Using NewsHour Extra Feature Stories

Overview: NewsHour Extra feature stories can help students identify and interpret key issues in current events. This activity anticipates one class period, but the follow-up essay might be assigned as homework or in another period.

Warm Up: Use initiating questions to introduce the topic and find out how much your students know.

Main Activity: Have students read NewsHour Extra's feature story and answer the questions on the reading comprehension handout.

Discussion: Use discussion questions to encourage students to think about how the issues outlined in the story affect their lives and express and debate different opinions.

Follow-up: Students can write a 500-word editorial on the topic expressing their views and send it to NewsHour Extra [extra@newshour.org] for possible publication.

Evaluation: Students are graded on their answers to reading comprehension questions and/or their editorial.

Story: Former Liberian President Heads to The Hague for War Crimes Trial, 06/26/06
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june06/taylor_6-26.html

Initiating Questions:

1. Where is Sierra Leone and Liberia? Find them on a world map.

2. What is a crime against humanity or a war crime?

3. Who is responsible for punishing international crimes?

Reading Comprehension Questions: (click here for printout)

1. Who is Charles Taylor and why is he in the news right now?

Charles Taylor was flown last week from the African nation of Sierra Leone, where he has been held since his arrest in March, to The Hague, Netherlands, the home of the International Court of Justice.

Taylor, a former warlord who became president of Liberia, faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, stemming from his alleged involvement in Sierra Leone, Liberia's neighbor in West Africa.

2. Why is Taylor's arrest significant?

Taylor becomes the first African leader to face charges of war crimes before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

His trial marks a potential milestone for prosecuting other African leaders accused of war crimes.

"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," said Corinne Dufka of Human Rights Watch, Reuters reported.

3. What is the International Criminal Court or ICC?

Historically, there have been other tribunals to address war crimes perpetrated by the Nazis in World War II and those in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in the early 1990s.

But the ICC is the first permanent court. The United Nations created it in 1998 to "promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest crimes do not go unpunished."

Such crimes include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

4. What is the position of the United States regarding the ICC?

The United States has not endorsed the ICC, due to concerns that it could be used politically against Americans. However, the United States was instrumental in urging Nigeria to surrender Taylor to Sierra Leone.

5. Why is Charles Taylor being tried in an international court and not one Sierra Leone or Liberia?

U.N. officials worked to find a country to hold Taylor, fearing that his presence in Sierra Leone would destabilize that country, as well as neighboring Liberia, where Taylor's supporters are still active.

His trial will be a warning to other leaders who have seen other African warlords live relatively comfortably in exile, including Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko and former Ugandan President Idi Amin.

Discussion Activity (more research might be needed):

1. Do you think having a permanent international court like the ICC is a good thing? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning.

2. Do you think the United States should endorse the ICC? Research the arguments both for and against U.S. endorsement and include them in your answer.

3. According to the article, many believe that Charles Taylor's trial will work as a deterrent and prevent other African warlords and leaders from abusing their power. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Write a 300-500 word essay on either of these topics providing clear examples. Send your completed editorial to NewsHour Extra (extra@newshour.org). Exceptional essays might be published on our Web site.