Today, Liberia and Sierra Leone are safer and more hopeful places. Today West Africa has moved one step closer to dismantling the devastating grip of impunity.

Today there is a tremendous amount of both relief and hope. Relief that an indicted war criminal accused of having wrought great suffering throughout West Africa is finally where he belongs, and hope because justice for the victims of these crimes is now in reach.

It's disappointing that the change of venue might diminish the satisfaction felt by the victims of his alleged crimes. The prosecutor no doubt had to balance this with pressing security needs.

Allowing Charles Taylor to stand trial for war crimes sets a very controversial precedent for African heads of state and former heads of state because many of them ... have blood on their hands.

The current perpetrators of serious human rights crimes should be put on notice that international courts take the crimes they commit very, very seriously.

Except for the sound of the rain, on the road, on the roofs, on the umbrella, there was absolute silence: only the dying moan of the sirens continued for a moment or two to vibrate within the ear. It seemed to Scobie later that this was the ultimate border he had reached in happiness: being in darkness, alone, with the rain falling, without love or pity.