Sierra Leone Tribunal an Experiment
The Sierra Leone court that made Charles Taylor the first African president to answer war crimes charges is an experiment in international justice, a hybrid tribunal being tested by the debate over where the former Liberian president should be tried. The Sierra Leone Special Court is the first U.N.-sponsored tribunal to prosecute war crimes in the country where they occurred, and it is being heavily backed by the United States as a model. It was established in January 2002 under an agreement between the United Nations and the Sierra Leone government. Full Story