On 2 June 2017, she was arrested in London by the Metropolitan Police and charged with torture on the grounds of her suspected involvement with the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NFPL) rebel group, which was led by her ex-husband, during the First Liberian Civil War,[1] from 1989 to 1996.
[3] In 2003 the Security Council Committee established in resolution 1521 a list of Liberian individuals and entities subject to a travel ban and included Agnes Taylor.
· The charge of conspiracy to commit torture related to her alleged facilitation of the rape of captive women by soldiers in Charles Taylor's rebel forces (NPFL) · Three of the torture charges related to her alleged infliction of "severe pain or suffering", including assaults, on a 13-year-old child soldier.
[8][10] On 6 December 2019 the Central Criminal Court (The Old Bailey) in London decided to dismiss the charges against Agnes Reeves Taylor.
The Central Criminal Court ruled that the evidence presented by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) failed to prove that the NPFL had the requisite authority over the relevant territory at the time the crimes in question were committed.
[12] However, in its decision, the Court noted that “there is prima facie evidence that she held a high rank in the NPFL and (…) carried out, whether personally, or by giving orders, or by acquiescing in, the acts of torture (…) which took place in, or on the border of, Nimba County."
Civitas Maxima and the Monrovia-based Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP) provided the initial information to the UK authorities which led the Metropolitan Police to conduct an investigation into Agnes Reeves Taylor for several years.
[14]” In her written press statement issued the same day, she claimed that: “I have returned home to the land of my birth to also contribute to the building of our nation.
The UN body said that the Government of Liberian should make certain that “all alleged perpetrators of gross human rights violations and war crimes are impartially prosecuted and, if found guilty, convicted and punished in accordance with the gravity of the acts committed.” The Human Rights Committee's Observations required Liberia to report by 27 July 2020 on the implementation of the recommendations regarding accountability for past crimes.