The British haven’t lifted a finger for Reeves, despite the spying he did for MI6. Nor have the Americans, having seemingly forgotten that Reeves risked his life to identify al-Qaeda operatives whom the U.S. holds responsible for the murder of more than 200 people, including 12 Americans. Reeves says he isn’t bitter. He co-operated with anyone he thought could bring Taylor to justice. He never asked for or was promised anything in return, and doesn’t think he’s owed anything now.
Reeves’s fate will be decided at an admissibility hearing held by the Immigration and Refugee Board, likely later this year. A good lawyer might be able to argue his case, but he can hardly afford one. Reeves faces being deported to Liberia. He won’t be safe there, says Crane. Some will seek revenge. Others will want to protect themselves against what Reeves might say at future trials to address war crimes committed in Liberia. “If word ever got out that he was there,” says Crane, “I would not give him long.”
If Reeves is deported, his life will have unfolded pretty much as Charles Taylor predicted when he warned Reeves not to testify against him because the international community would use and then discard him. Taylor might have been a brutish dictator and war criminal, but he got that right.
