Charles Taylor, right, sits in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court [EPA]
Charles Taylor
celebrated his
rise to power in
Liberia with a
ceremony
involving a
human sacrifice,
burying a
pregnant woman
alive in sand,
one of his
former military
commanders has
testified.
The admission
came during a
trial at The
Hague where the
former president
is accused of
war crimes.
During a day
of grim
testimony, Joseph
"Zigzag"
Marzah
described
the ceremony
and
acknowledged
committing
hundreds of
other
murders on
Taylor's
orders.
"We executed
everybody -
babies,
women, old
men. There
were so many
executions.
I can't
remember
them all,"
Marzah told
the court.
Among the
victims were
Taylor's
opponents and
former allies
who he thought
had betrayed
him, Marzah
said.
One was a
guerrilla
commander known
as Superman, who
Taylor ordered
executed and his
severed hand
brought to him
as proof of his
death.
The killers
ceremonially ate
Superman's
heart, and
afterwards were
given $200 each
which they were
told came from
Taylor for
"cigarette
money".
Taylor often
leaned forward
with a scowl on
his face as he
listened to
Marzah's
testimony for
more than five
hours.
'Pangs
of concience'
Asked under
cross-examination
if he had any
"pangs of
conscience",
Marzah replied
"yes", but said
he had no
difficulty
carrying out his
orders.
"It's
not
difficult
to kill
a baby.
Sometimes
you just
knock
them on
the
head,
sometimes
you
throw
them in
a pit,
sometimes
you
throw
them in
the
river
and they
are
dead"
Joseph
"Zigzag"
Marzah
"I was a servant
to my chief,
Charles Taylor,"
he said. He was
adamant that
Taylor had
specifically
ordered him to
chop off hands,
and paid a
monetary reward
for the killing
of babies.
He recalled
receiving an
order from
Taylor to cut
open a woman
close to giving
birth because
the unborn child
"is an enemy".
Under prompting
from Courtenay
Griffith,
defence counsel,
Marzah said:
"It's not
difficult to
kill a baby.
Sometimes you
just knock them
on the head,
sometimes you
throw them in a
pit, sometimes
you throw them
in the river and
they are dead.
Then you give
the report to
Charles Taylor."
Prosecutors
described Marzah
as one of their
key witnesses,
testifying with
inside knowledge
of the former
Liberian
president's
operations in
Liberia and
neighbouring
Sierra Leone.
In both
countries he is
accused of
responsibility
for the
widespread
murder, rape and
amputations
committed by
soldiers loyal
to him.
The first former
African head of
state to face an
international
tribunal,
Taylor, 59, has
pleaded not
guilty to 11
charges of war
crimes and
crimes against
humanity.
UN-backed court
He is being
tried by the
UN-backed
Special Court
for Sierra
Leone. His trial
began last year
but was halted
for six months
after a chaotic
first day on
which he fired
his legal team.
The case resumed
in January, when
prosecutors
began to call
the first of
dozens of
witnesses
expected to
testify.
Describing the
ceremony on the
beach behind
White Flower,
Taylor's
executive
mansion in
Monrovia, Marzah
said a woman was
placed standing
up in a pit
between two oil
drums, then
covered over
with sand.
Taylor
faces
charges
of
murder,
mutilation,
rape and
recruitment
of child
soldiers
[EPA]
Then a white
sheep was killed
on the spot. "It
was a
sacrifice,"
Marzah said.
Taylor "was the
first person to
put sand in his
hand and put it
in the hole".
Marzah said the
event happened
in 1995,
although Taylor
did not come to
power until he
won an election
in 1997.
At other times,
Marzah
repeatedly
became
frustrated and
angry when
questioned too
closely about
the timing of
events, saying
he had been with
Taylor "from
beginning to
end," and had
done too much to
recall the dates
of each event.
Marzah said
Taylor
encouraged his
fighters to
"play with human
blood" to create
fear among his
enemies.
He described
militia
checkpoints
meant to terrify
the population.
After setting up
roadblocks, "we
used human
intestines. We
put heads on
sticks for
people to be
afraid.
"When the person
is executed, the
stomach is split
and you use the
intestine as a
rope".
