A Turning Point in International Efforts to Apprehend War Criminals: The UN Mandates Taylor's Arrest in Liberia

With Resolution 1638 (2005), the UN Security Council requestedthe peacekeeping mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to apprehend anddetain former President Charles Taylor in the event of his returnto Liberia, and to transfer him to the Special Court for SierraLeone (SCSL). This new task assigned to a UN peacekeeping missionis a significant departure from previous practice. Althoughthere are a few precedents of military troops acting withinthe framework of UN missions which have been authorized to arrestwar criminals, the conferral of an explicit and clear mandateconstitutes a welcome novelty. This resolution is indicativeof the trend emerging in the UN Security Council's practiceto combat impunity by enhancing the rule of law and promotinginternational criminal justice; in particular, it is notablebecause it evinces the Security Council's willingness to strengthencooperation with international criminal tribunals. The examinationof the precedents (UNOSOM II: Second United Nations Operationin Somalia and IFOR/SFOR, the NATO-led multinational force deployedin Bosnia-Herzegovina) is useful for the discussion of legalissues raised by Resolution 1638. The task of arresting a warcriminal can easily be reconciled with the non-coercive natureof UN peacekeeping operations, provided that the consent ofall parties involved is secured. Interestingly, UNMIL troopsare not only authorized but also obliged to implement Resolution1638. After completion of this article, on 29 March 2006, Taylor wasarrested while trying to flee Nigeria. He was put on a jet boundfor Liberia, where at the airport he was taken into custodyby UNMIL peacekeepers and flown by UN helicopter to the SCSLdetention facilities at Freetown, Sierra Leone.