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 DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - 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.
Mohamed Suma, head of an independent group that monitors the court, said the aim is for his countrymen to see justice firsthand after their brutal civil war.
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