West Africa appears to be a political tinder box. Real democracy is a distant dream and the life span of governments is determined more frequently by bullets than by ballots. Not only are there civil wars in several countries but the combatants (on both sides) commit atrocities against civilian populations. One man in particular has exploited this combustible environment: Mr. Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia. After a bloody career, he was forced into exile in Nigeria where he reportedly continues to fan the flames of war. It is time to put an end to his destructive activities and force the Nigerian government to turn him over to a U.N.-backed war-crimes tribunal.
Mr. Taylor became president of Liberia in 1997 after waging a brutal civil war against the country's former leader, Mr. Samuel Doe. The seven-year military struggle anticipated many of the abuses that would become standard features of his campaigns. Human-rights organizations have charged his forces with widespread rape, massacres in churches, mutilation, torture, cannibalism and forced conscription of child combatants. The organization and exploitation of exceptionally savage child soldiers is a hallmark of Mr. Taylor's war-fighting style.
Mr. Taylor proved to be a more effective warlord than president and he came under pressure from guerrillas in the same way he had threatened his predecessor. As his government neared collapse under the rebel onslaught, Mr. Taylor took asylum in Nigeria in 2003 in a deal designed to head off slaughter in Liberia. As a condition of his exile, Mr. Taylor promised not to meddle in Liberian politics.