E686 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks April 27, 2012 While it was years in the making, this Despite optimism over the verdict, inter- nal Court, meaning prosecutors there cannot week’s historic verdict marks a triumph for jus- national efforts to prosecute leaders have intervene unless the U.N. Security Council tice. I especially want to note the dedication of been spotty at best. Slobodan Milosevic died asks them to. Russia and China would likely Dr. Alan W. White, chief investigator respon- in his cell before a verdict could be reached veto any such move. on charges of fomenting the Balkan wars. sible for putting the case together, David M. The ICC has indicted al-Bashir for genocide Moammar Gadhafi was killed by rebels last in Darfur, Sudan, but he has openly defied an Crane, chief prosecutor at the Hague, and my year before he could be turned over for trial. international arrest warrant by flying to former staffer Chris Santoro who served as a Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is openly friendly nations and has recently cranked up trial attorney in the Taylor case. defying attempts to arrest him on inter- war rhetoric in his country’s border dispute Perhaps most significantly, Taylor’s convic- national genocide charges. with South Sudan. tion, in the words of an Associated Press story In one success story, prosecutors at the Most likely the next former leader to face that I submit for the RECORD, sends a ‘‘warn- U.N.’s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal are justice will be former Ivory Coast President ing to tyrants.’’ Foremost among them is Su- close to wrapping up their case against Laurent Gbagbo, who is jailed in The Hague danese president Omar Bashir—himself an former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan on charges of attacking political opponents Karadzic although it took more than a dec- internationally indicted war criminal with blood as he attempted to cling to power following ade to have him arrested. elections last year. on his hands. Furthermore, this verdict ought The global implications meant little to Edward Songo Conteh, of Sierra Leone’s to be a wake-up call to the countries and gov- survivors of the war in Sierra Leone who Amputee and War Wounded Association, was ernments that persist in hosting Bashir on offi- celebrated Taylor’s conviction. ‘‘I am happy that the truth has come out in court Thursday to watch the verdict. His cial travel—they will find themselves on the only regret was that Taylor was not imme- wrong side of history. that Charles Taylor is fully and solely responsible for the crimes committed diately sentenced. CHARLES TAYLOR CONVICTION SENDS WARNING against the people of Sierra Leone,’’ said ‘‘I want to see this man behind bars for the TO TYRANTS Jusu Jarka, who had both his arms hacked rest of his life,’’ said Conteh, who had one of (By Mike Corder) off by rebels in 1999 and who now runs a sup- his hands hacked off by child soldiers. LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands.—Former Li- port group for fellow amputees. berian President Charles Taylor became the Crowds that gathered to watch the verdict f first head of state since World War II to be live on television in the Sierra Leone cap- convicted by an international war crimes ital, Freetown, sighed with relief when the IN HONOR OF GEORGE RATHMANN court, a historic verdict that sends a mes- conviction was announced. Some carried sage that tyrants worldwide will be tracked posters that exposed still-simmering anger. down and brought to justice. ‘‘Shame on you Charles Taylor. Give us your HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK The warlord-turned-president was found diamonds before going to prison,’’ one read. OF CALIFORNIA guilty on Thursday of 11 counts of war Prosecuting Taylor proved how hard it is IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES crimes and crimes against humanity for to bring leaders to justice. He fled into exile arming Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for in Nigeria after being indicted in 2003 and Friday, April 27, 2012 ‘‘blood diamonds’’ mined by slave laborers wasn’t arrested for three years. And while and smuggled across the border. the Sierra Leone court is based in that coun- Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to Judges at the Special Court for Sierra try’s capital, Taylor’s trial was staged in the honor the memory of the father of bio- Leone said Taylor played a crucial role in al- Netherlands for fear it could destabilize the lowing the rebels to continue a bloody ram- technology. On Sunday, April 22, 2012 region. page during that West African nation’s 11- George B. Rathmann passed away due to There was no clear paper trail linking Tay- year civil war, which ended in 2002 with more complications from pneumonia at the age of lor to rebels, and the three-judge panel than 50,000 dead. Ten years after the war 84. He is survived by his wife, Joy, of 61 wound up convicting him of aiding and abet- ended, Sierra Leone is still struggling to re- ting the fighters. He was cleared of direct years, his five children, and thirteen grand- build. command responsibility over the rebels. children. Dr. Rathmann had the vision to see The rebels gained international notoriety how biotechnology could revolutionize the for hacking off the limbs of their victims and In their verdict, reached after 13 months of carving their groups’ initials into opponents deliberations, the judges said Taylor regu- practice of medicine and he brought that vi- and even children they kidnapped, drugged larly received diamonds from rebels. But sion to life. and turned into killers. The rebels developed they made no mention of the most famous Dr. Rathmann and I were both born in Mil- gruesome terms for the mutilations that be- witness to testify about the gems— waukee, Wisconsin. Growing up, George was came their chilling trademark: They would supermodel Naomi Campbell, who recalled being given a bag of ‘‘very small, dirty-look- drawn to science by his older brother, who offer their victims the choice of ‘‘long was also a chemist. He received his doctorate sleeves’’ or ‘‘short sleeves’’—having their ing stones’’ at a 1997 dinner at Nelson hands hacked off or their arms sliced off Mandela’s official mansion in South Africa. in physical chemistry from Princeton University above the elbow. Taylor attended the dinner, and prosecu- and went on to work for several pharma- The 64-year-old Taylor will be sentenced tors had hoped Campbell would testify that ceutical firms before venturing into the fledging next month after a separate hearing. he gave her the diamonds. But Campbell did field of biotechnology. Dr. Rathmann co-found- The court has no death penalty and no life not, and Taylor’s lawyer, Courtenay Grif- ed Amgen in 1980 working out of makeshift fiths, dismissed the testimony on Thursday sentence. Judges have given eight other trailers, in Thousand Oaks, California. Today, rebels as much as 52 years in prison. as ‘‘a large, fat zero.’’ The verdict was hailed by prosecutors, vic- Taylor, impeccably dressed as usual in suit Amgen works to discover, develop, manufac- tims and rights activists as a watershed mo- and tie, said nothing in court and showed no ture and deliver innovative human thera- ment in efforts to end impunity for leaders emotion as the verdict was read. peutics. Under Dr. Rathmann’s leadership, responsible for atrocities. There was emotion enough during the five- Amgen was one of the first companies to real- The ruling ‘‘permanently locks in and so- year trial as 91 prosecution witnesses out- ize biotechnology’s promise by bringing safe, lidifies the idea that heads of state are now lined the horrors of Sierra Leone’s war, effective medicine from the lab to the manu- many of them describing murders, mutila- accountable for what they do to their own facturing plant and, finally, to the patient. people,’’ said David Crane, the former pros- tions, torture and acts of cannibalism by ecutor who indicted Taylor in 2003 and is now rebels and the children they turned into mer- In 1990, Dr. Rathmann retired from Amgen. a professor of international law at Syracuse ciless killers. He quickly became bored with sedentary life. University. ‘‘This is a bell that has been rung Taylor insisted he was an innocent victim He returned to the biotech industry the fol- and clearly rings throughout the world. If of neocolonialism and a political process lowing year, when he founded Seattle based you are a head of state and you are killing aimed at preventing him from returning to ICOS Corporation. In addition to his success- your own people, you could be next.’’ power in Liberia. In seven months of testi- ful career, George was a philanthropist. He U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon mony in his own defense, he cast himself as hailed the judgment as ‘‘a significant mile- a peacemaker and statesman in West Africa. created the Rathmann Foundation, which do- stone for international criminal justice’’ Crane—a vocal supporter of efforts to hold nates to worthy causes in the health, edu- that ‘‘sends a strong signal to all leaders leaders accountable—concedes that while cation, arts, and environmental arenas. that they are and will be held accountable war crimes tribunals are independent, they I invite my colleagues to join me in remem- for their actions,’’ said U.N. deputy spokes- are hard to separate from geopolitical reali- bering a man who dedicated his life to science man Eduardo del Buey. ties. and discovery. Dr. Rathmann was a brilliant U.S.