Skip Navigation


Journal of International Criminal Justice Advance Access originally published online on April 13, 2006
Journal of International Criminal Justice 2006 4(2):351-361; doi:10.1093/jicj/mql013
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
4/2/351    most recent
mql013v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Frulli, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© Oxford University Press, 2006, All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

A Turning Point in International Efforts to Apprehend War Criminals

The UN Mandates Taylor's Arrest in Liberia

Micaela Frulli*

* Lecturer in International Law, University of Florence; Member of the Editorial Committee.

[micaela.frulli{at}tin.it]

With Resolution 1638 (2005), the UN Security Council requested the peacekeeping mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to apprehend and detain former President Charles Taylor in the event of his return to Liberia, and to transfer him to the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). This new task assigned to a UN peacekeeping mission is a significant departure from previous practice. Although there are a few precedents of military troops acting within the framework of UN missions which have been authorized to arrest war criminals, the conferral of an explicit and clear mandate constitutes a welcome novelty. This resolution is indicative of the trend emerging in the UN Security Council's practice to combat impunity by enhancing the rule of law and promoting international criminal justice; in particular, it is notable because it evinces the Security Council's willingness to strengthen cooperation with international criminal tribunals. The examination of the precedents (UNOSOM II: Second United Nations Operation in Somalia and IFOR/SFOR, the NATO-led multinational force deployed in Bosnia-Herzegovina) is useful for the discussion of legal issues raised by Resolution 1638. The task of arresting a war criminal can easily be reconciled with the non-coercive nature of UN peacekeeping operations, provided that the consent of all parties involved is secured. Interestingly, UNMIL troops are not only authorized but also obliged to implement Resolution 1638.

After completion of this article, on 29 March 2006, Taylor was arrested while trying to flee Nigeria. He was put on a jet bound for Liberia, where at the airport he was taken into custody by UNMIL peacekeepers and flown by UN helicopter to the SCSL detention facilities at Freetown, Sierra Leone.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.