The News Review:

- Liberia’s Taylor lifts veil on life as strongman
- Sierra Leone War Crimes Court in Danger of Funding Shortfalls
- Development Challenges in the Sierra Leone Economy
- Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor Defends Himself
- SIERRA LENE: Sexual violence defies new law

Liberia’s Taylor lifts veil on life as strongman
The Associated Press
By turns vitriolic and professorial Taylor is lifting a veil during his war crimes trial on the life of a guerrilla commander who fought enemies across borders and at home to seize his country’s presidential mansion and had aspirations to become a pan-African leader. He has sought to counter claims he was a cannibalistic tyrant trading human lives for diamonds in neighboring Sierra Leone by describing himself as a democrat and statesman surrounded by enemies consumed with the notion to “get Taylor. “The detailed narrative is fascinating if selective. “He’s a great communicator” says David Crane the prosecutor who drew up Taylor’s indictment six years ago. “He’s just not telling the whole story”As president Taylor felt under siege rarely trusting those around him. When he traveled he rode in a convoy with two presidential limousines so that potential attackers would never know which car he was in.

Sierra Leone War Crimes Court in Danger of Funding Shortfalls
Voice of America
The president of the Court told the U. SecurityCouncil Thursday that if additional money is not found immediately thecourt would experience shortfalls by the first week of August thatcould disrupt its work. The Special Court is the firstinternational tribunal to be fully funded by voluntary contributions.

Development Challenges in the Sierra Leone Economy
Standard Times Press
Among the main legacies of the prolonged conflict and the special challenges of Sierra Leone was a severely impaired administrative capability that limited the ability to develop and implement a comprehensive economic and social recovery program; and need for concerted and rapid international assistance to address the aftermath of the crisis. Besides the lack of investment in critical economic and social infrastructure the decade-long devastating civil war severely damaged institutional capacity and constrained the government’s ability to sustain any reforms. Recovery and growth require the resumption of basic capacity to formulate reform policies and reconstruction priorities; to soundly execute government fiscal operations and to effectively manage aid flows.

Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor Defends Himself
AllAfrica.com
The Special Court for Sierra Leone has announced that Taylor’s defence lawyer Courtenay Griffiths QC is expected to deliver his opening statement on Monday. Taylor is not expected to give evidence before Tuesday. GA_googleFillSlot( “AllAfrica_Story_InsetA” );Taylor is being tried in The Hague in the Netherlands as a result of concerns about regional security if he is tried in Sierra Leone. He faces 11 charges including murder rape sexual violence using child soldiers enslavement looting and terrorizing and imposing collective punishments on civilians. Relevant LinksWest AfricaSierra LeoneLiberiaLegal AffairsHuman RightsConflictInternational rganisationsHuman Rights Watch reports that the charges relate primarily to Taylor’s alleged role as a major backer of the Sierra Leone rebel group the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and his alleged association with a second warring faction the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).
Related from Liabilitymanagementsystems: Charles James defends Chevron around the world

SIERRA LENE: Sexual violence defies new law
IRINnews.org
Up to 67 percent of urban Sierra Leonean women were victims of domestic violence in 2008 Fatu Kargbo a director in the Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children?s Affairs (MSWBCA) told IRIN. Isha Bangura director of the police Family Support Unit (FSU) ? which receives most domestic abuse reports ? said the most common domestic complaint they receive is physical violence. ?Most of the time women and girls are abused by people they know?[The perpetrators] are rarely strangers? said Eunice Whenzle who heads the.