Chuckie Taylor Jr., the Orlando-raised son of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, already faces a world of pain in Miami's federal courthouse this morning.
In October, Chuckie became the first American convicted of orchestrating torture abroad, for the brutal crimes he carried out as the head of his father's "Demon Forces" security team. Sentencing for that conviction, which could carry a life term, is scheduled for this morning in downtown Miami.
But it looks like the prison sentence isn't going to be the end of the legal troubles of this "American Warlord." A group of human rights lawyers plans to seek a class-action suit against Taylor on behalf of his victims in Liberia, says Theresa Harris, the group's executive director.
Read more about the suit, which includes horrific accusations against Taylor, after the jump.
Harris says her group, Human Rights USA, plans to file the suit on behalf of seven principal victims this afternoon.
Among the seven is Rufus Kpadeh, who testified against Taylor at his trial. Kpadeh was a student organizer in Liberia when he was arrested and tortured by Taylor's forces in the late 1990s. According to Harris, while imprisoned, Kpadeh was forced to drink his own urine, eat cigarette butts, was burned with molten plastic, was forced to play "soccer" with a heavy stone, and was starved to nearly half his body weight.
Although Taylor has been convicted of criminal charges based on the stories of several victims, Harris says her suit aims to bring relief to the hundreds of others who suffered in Liberia because of the Demon Forces and their maniacal leader.
"We don't know how many plaintiffs we'll end up with, but it could be in the hundreds," Harris says. "We're trying to bring a measure of justice to the rest of these victims."
-- Tim Elfrink
