Friday, February 5, 2010

'Chuckle' Taylor is ordered by US court to pay $ 22m for torturing five men in Liberia. Will Lankan president and Mugabe too pay?

A US judge has ordered the son of ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor to pay more than $22m (£14m) to five people tortured during its civil war.

The abuses were carried out by a paramilitary unit led by the son, Charles 'Chuckle' Taylor.

It comes a year after Chuckie was sentenced to 97 years in prison by the same Miami federal court.

He was the first person convicted by a US court of committing human rights abuses outside the US.

The five Liberian victims had testified before the court that they had been tortured and abused by the Anti-Terrorist Unit - the official title by which the group Chuckle Taylor ran was known.

They said they had been held in pits in the jungle that were filled chest-high with water, had been exposed to electric shocks to the genitals and other body parts and had witnessed the killing of others by the paramilitaries.

Human rights groups have welcomed this latest ruling against him.

They say it is a move that might serve as a warning to others who commit similar abuses that they will be held accountable for their actions.

Chuckle Taylor's father is currently on trial in The Hague.

He faces 11 charges including murder and rape in connection with the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

Are there any chances of Sri Lankan President and Zimbabwe President facing such charges in International Court?

Posted via email from What's New in Internet Today !

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