Freetown, Sierra Leone (CNN) -- Millions of people will breathe a sigh of relief that Charles Taylor has finally been held to account for the years of violence, misery and suffering that he brought to the people of West Africa. Taylor, a former president of Liberia, was found guilty after a lengthy trial by a special court sitting in The Hague for aiding and abetting rebels during the bloody conflict in Sierra Leone between 1996 and 2002. The violence in Sierra Leone shocked the world as thousands of civilians were caught up in the fighting. Limbs were hacked off as punishment, mass killings and gang rape were common and thousands of children were forced to fight or become sex slaves. The survivors still struggle with the mental and physical scars of their ordeals.
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During Sierra Leone fighting, limbs were hacked off as punishment
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Brima Sheriff says survivors still struggle with mental and physical scars
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He says Taylor's conviction sends signal authorities moving to end impunity
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Moves to hold perpetrators to account must be transparent and fair, he says
As in @placeholder, government and armed opposition groups used rape and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls as deliberate strategies, as a weapon of war and to instil terror.