Col. Foday Anyoto MD's career of torturing people for his government has finally caught up with him. An arrest warrant for crimes against humanity has been served and he is in prison in Dakar. But the international court said it did not have sufficient resources to prosecute such a low rank officer. Sierra Leone, Col. Anyoto's own country, has agreed to hold a pretrial hearing to decide if he should be brought up on criminal charges in Sierra Leone. Sophie Thompson, a new attorney with the UN Human Rights Council, is ...
Read More
Col. Foday Anyoto MD's career of torturing people for his government has finally caught up with him. An arrest warrant for crimes against humanity has been served and he is in prison in Dakar. But the international court said it did not have sufficient resources to prosecute such a low rank officer. Sierra Leone, Col. Anyoto's own country, has agreed to hold a pretrial hearing to decide if he should be brought up on criminal charges in Sierra Leone. Sophie Thompson, a new attorney with the UN Human Rights Council, is assigned to present the evidence to the hearing. Arriving in Dakar, she is surprised to be given an assistant, Heloise Gbethi who is a law school intern with the UN. Heloise grew up in a co-op where women rebuild their lives after being tortured in Sierra Leone. She becomes Sophie's guide to the politics that protect torturers and to Africa. The two women work against a judge from the same government that employed Anyoto to convey the humanity of those who Dr. Anyoto's abused. The hearing and ruling have profound consequences for the two women, for Dr. Anyoto and his family, and for human rights groups in Sierra Leone. The author, Dr. Miles, is internationally known for his research of physicians who torture for their governments and for his efforts to hold them accountable. This is a historical novel based on truth.
Read Less
