02 Nov 2005 13:20:23 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Estelle Shirbon

Rejecting an objection by the government, the Nigerian Federal High Court said the men were entitled to try to bring Taylor to justice because of the suffering they endured.

"These applicants have their hands mutilated ... They have suffered personal injuries and it is of greater interest to them that justice be done," Judge Stephen Jonah Adah told a hearing on Tuesday.

"They have a genuine interest in this case and they have a legal right to pursue it," he said, according to a transcript obtained on Wednesday.

David Anyaele and Emmanuel Egbuna say they were attacked by rebels backed by Taylor in the Sierra Leone capital Freetown in 1999. The rebels hacked off Anyaele's arms and set him on fire, and mutilated Egbuna's wrists.

A lawyer representing the two said they were not seeking financial damages but wanted to see Taylor face trial. The men brought their case over a year ago but it has made slow progress through the Nigerian legal system.

Nigeria granted asylum to Taylor in 2003 to get him out of Liberia and help end a war there that killed 250,000 people, but it has since come under pressure to hand him over to Sierra Leone's U.N.-backed war crimes court.

WAR CRIMES COURT

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report published on Wednesday it was crucial that Nigeria hand Taylor over quickly, particularly as the Sierra Leone court was struggling to find the funds it needed to complete its work.

"Nigeria's ongoing harbouring of an indicted war criminal undermines the court's ability to achieve its mandate to prosecute those bearing the greatest responsibility for serious crimes committed in Sierra Leone's armed conflict," HRW said.

"Given scarce resources and the anticipated short duration of the court, time is of the essence," it said.

The court in Freetown has indicted Taylor for crimes against humanity, accusing him of supporting rebels who chopped off the limbs of civilians, conducted mass rapes and recruited child soldiers to dominate the country's diamond-producing areas.

Nigeria says it will only turn Taylor over if asked by an elected Liberian government and will not transfer him to a third country. A call for his extradition from Liberia looks unlikely as he still instils fear there and his return could destabilise the country's fragile peace process.

The Nigerian plaintiffs argue that their government should not have granted Taylor asylum under African Union and Geneva Convention guidelines, which prohibit asylum to war criminals.

Judge Adah set Dec. 6 for the court to start hearing the substance of the case. But government lawyers have signalled their intention to appeal against Adah's ruling, which could further delay proceedings.

(Additional reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja, Nick Tattersall in Dakar)