s), at least alone (each time) violated the laws and practices of war, while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
204. an)other(
205. s)was to be feared and/or that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
206. an)other(
207. s)and/or that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
208. an)other(
209. s)and/or that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
210. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 4] and/or [co-perpetrator 5] and/or [co-perpetrator 6] and/or [co-perpetrator 7] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or (one or more) other(
211. s)(person(
212. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), being (among others) (
213. a)staff member(
214. s)of OTC and/or RTC, in any case (
215. a)person(
216. s)employed by and/or subordinate to the defendant, then and there (each time) contrary to - international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
217. a)civilian(
218. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
219. a)person(
220. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or the stipulations set out in article 130 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (“Third Geneva Convention”, 1949) and/or the stipulations set out in article 147 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civil Persons in Time of War (“Fourth Geneva Convention”, 1949) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
221. a)member(
222. s)of and/or participant(
223. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to an (international or non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia and/or Guinea (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
224. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
225. a)civilian(
226. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
227. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
228. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • by using AK 47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or mortars and/or other fire weapons, fired (at random) at the town of Guéckédou, without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians, while knowing that this (type
229. of)attack(
230. s)would cause excessive loss of human lives, injuries to civilians and/or damages to civilian objects and/or • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
231. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
232. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • set fire to (
233. a)house(
234. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
235. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
236. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause were still staying and/or • cut off the head(
237. s)of three, at least one or more civilian(
238. s)and/or (members) (
239. of)(the) personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
240. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (subsequently) threw (one) (or more) baby/babies against walls and/or threw (one) (or more) baby/babies into wells and/or • forced (one) (or more) civilian(
241. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
242. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause to gather in (one) (their) house(
243. s)and/or (subsequently) threw (
244. a)grenade(
245. s)inside as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilians and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
246. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
247. a)woman/women and/or (
248. a)child/children and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
249. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
250. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
251. of)(members
252. of)the armed forces, which implies that he, the defendant, (
253. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, in any case as executive of OTC and/or RTC, with regard to the above-mentioned attack(
254. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the period of December 1, 2000 through March 1, 2001, at least in the year 2000 and/or 2001, and/or (also) in or around the period from January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002, in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or (
255. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia and/or in Guéckédou, at least in Guinea, repeatedly, at least one time (each time) intentionally allowed his subordinate(
256. s)to commit this/these attacks, namely that he, the defendant did not take any or did not take sufficient measures in order to avoid the attack(
257. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, and/or to punish the subordinates who were responsible for the attacks; COUNT 2A Primarily that he, at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the year 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Voinjama, at least in the vicinity of Voinjama, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
258. an)other(
259. s)(each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
260. an)other(
261. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
262. an)other(
263. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
264. an)other(
265. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
266. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that he, the defendant, (
267. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or (one or more
268. of)his co-perpetrator(s), being Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 9] and/or (one or more) other(
269. s)(person(
270. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
271. a)civilian(
272. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
273. a)person(
274. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
275. a)member(
276. s)of and/or participant(
277. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
278. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
279. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
280. a)civilian(
281. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
282. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
283. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
284. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
285. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
286. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
287. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
288. a)woman/women and/or (
289. a)child/children and/or • (subsequently) plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
290. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
291. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
292. of)(members
293. of)the armed forces; In the alternative, in so far as the above should not or could not lead to a convictionthat Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 9] and/or (one or more) other(
294. s)(person(
295. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the year 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Voinjama, at least in the vicinity of Voinjama, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
296. an)other(
297. s)(each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
298. an)other(
299. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
300. an)other(
301. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
302. an)other(
303. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
304. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 9] and/or (one or more) other(
305. s)(person(
306. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
307. a)civilian(
308. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
309. a)person(
310. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
311. a)member(
312. s)of and/or participant(
313. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
314. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
315. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
316. a)civilian(
317. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
318. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
319. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
320. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
321. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
322. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
323. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
324. a)woman/women and/or (
325. a)child/children and/or • (subsequently) plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
326. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
327. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
328. of)(members
329. of)the armed forces; The above mentioned crime(
330. s)were deliberately solicited (each time) in or around the period from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2002 in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or Voinjama and/or (
331. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia by the defendant, together or in conjunction with (
332. an)other(s), at least alone, by means of gifts and/or promises and/or abuse of authority and/or violence and/or threat and/or deception and/or by providing the occasion and/or means and/or information, which implies that he, the defendant, (
333. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or his co-perpetrator(s), then and there (each time) intentionally • sold and/or supplied (a load
334. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or ammunition that belonged to the above mentioned arms, and/or mortars to Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • placed his/their (own) staff member(
335. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at the disposal of the (armed) conflict and (subsequently) deliberately let them join in the fight with their (own) weapons and/or ammunition (being one or more AK-47’s and/or one or more RPG’s and/or one or more GMG’s and/or one or more mortars) (obtained) from OTC and/or RTC, and/or • threatened to dismiss or suspend (indefinitely) his/their (own) staff member(
336. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) if this/these staff member(
337. s)refused to participate in the (armed) conflict and/or • placed one (or more) helicopter(
338. s)and/or (
339. a)truck(
340. s)and/or (
341. a)(pick-
342. up)truck(s), at least one or more vehicles, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, for the benefit of the transport of armed forces and/or weapons and/or ammunition and/or food and/or clothing and/or uniforms, at least goods for use by the (armed) conflict and/or combatants, and/or • placed an RTC camp, in any case a (meeting) place, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • supplied and/or gave money and/or cigarettes and/or marihuana, at least (
343. a)controlled drug(
344. s)to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
345. of)(the government
346. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • gave (
347. an)instruction(
348. s)and/or (
349. an)order(
350. s)with regard to the use of (heavy) weapons and/or battle methods to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
351. of)(the government
352. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia; In the further alternative, in so far as the above should not or could not lead to a conviction that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 9] and/or (one or more) other(
353. s)(person(
354. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the year 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Voinjama, at least in the vicinity of Voinjama, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
355. an)other(
356. s)(each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
357. an)other(
358. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
359. an)other(
360. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
361. an)other(
362. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
363. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 9] and/or (one or more) other(
364. s)(person(
365. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
366. a)civilian(
367. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
368. a)person(
369. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
370. a)member(
371. s)of and/or participant(
372. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
373. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
374. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
375. a)civilian(
376. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
377. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
378. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
379. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
380. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
381. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
382. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
383. a)woman/women and/or (
384. a)child/children and/or • (subsequently) plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
385. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
386. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
387. of)(members
388. of)the armed forces; whereby the defendant, together and in conjunction with (
389. an)other(s), at least alone, in or around the period from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2002 in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or Voinjama and/or (
390. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia, deliberately provided the occasion and/or means and/or information and/or then and there deliberately aided and abetted to commit that/those crime(
391. s)which implies that he, the defendant, (
392. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or his co-perpetrator(s), then and there (each time) intentionally • sold and/or supplied (a load
393. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or ammunition that belonged to the above mentioned arms, and/or mortars to Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • placed his/their (own) staff member(
394. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at the disposal of the (armed) conflict and (subsequently) deliberately let them join in the fight with their (own) weapons and/or ammunition (being one or more AK-47’s and/or one or more RPG’s and/or one or more GMG’s and/or one or more mortars) (obtained) from OTC and/or RTC, and/or • threatened to dismiss or suspend (indefinitely) his/their (own) staff member(
395. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) if this/these staff member(
396. s)refused to participate in the (armed) conflict and/or • placed one (or more) helicopter(
397. s)and/or (
398. a)truck(
399. s)and/or (
400. a)(pick-
401. up)truck(s), at least one or more vehicles, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, for the benefit of the transport of armed forces and/or weapons and/or ammunition and/or food and/or clothing and/or uniforms, at least goods for use by the (armed) conflict and/or combatants, and/or • placed an RTC camp, in any case a (meeting) place, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • supplied and/or gave money and/or cigarettes and/or marihuana, at least (
402. a)controlled drug(
403. s)to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
404. of)(the government
405. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • gave (
406. an)instruction(
407. s)and/or (
408. an)order(
409. s)with regard to the use of (heavy) weapons and/or battle methods to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
410. of)(the government
411. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia; and/or COUNT 2B that [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 9] and/or (one or more) other(
412. s)(person(
413. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), being (among others) (
414. a)staff member(
415. s)of OTC and/or RTC, in any case (
416. a)person(
417. s)employed by and/or subordinate to the defendant, at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the year 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Voinjama, at least in the vicinity of Voinjama, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
418. an)other(s), at least alone (each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
419. an)other(
420. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
421. an)other(
422. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
423. an)other(
424. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
425. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 9] and/or (one or more) other(
426. s)(person(
427. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), being (among others) (
428. a)staff member(
429. s)of OTC and/or RTC, in any case (
430. a)person(
431. s)employed by and/or subordinate to the defendant, then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
432. a)civilian(
433. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
434. a)person(
435. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
436. a)member(
437. s)of and/or participant(
438. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
439. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
440. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
441. a)civilian(
442. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
443. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
444. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • aimed and/or fired at (one) (or more) civilian(
445. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
446. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
447. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
448. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
449. a)woman/women and/or (
450. a)child/children and/or • (subsequently) plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
451. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
452. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
453. of)(members
454. of)the armed forces which implies that he, the defendant, (
455. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, in any case as executive of OTC and/or RTC, with regard to the above-mentioned attack(
456. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, at (one) (or more) points in time in or around the year 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or Voinjama and/or(
457. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia, repeatedly, at least one time (each time) intentionally allowed his subordinate(
458. s)to commit this/these attacks, namely that he, the defendant did not take any or did not take sufficient measures in order to avoid the attack(
459. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, and/or to punish the subordinates who were responsible for the attacks; COUNT 3A Primarily that he, at (one) (or more) points in June 2002, at least in or around the period of December 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Kolahun, at least in the vicinity of Kolahun, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
460. an)other(
461. s)(each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
462. an)other(
463. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
464. an)other(
465. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
466. an)other(
467. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
468. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that he, the defendant, (
469. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or (one or more
470. of)his co-perpetrator(s), being Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or [co-perpetrator 10] and/or [co-perpetrator 11] and/or (one or more) other(
471. s)(person(
472. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
473. a)civilian(
474. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
475. a)person(
476. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
477. a)member(
478. s)of and/or participant(
479. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
480. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
481. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
482. a)civilian(
483. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
484. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
485. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • bombarded (at random) in (the) (town
486. of)Kolahun (
487. a)civilian(
488. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
489. a)person(
490. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) with grenades for a longer period of time, more specifically (one) (and a half) day, and/or • aimed and/or fired (at random) at (one) (or more) civilian(
491. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
492. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • told (
493. a)man (men) and/or (
494. a)woman (women), at least (one) (or more) civilian(
495. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
496. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause, to undress and (subsequently) to lie down on the floor and executed this/these person(
497. s)and/or • set fire to (
498. a)house(
499. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
500. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
501. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause was/were still staying as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
502. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
503. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
504. a)woman/women and/or (
505. a)child/children and/or • tortured two, at least one or more, man (men) by locking this/these man (men) into an attic and/or (subsequently) setting fire to a bundle of pepper under this attic by which act this/these man (men) threatened to suffocate, while from that offence death or severe bodily harm of the above mentioned man (men) could be feared, which offence at least included an inhuman treatment and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
506. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
507. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
508. of)(members
509. of)the armed forces; In the alternative, in so far as the above should not or could not lead to a conviction that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or [co-perpetrator 10] and/or [co-perpetrator 11] and/or (one or more) other(
510. s)(person(
511. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), at (one) (or more) points in June 2002, at least in or around the period of December 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Kolahun, at least in the vicinity of Kolahun, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
512. an)other(
513. s)(each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
514. an)other(
515. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
516. an)other(
517. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
518. an)other(
519. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
520. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or [co-perpetrator 10] and/or [co-perpetrator 11] and/or (one or more) other(
521. s)(person(
522. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
523. a)civilian(
524. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
525. a)person(
526. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
527. a)member(
528. s)of and/or participant(
529. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
530. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
531. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
532. a)civilian(
533. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
534. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
535. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • bombarded (at random) in (the) (town
536. of)Kolahun (
537. a)civilian(
538. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
539. a)person(
540. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) with grenades for a longer period of time, more specifically (one) (and a half) day, and/or • aimed and/or fired (at random) at (one) (or more) civilian(
541. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
542. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • told (
543. a)man (men) and/or (
544. a)woman (women), at least (one) (or more) civilian(
545. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
546. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause, to undress and (subsequently) to lie down on the floor and executed this/these person(
547. s)and/or • set fire to (
548. a)house(
549. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
550. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
551. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause was/were still staying as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
552. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
553. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
554. a)woman/women and/or (
555. a)child/children and/or • tortured two, at least one or more, man (men) by locking this/these man (men) into an attic and/or (subsequently) setting fire to a bundle of pepper under this attic by which act this/these man (men) threatened to suffocate, while from that offence death or severe bodily harm of the above mentioned man (men) could be feared, which offence at least included an inhuman treatment and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
556. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
557. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
558. of)(members
559. of)the armed forces the above-mentioned crime(
560. s)were deliberately solicited (each time) in or around the period from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2002 in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or Kolahun and/or (
561. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia by the defendant, together or in conjunction with (
562. an)other(s), at least alone, by means of gifts and/or promises and/or abuse of authority and/or violence and/or threat and/or deception and/or by providing the occasion and/or means and/or information, which implies that he, the defendant, (
563. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or his co-perpetrator(s), then and there (each time) intentionally • sold or supplied (a load
564. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or ammunition that belonged to the above mentioned arms, and/or mortars to Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • placed his/their (own) staff member(
565. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at the disposal of the (armed) conflict and (subsequently) deliberately let them join in the fight with their (own) weapons and/or ammunition (being one or more AK-47’s and/or one or more RPG’s and/or one or more GMG’s and/or one or more mortars) (obtained) from OTC and/or RTC, and/or • threatened to dismiss or suspend (indefinitely) his/their (own) staff member(
566. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) if this/these staff member(
567. s)refused to participate in the (armed) conflict and/or • placed one (or more) helicopter(
568. s)and/or (
569. a)truck(
570. s)and/or (
571. a)(pick-
572. up)truck(s), at least one or more vehicles, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, for the benefit of the transport of armed forces and/or weapons and/or ammunition and/or food and/or clothing and/or uniforms, at least goods for use by the (armed) conflict and/or combatants, and/or • placed an RTC camp, in any case a (meeting) place, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • supplied and/or gave money and/or cigarettes and/or marihuana, at least (
573. a)controlled drug(
574. s)to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
575. of)(the government
576. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • gave (
577. an)instruction(
578. s)and/or (
579. an)order(
580. s)with regard to the use of (heavy) weapons and/or battle methods to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
581. of)(the government
582. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, which instruction(
583. s)or order(
584. s)implied (among other matters) that “Kolahun needed to be swept clean” and/or words of similar meaning; In the further alternative, in so far as the above should not or could not lead to a conviction that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or [co-perpetrator 10] and/or [co-perpetrator 11] and/or (one or more) other(
585. s)(person(
586. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), at (one) (or more) points in June 2002, at least in or around the period of December 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Kolahun, at least in the vicinity of Kolahun, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
587. an)other(
588. s)(each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
589. an)other(
590. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
591. an)other(
592. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
593. an)other(
594. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one (or more) person(
595. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that Charles Taylor and/or [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or [co-perpetrator 10] and/or [co-perpetrator 11] and/or (one or more) other(
596. s)(person(
597. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
598. a)civilian(
599. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
600. a)person(
601. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
602. a)member(
603. s)of and/or participant(
604. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
605. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
606. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
607. a)civilian(
608. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
609. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
610. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • bombarded (at random) in (the) (town
611. of)Kolahun (
612. a)civilian(
613. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
614. a)person(
615. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) with grenades for a longer period of time, more specifically (one) (and a half) day, and/or • aimed and/or fired (at random) at (one) (or more) civilian(
616. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
617. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • told (
618. a)man (men) and/or (
619. a)woman (women), at least (one) (or more) civilian(
620. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
621. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause, to undress and (subsequently) to lie down on the floor and executed this/these person(
622. s)and/or • set fire to (
623. a)house(
624. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
625. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
626. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause was/were still staying as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
627. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
628. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
629. a)woman/women and/or (
630. a)child/children and/or • tortured two, at least one or more, man (men) by locking this/these man (men) into an attic and/or (subsequently) setting fire to a bundle of pepper under this attic by which act this/these man (men) threatened to suffocate, while from that offence death or severe bodily harm of the above mentioned man (men) could be feared, which offence at least included an inhuman treatment and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
631. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
632. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
633. of)(members
634. of)the armed forces whereby the defendant, together and in conjunction with (
635. an)other(s), at least alone, in or around the period from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2002 in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or Kolahun and/or (
636. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia deliberately provided the occasion and/or means and/or information and/or then and there deliberately aided and abetted to commit that/those crime(
637. s)which implies that he, the defendant, (
638. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or his co-perpetrators then and there (each time) intentionally • sold and/or supplied (a load
639. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, also referred to as Rocket Propelled Grenade or Russian Powerful Gun) and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun) and/or ammunition that belonged to the above mentioned arms, and/or mortars to Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • placed his/their (own) staff member(
640. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at the disposal of the (armed) conflict and (subsequently) deliberately let them join in the fight with their (own) weapons and/or ammunition (being one or more AK-47’s and/or one or more RPG's and/or one or more GMG’s and/or one or more mortars) (obtained) from OTC and/or RTC, and/or • threatened to dismiss or suspend (indefinitely) his/their (own) staff member(
641. s)employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) if this/these staff member(
642. s)refused to participate in the (armed) conflict and/or • placed one (or more) helicopter(
643. s)and/or (
644. a)truck(
645. s)and/or (
646. a)(pick-
647. up)truck(s), at least one or more vehicles, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, for the benefit of the transport of armed forces and/or weapons and/or ammunition and/or food and/or clothing and/or uniforms, at least goods for use by the (armed) conflict and/or combatants, and/or • placed an RTC camp, in any case a (meeting) place, at the disposal of Charles Taylor and/or the government of Liberia and/or (its) armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • supplied and/or gave money and/or cigarettes and/or marihuana at least (
648. a)controlled drug(
649. s)to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
650. of)(the government
651. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, and/or • gave (
652. an)instruction(
653. s)and/or (
654. an)order(
655. s)with regard to the use of (heavy) weapons and/or battle methods to the members of the armed forces of Charles Taylor and/or (
656. of)(the government
657. of)Liberia and/or to the staff members of OTC and/or RTC who were put at their disposal for the purpose of the conflict, at least to the armed forces active in Liberia, which instruction(
658. s)or order(
659. s)implied (among other matters) that "Kolahun needed to be swept clean" and/or words of similar meaning; and/or COUNT 3B which implies that [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or [co-perpetrator 10] and/or [co-perpetrator 11] and/or (one or more) other(
660. s)(person(
661. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), being (among others) (
662. a)staff member(
663. s)of OTC and/or RTC, in any case (
664. a)person(
665. s)employed by and/or subordinate to the defendant, at (one) (or more) points in June 2002, at least in or around the period of December 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Kolahun, at least in the vicinity of Kolahun, at least in Lofa County, at least in Liberia, together and in conjunction with (
666. an)other(
667. s)(each time) violated the laws and practices of war, - while from that offence/those offences (each time) death or severe bodily harm of (
668. an)other(
669. s)- - was to be feared and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved inhuman treatment and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved looting and/or - while that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in the death of (
670. an)other(
671. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved rape and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) resulted in severe bodily harm of (
672. an)other(
673. s)and/or - that offence/those offences (each time) involved acts of violence with united forces against one - (or more) person(
674. s)or acts of violence against a dead, sick or wounded person, which implies that [co-perpetrator 1] (alias [co-perpetrator 1]) and/or [co-perpetrator 2] and/or [co-perpetrator 3] and/or [co-perpetrator 8] and/or [co-perpetrator 10] and/or [co-perpetrator 11] and/or (one or more) other(
675. s)(person(
676. s)who has/have remained unknown until the present), being (among others) (
677. a)staff member(
678. s)of OTC and/or RTC, in any case (
679. a)person(
680. s)employed by and/or subordinate to the defendant, then and there (each time) - contrary to international common law (in particular the common law ban on attacks carried out without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians) and/or torture and/or inhuman treatment and/or rape and/or looting and/or acts of violence with regard to (
681. a)civilian(
682. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
683. a)person(
684. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) and/or - the stipulations set out in “common” article 3 of the Geneva Conventions dated 12 August 1949, as (
685. a)member(
686. s)of and/or participant(
687. s)to, at least belonging to, one of the parties to a(
688. n)(non-international) armed conflict on the territory of Liberia (repeatedly) committed an attack on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape, and/or looting, with regard to (one) (or more) person(
689. s)who were (at that time) not (no longer) directly participating in the hostilities (being (
690. a)civilian(
691. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
692. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause), attack(
693. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, which (among other matters) implied that the aforesaid member(s), at least the afore-mentioned person(s), together and in conjunction with others, (each time) deliberately, • bombarded (at random) in (the) (town
694. of)Kolahun (
695. a)civilian(
696. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or (
697. a)person(
698. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause) with grenades for a longer period of time, more specifically (one) (and a half) day, and/or • aimed and/or fired (at random) at (one) (or more) civilian(
699. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
700. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or • told (
701. a)man (men) and/or (
702. a)woman (women), at least (one) (or more) civilian(
703. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
704. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause, to undress and (subsequently) to lie down on the floor and executed this/these person(
705. s)and/or • set fire to (
706. a)house(
707. s)where (one) (or more) civilian(
708. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
709. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause was/were still staying as a consequence of which the afore-mentioned civilian(
710. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
711. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause died and/or experienced (severe) bodily harm and/or • raped (
712. a)woman/women and/or (
713. a)child/children and/or • tortured two, at least one or more, man (men) by locking this/these man (men) into an attic and/or (subsequently) setting fire to a bundle of pepper under this attic by which act this/these man (men) threatened to suffocate, while from that offence death or severe bodily harm of the above mentioned man (men) could be feared, which offence at least included an inhuman treatment and/or • plundered possessions of (one) (or more) civilian(
714. s)and/or personnel of the armed forces that had laid down arms and/or the person(
715. s)who had been put out of action by imprisonment or another cause and/or (
716. of)(members
717. of)the armed forces which implies that he, the defendant, (
718. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, in any case as executive of OTC and/or RTC, with regard to the above-mentioned attack(
719. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, at (one) (or more) points in time in or around June 2002, at least in the period from December 1, 2001 through June 30, 2002, at least in the year 2001 and/or 2002, in Buchanan and/or Monrovia and/or Kolahun and/or(
720. in)Lofa County and/or (elsewhere) in Liberia, repeatedly, at least one time (each time) intentionally allowed his subordinate(
721. s)to commit this/these attacks, namely that he, the defendant did not take any or did not take sufficient measures in order to avoid the attack(
722. s)on someone’s life and/or physical violence, at least mutilation and/or cruel (inhuman) treatment and/or torture and/or rape and/or looting, and/or to punish the subordinates who were responsible for the attacks; COUNT 4 that he, in the period from July 21, 2001 through May 8, 2002, in Buchanan, Liberia, together and in conjunction with another or others, at least alone, two times, at least one or several times, being - in or around the period from November 10, 2001 through November 29, 2001 and/or - in or around the period from February 28, 2002 through March 8, 2002 contrary to the ban set out in article 2 of the Liberian Sanctions Regulations 2001, established pursuant to article 2 paragraph 2 of the Sanctions Act 1977, which stipulates the ban on selling and/or supplying weapons and/or ammunition and/or military equipment and/or goods and/or armed or non-armed yards and/or spare parts and/or repairs and/or the maintenance thereof and/or military technology to natural persons and/or legal persons in Liberia, referred to in the Schedule to the Resolution on Imports and Exports of Strategic Goods deliberately sold and/or supplied weapons and/or ammunition and/or military equipment and/or goods and/or armed or non-armed yards and/or spare parts and/or repairs and/or the maintenance thereof and/or military technology, referred to in the Schedule to the Resolution on Imports and Exports of Strategic Goods, to one or more natural persons and/or legal person(
723. s)in Liberia, in fact, he, the defendant, (
724. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or (one) (or more
725. of)his co-perpetrator(s), then and there, (each time) deliberately sold and/or supplied (a load
726. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, and/or Rocket Propelled Grenade and/or Russian Powerful Gun) mortars and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun), at least weapons as referred to in article 2 of the Liberian Sanctions Regulations 2001 to Charles Taylor and/or his armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or to the personnel employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at least to (one) (or more) natural person(
727. s)and/or legal person(
728. s)in Liberia. COUNT 5 that he, in the period from September 26, 2002 through May 7, 2003, in Buchanan, Liberia, together and in conjunction with another or others, at least alone, two times, at least one or several times, being - in or around the period from December 15, 2002 through December 30, 2002 and/or - in or around the period from April 25, 2003 through May 7, 2003 contrary to the ban set out in article 2 of the Liberian Sanctions Regulations 2002, established pursuant to article 2 paragraph 2 of the Sanctions Act 1977, which stipulates the ban on selling and/or supplying weapons and/or ammunition and/or military equipment and/or goods and/or armed or non-armed yards and/or spare parts and/or repairs and/or the maintenance thereof and/or military technology to natural persons and/or legal persons in Liberia, referred to in the Schedule to the Resolution on Imports and Exports of Strategic Goods deliberately sold and/or supplied weapons and/or ammunition and/or military equipment and/or goods and/or armed or non-armed yards and/or spare parts and/or repairs and/or the maintenance thereof and/or military technology, referred to in the Schedule to the Resolution on Imports and Exports of Strategic Goods, to one or more natural persons and/or legal person(
729. s)in Liberia, in fact, he, the defendant, (
730. as)president of Oriental Timber Company and/or owner and/or director of Royal Timber Company, and/or (one) (or more
731. of)his co-perpetrator(s), then and there, (each time) deliberately sold and/or supplied (a load
732. of)weapons, being one or more AK-47’s (Automat Kalashnikov 47) and/or one or more RPG’s (Ruchnoi Protivotankovye Granatamy, and/or Rocket Propelled Grenade and/or Russian Powerful Gun) mortars and/or one or more GMG’s (General Machine Gun), at least weapons as referred to in article 2 of the Liberian Sanctions Regulations 2001 to Charles Taylor and/or his armed forces, at least to armed forces active in Liberia, and/or to the personnel employed by the companies Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and/or Royal Timber Company (RTC) at least to (one) (or more) natural person(
733. s)and/or legal person(
734. s)in Liberia. Language and/or writing errors or omissions appearing in the indictment have been corrected. This has neither affected nor injured defendant’s defence. Admissibility of the Prosecution A. Liberian Amnesty Scheme The defence counsel has argued - briefly rendered – that the Public Prosecution Service should be declared inadmissible in its prosecution with respect to all charges, since an “act to grant immunity from both civil and criminal proceedings against all persons within the jurisdiction of the republic of Liberia from acts and crimes committed during the civil war from December 1989 to August 2003” dated August 7, 2003, (hereafter: the Liberian Amnesty Scheme) is in force. Now that this amnesty scheme is directly applicable to the crimes which the defendant is charged with, the defendant should not be prosecuted (further) by the Public Prosecutor, at least, according to the defence counsel, this follows from principle of equality, the principle of protection of legitimate expectations and/or the absence of jurisdiction. A.1 The Liberian amnesty scheme and the right to prosecute With regard to the Liberian Amnesty Scheme, the court considers as follows. During her oral pleadings, the defence counsel submitted aforementioned Liberian Amnesty Scheme and she included an “affidavit of attestation” dated 14 February 2017. These documents show that the Liberian Amnesty Scheme was approved on 7 August 2003 by the then President of Liberia and published on 8 August 2003 by the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The affidavit was included to demonstrate that the Liberian Amnesty Scheme is a valid regulation under Liberian law and that it has not been formally withdrawn afterwards. On 11 August 2003, Charles Taylor stepped down as President of Liberia, which shows that he approved the amnesty scheme shortly before his retirement. A short while after the publication of the Liberian Amnesty Scheme, i.e. on 18 August 2003 and after preceding negotiations in Ghana between the government (GOL) and the conflicting parties (LURD and MODEL), the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) took effect, which was a peace agreement that also recommended the creation of the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL). This transitional government was broadly composed of representatives of the opposing parties, political parties, civil society organisations and the 15 counties (districts) of Liberia. Article XXXIV of the CPA states that the NTGL: “ Shall give consideration to a recommendation for general amnesty to all persons and parties engaged or involved in military activities during the Liberian civil conflict that is subject of this Agreement.” Article XXXV sub c of the CPA states that: “For the avoidance of doubt, relevant provisions of the Constitution, statutes and other laws of Liberia which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement are also hereby suspended ”. Article XXXV sub e states that: “All suspended provisions of the Constitution, Statutes and other laws, affected as a result of this agreement, shall be deemed to be restored with the inauguration of the elected Government by January 2006. All legal obligations of the transitional government shall be inherited by the elected government.” Article XIII of the CPA of 18 August 18 2003, states that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was to be set up on issues such as impunity. By Act of 10 June 2005, this commission, the so-called Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established. article VII of the TRC-Act of Liberia (Functions and Powers), under g states: “(…) provided that amnesty or exoneration shall not apply to violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity in conformity with international laws and standards.” (all underlining above added by the court) In article II of the TRC-Act of Liberia definitions are included of “Human Rights violations” and “Violations of International Humanitarian law”. From the provisions in the above quoted article VII of the TRC-Act of Liberia, the court deduces that the Transitional Government (NTGL) apparently decided that it would not proceed to a “general amnesty”. In 2009, the TRC published a report which included recommendations on amnesty and prosecution of offences committed during the civil war, being offences to which the Liberian Amnesty Scheme submitted by the defence would also apply. A.1.1 On the basis of the facts and circumstances rendered above under A.1. the court concludes that: the Liberian Amnesty Scheme was approved by Charles Taylor, the then President of Liberia, on 7 August 2003, which was one of the last days of his presidency. After all, on 11 August 2003, i.e. four days after his approval, Taylor transferred power to the then Vice President Moses Blah and left/fled from Liberia; at the time when the abovementioned amnesty scheme was issued under the then rule of Charles Taylor, peace talks were already being held in Ghana and thus all parties involved were discussing the manner in which amnesty would be granted or not; the peace agreement (CPA) which came into force several days later, shows that is was agreed that the Transitional Government (NTGL) should pay attention to a general amnesty scheme. Also, the explicit choice was made to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which would expressly be authorised to make recommendations regarding amnesty or prosecution; Article VII, section 26, part g. of the ‘TRC-Act of Liberia’ states explicitly that the recommendation for amnesty does not apply to ‘international crimes’, such as the war crimes charged to the defendant; neither in the peace agreement, nor in the TRC-Act of Liberia, nor in a subsequently published TRC-report reference is made to the Liberian Amnesty Scheme, as submitted by the defence. A.1.2 To begin with, the court states that based on the case file and the court hearings it has not been demonstrated that the creation of the Liberian Amnesty Scheme was invalid, or that this Scheme was formally withdrawn or formally terminated at any moment. However, from the manner in which the Liberian Amnesty Scheme was established and the subsequent choices and steps that were made by (among others) the Transitional Government (NTGL) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the court concludes, together with the advocates general, that although the Liberian Amnesty Scheme might have been in force at a certain moment, this Scheme did not have formal legal force (anymore) after signing the peace agreement and the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). After all, the competence to make recommendations regarding prosecution or amnesty with regard to crimes committed during the second civil war had become the responsibility of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In this respect, recommendations to grant amnesty in case of war crimes or crimes against humanity is explicitly ruled out. The conclusions of the defence counsel that in its judgement the Supreme Court of Liberia stated that (
735. a)the TRC went beyond certain competences, that (
736. b)in an ‘dissenting opinion’ regarding this judgement the Liberian Amnesty Scheme was explicitly mentioned by a commission member of the TRC, that (
737. c)there was (or
738. is)a discussion about the scope of the TRC’s powers and that (
739. d)two commission members did not sign the TRC-report dated 30 June 2009, regardless of the contents of the arguments, do not diminish what was considered above. A.1.3 Furthermore, the court considers, and perhaps unnecessarily, that even if it is assumed that the Liberian Amnesty Scheme had formal legal force (for a short period) and it would have been applicable to the defendant, (entitlement
740. to)amnesty with regard to war crimes is in conflict with international law, and for that reason it should be excluded from being implemented. The court believes that from international law – as stated among others in articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) – a positive obligation arises which implies that in case of allegations of war crimes or crimes against humanity, an effective (criminal) investigation should be initiated and prosecution should be instituted concerning such crimes if necessary. Therefore, granting amnesty in case of war crimes and crimes against humanity is inconsistent with international law. An amnesty such as the one in question which would rule out prosecution resulting from the abovementioned positive obligations, would then (except in special circumstances not experienced by the court here) constitute a violation of the convention itself. Accordingly, the court considers that on the basis of international law, a national amnesty scheme which rules out prosecution concerning war crimes or crimes against humanity, is incompatible with the international obligation to institute prosecution in respect of such crimes. For that reason, an amnesty scheme like this one cannot be applied. This follows even directly from Resolution 1674