Ambassador Stephen Rapp to Discuss Impact of the War Crimes Conviction of Former Liberian President Charles Taylor

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On behalf of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, The National Press Club's (NPC) International Correspondents Committee will hold a panel discussion on the global impact of the war crimes conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.  The event will take place at the NPC's Holeman Lounge on Tuesday, June 5, from 5:30-7 p.m. in Washington, D.C.

The panel discussion will feature special prosecutor Stephen J. Rapp, ambassador-at-large and leader of the Office of Global Criminal Justice in the U.S. Department of State; Richard Downie, deputy director and fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies; Jonathan Temin, director of U.S. Institute of Peace's Sudan program; and Corinne Dufka, senior researcher in Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. Frank Mankiewicz, vice chairman of Hill+Knowlton Strategies, will moderate the panel.

The discussion follows the May 30 sentencing of Taylor for aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by rebel forces during Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war. Taylor was convicted on April 26, 2012, by the Special Court for Sierra Leone at The Hague, which unanimously found him guilty of all counts of the indictments against him.  Today, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He is the first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes since the Nuremburg trials of Nazi leaders after World War II. 

WHO: 
Stephen J. Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large, Office of Global Criminal Justice, U.S. Department of State
Richard Downie, Deputy Director and Fellow, Africa Program, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Jonathan Temin, Director, Sudan Program, United States Institute of Peace
Corinne Dufka, Senior Researcher, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch

WHERE:
Holeman Lounge
13th Floor
National Press Club
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20045

WHEN: Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

About Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Inc. is a leading international communications consultancy, providing services to local, multinational and global clients. The firm is headquartered in New York, with 85 offices in 46 countries, as well as an extensive associate network. The agency is part of WPP, one of the world's largest communications services groups.

SOURCE National Press Club