David M. Crane, distinguished visiting professor of law at the Syracuse University College of Law, will discuss issues relating to war crimes and the international criminal court during a lecture titled "The Application of International Criminal Law in Africa: Lessons for the Trial of Charles Taylor" April 26 at 2:15 p.m. in Room 219 of Sims Hall. His lecture is part of the Mondlane Spring Colloquium of the Africa Initiative.
The recent arrest of Charles Taylor in Nigeria and his incarceration in Sierra Leone has brought the issue of warlords and dictators to the forefront of the international media. Taylor is perhaps one of the most notorious warlords in modern history, comparable to the late Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Crane was appointed chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2002. He was responsible for the investigation, indictment and prosecution of those who bear the greatest responsibility for violations of international humanitarian laws during the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
Crane worked closely with the Special Court to ensure that Taylor was brought to justice, despite the equivocation of some leaders in West Africa. The Special Court is unique in that it was established on the basis of an agreement between the U.N. and one of its member states, Sierra Leone. The Nuremberg trials, by contrast, were carried out by a military tribunal run by the four victorious powers of World War II, and the tribunals dealing with war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda were not set up through any agreement with the countries concerned. Prior to leaving Sierra Leone, he was made a Paramount Chief by the Civil Societies of Sierra Leone.
The lecture is sponsored by the Africa Initiative in the Department of African American Studies. For more information, contact Doreen Blenman at 443-3402 or dlblenma@syr.edu.
