zaterdag 12 september 2026

Dutch War Criminal Dead

Guus Kouwenhoven died, age 84. Sentenced to 19 years years in prison by a Dutch court, 'Mr. Gus' - like 'Bolle Jos' - was yet another Dutchman on the loose, financing presidential power, be it with diamonds, timber or drugs. 

His 'boss', Liberian president Charles Taylor was convicted in the Netherlands by the Special Court of Sierra Leone and is locked up for the rest of his life in a high-security prison in Durham, England, but Kouwenhoven never saw the inside of the cell that was waiting for him.

The Liberian Daily Observer writes:

It is about how the country's extraordinary natural wealth —particularly its forests— was transformed into a financial and logistical resource for a war machine, how international businesses benefited from that system, and how ordinary Liberians paid the price.

Kouwenhoven's importance went beyond logging. A United Nations expert panel described him as a “member of President Charles Taylor's inner circle” and linked him to the logistical aspects of arms deals. The UN placed him on its travel-ban list in 2001. The relationship was brutally transactional.

Timber went out. Weapons came in.




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