Chauffeur Killed in Liberia
By Associated Press

September 20, 2002, 4:07 PM EDT

MONROVIA, Liberia -- A chauffeur for Liberian President Charles Taylor's
son was beaten to death after damaging his employer's car, the victim's
fiance and officials said Friday. 

Isaac Gono was ordered killed after he hit a dog and scratched the car,
Gono's fiancee Muna Tarpeh said. She claimed Taylor's son, Charles
"Chucky" Taylor, ordered the killing. 

The government blamed a junior commander in the elite Anti-Terrorist
Unit headed by the younger Taylor and promised to punish those
responsible. Gono was a lieutenant with the unit. 

Gono died Wednesday evening after a severe beating. He was also made to
squat down and stand up again 500 times, Tarpeh said witnesses told her.


"Isaac was tortured to death," she said between sobs. 

The Defense Ministry confirmed Friday that Gono was beaten in the
younger Taylor's compound, but said Taylor was asleep elsewhere at the
time. 

The statement said an unidentified officer in the unit ordered the
beating. Those involved had been turned over to authorities, it said. 

Taylor's father, a former warlord, came to power in elections held after
the West African country's brutal 1989-1996 civil war. He has repeatedly
been accused of human rights violations. 
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

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