A shipping company with ties to an infamous West African war criminal is bringing added scrutiny to the Terry McAuliffe campaign for two large donations it made this past year.
The Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR) was granted a contract by former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was given a 50-year sentence for counts including the planning of murder, rape, sexual slavery, and enforced amputations.
LISCR is also a frequent target of organized labor, making it an odd partner for the McAuliffe campaign, which has received overwhelming support from unions.
Companies like LISCR are used as a means for ships to avoid labor regulations and mask its true ownership, according to labor leaders.
The company is a frequent target of organized labor, making it an odd ally for McAuliffe, who enjoys robust union support. As an open registry — known as a "flag of convenience" — it does not require a ship’s owner or crew to be Liberian, attracting vessels seeking lower taxes and wage requirements than in their home countries. Seafarers’ unions view the system as a means for ships to skirt labor regulations and mask their true ownership.
Flags of convenience "are generally unaccountable, nontransparent, secretive, and almost never there when real action needs to be taken to protect those working on their vessels," David Heindel, secretary-treasurer of the Seafarers International Union, the largest North American union representing merchant mariners, said in an email.
LISCR was associated in 2001 with Taylor’s efforts to arm rebels who committed atrocities in Liberia’s neighboring nation of Sierra Leone, though the company states that investigators found them not to be guilty of any "wrongdoing."
LISCR, currently one of the top 20 donors to McAuliffe’s campaign, said the donation was made as a personal gesture from the company’s chairman, Yoram Cohen, who is a friend of McAuliffe.