		Charles Taylor

		Conseil de sécurité, Résolution 1521 22 décembre 2003 (pdf)
		Enterrer la hache: L’industrie forestière libérienne – moteur du désastre humanitaire du Liberia, menace pour la Sierra Leone Global Witness, septembre 2002
		Liberia: Back to the Future - What is the future of Liberia’s forests and its effects on regional peace? Global Witness, May 2004
		Logging Off - How the Liberian Timber Industry Fuels Liberia's Humanitarian Disaster and Threatens Sierra Leone Global Witness, September 2002
		Security Council Resolution 1521 December 22, 2003 (pdf)

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Guus Van Kouwenhoven

context :	Liberia
judgement place :	Netherlands
status :	Acquitted
particulars :	Sentenced on June 7, 2006, to 8 years imprisonment; conviction overturned by a Dutch appeals court on 10 March 2008; the prosecution intends to appeal to the Supreme Court
position :	Businessman

facts

legal procedure

Guus van Kouwenhoven is a Dutch businessman, born in 1943. Van Kouwenhoven was close to the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor.

Throughout the civil war which raged on for seven years in Liberia and caused the death of 250’000 people, the parties to the conflict financed their war activities through overly exploiting and exporting the natural resources of the country. In particular, Charles Taylor used the funds generated by the excessive exploitation of timber and diamonds to illegally acquire large quantities of arms.

In his position as Director of Operations of the Oriental Timber Company (OTC) and of the Royal Timber Company (RTC) in Liberia, van Kouwenhoven managed the biggest timber operations in Liberia. Having very close relations with Charles Taylor (see “related cases”), van Kouwenhoven facilitated the import of arms for the latter thereby infringing resolutions of the UNO Security Council.

The United Nations Organisation consequently issued an order in 2001 banning Guus van Kouwenhoven from travelling, qualifying him as “an arms trafficker in breach of Resolution 1343 of the Security Council” in addition to being “ someone who supported the efforts of ex-President Taylor in destabilising Sierra Leone to gain illegal access to its diamonds”.

According to the prosecution “the militias hired by the former timber companies belonging to this Dutchman, are accused of participating in the massacre of civilians not even sparing the life of babies. Guus van Kouwenhoven is accused of having supplied the arms to the militias to enable them to carry out these crimes”.

Guus van Kouwenhoven was arrested in the Netherlands on 18 March 2005.

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		last time seen :
		The Hague (Netherlands)
		judgement period :
		24.04.2006 - 10.03.2008
		charges :
		War crimes
		profile last modified :
		26.03.2008