Every living thing : facing down terrorists, warlords, and thugs in West Africa : a story of justice / by David M. Crane.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Crane, David M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Crane, David M.

Special Court for Sierra Leone--Officials and employees--Biography.

Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Special prosecutors--Sierra Leone--Biography.

Special prosecutors.

War crime trials--Sierra Leone.

War crime trials.

History.

Atrocities.

Sierra Leone--History--Civil War, 1991-2002--Atrocities.

Sierra Leone.

Employees.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xi, 366 pages ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

Durham, North Carolina : Carolina Academic Press, LLC [2020]

Summary:

"Set in the steaming jungles of the ravaged West African country Sierra Leone, this book shows how multiple countries were devastated by an international criminal enterprise led by Presidents Muammar Gadhafi of Libya, Charles Taylor of Liberia, and Blasé Compare of Burkina Faso, with an assist from a vast network of terrorists, including Al Qaeda, vying for the control of diamonds. Following the creation of Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2004, a small band of lawyers, investigators, and paralegals changed the face of international criminal law with their innovative plan to effectively and efficiently deliver justice for the tens of thousands of victims, most of them women and children, in the process bringing down warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor of Liberia, the most wanted man in the world. Drawn from the author's personal journals, this book is the first ever detailed account written by a chief prosecutor of an international war crimes tribunal. This book is the first such work to show how the rule of law is more powerful than the rule of the gun-and provides the playbook for accounting for similar horrors elsewhere"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Preface

Introduction : "Seek Justice"

"Believe the Unbelievable"

An Overview

The Phone Call

No One Prepared Me for This

You Are Not Going to Be the Prosecutor

The Plan

Farewell

London and The Hague

Touch Down in Hell

Setting Up

Fully Operational

The Indictments

Operation Justice

The Initial Arraignments

"The Maskita"

The Unforgettable Summer of 2003 ; the Downfall of President Charles Taylor

The Legal Challenges : New Law Is Made

A New Courthouse!

Getting Ready for Trial

Drafting the Opening Statements

Prosecuting the Leadership of the Civil Defense Force and the Revolutionary United Front

The Case Against the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council

Getting Charles Taylor

Paramount Chief

Epilogue : "We Have Him"

Appendix : The Closing Statements

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781531016210

1531016219

OCLC:

1105738157