Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Liberia)

Last updated

The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is a Parliament-enacted organization created in May 2005 under the Transitional Government. The Commission worked throughout the first mandate of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf after she was elected President of Liberia in November 2005. The Liberian TRC came to a conclusion in 2010, filing a final report and recommending relevant actions by national authorities to ensure responsibility and reparations. [1]

Contents

The Liberian TRC has garnered much criticism for its inability to address Charles Taylor and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The Special Court for Sierra Leone indicted Charles Taylor, the leader of the rebel group the National Patriotic Front of Liberia to which many of the crimes against humanity are attributed. This indictment prevented the Liberian TRC from hearing any testimony from Taylor. Sirleaf, on the other hand, was placed on a list of persons that should be barred from public office, a ruling which was later overturned by the Liberian Supreme Court.

Creation and mandate

The Liberian TRC's mandate was to "promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation" by investigating more than 20 years of civil conflict in the country and to report on gross human rights violations that occurred in Liberia between January 1979 and 14 October 2003. "Violations" are defined as violations of international human rights standards, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and any breaches of the Geneva Conventions. [2]

The goal of the Liberian TRC was to dispel falsifications and misconceptions of the country's past socioeconomic and political development. The TRC also strove to provide a forum to address issues of impunity and allow victims and perpetrators of human rights violations to share their experiences, thereby creating a clear picture of the past and facilitate genuine healing and reconciliation. To this end, the Liberian TRC was granted full independence from the Liberian government, to prevent potential biases among the commissioners and other TRC employees. [3]

The Liberian TRC was given full power to investigate gross human rights violations and systematic abuses of power in Liberia and, when possible, to identify individuals or groups that perpetrated these violations and to ensure accountability. The Liberian government took extensive measures to allow the TRC to gather information and create a thorough final report. Unlike the South African TRC, the Liberian TRC only had the ability to recommend candidates for amnesty to the Liberian government. The Liberian TRC could also make suggestions to the Liberian government regarding reparation and rehabilitation for victims; legal, institutional, or other reforms; the need for further investigation and inquiries into certain matters; and the need to hold prosecutions in particular cases. [4]

Commissioners

The government of Liberia appointed 10 members. [5]

The Final Report

The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was released on 1 July 2009. The Final Report was nearly 400 pages and included the mandate of the TRC, the methodology used in arriving at its findings, the background of the conflict in Liberia, a summary of its process of collecting information, reports of its findings, and finally its recommendations to prevent atrocities like those carried out by Charles Taylor and Prince Johnson. The Final Report took into account over 20,000 individual statements from Liberia, the United States, Nigeria, Europe, and Ghana. [6]

The final report dealt with the problems facing post civil war Liberia in two steps. The first determination of the Liberian TRC was a list of recommendations to the Liberian government for reparations to victims of the civil wars and reforms to prevent atrocities from reoccurring, and the second was a list of names of people who required additional investigation or were found to be deserving of amnesty. The Liberian TRC made a total of 47 recommendations to the Liberian government ranging from establishing national culture centers to promote Liberia's diverse culture to ensuring that perpetrators of gross violations of human right pay reparations to victims. The TRC made suggestions to ensure that victims of the Liberian Civil Wars received appropriate compensation and that perpetrators saw some form of punishment. They additionally suggested that resources and infrastructure be made available to settle any lasting problems or conflicts. The TRC recommended no blanket amnesty, but rather asked amnesty for those under the age of 18 when fighting and those that did not break any humanitarian laws. To the government, the TRC recommended many reformations to cultural systems in place including alteration of the national motto, a reduction of the number of political parties, enhanced regulation on political appointments, and an alteration of the official Liberian calendar to include holidays from multiple ethnic groups. Broadly, the Liberian TRC propositioned that the Liberian government promote a culture of respect for human rights, ensure the protection of women and children, and decentralize the Liberian government's power. [7]

Alongside the recommended policy changes, the TRC provided seven lists of persons or groups requiring extra investigation or deserving of amnesty. The final report listed 57 people or entities recommended for further investigation; 19 corporations, institutions, and state actors responsible for committing economic crimes; 21 individuals for committing economic crimes; 98 of the most notorious people that committed gross human rights violations; the eight leaders of the warring factions; and, lastly, a list of 50 persons recommended for sanctions. The TRC recommended that all individuals and entities noted as most notorious or requiring further investigation have a formal trial in the Liberian justice system. [8]

Among the list of persons that should be "specifically barred from holding public offices; elected or appointed for a period of thirty (30) years" for "being associated with former warring factions" was Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the current president of Liberia. [9] On 26 July, Sirleaf apologized to Liberia for supporting Charles Taylor, adding that "when the true nature of Mr. Taylor's intentions became known, there was no more impassioned critic or strong opponent to him in a democratic process" than she. [10] On 28 August Liberia's parliament announced they must "consult our constituents for about a year" before deciding whether or not to implement the Commission's recommendations. [11]

Charles Taylor debate

Charles Taylor was a radical revolutionary in Liberia during the first Liberian Civil War and, after the death of Samuel Doe, was elected president of Liberia in 1997. During Taylor's rise to power and during his term as president, however, he carried out multiple atrocities against both the Liberian people and the people of Sierra Leone, grossly violating international humanitarian laws. After the second Liberian Civil War and Taylor's fall from power in 2003, the SCSL issued an indictment for Taylor's supposed involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War. Through the SCSL, Charles Taylor faced trial in 2009, [12] receiving a guilty verdict on all charges on 26 April 2012. [13]

While Charles Taylor did face prosecution and punishment through the SCSL, many are now criticizing the Liberian TRC for not having access to hear Taylor's testimony. Without Charles Taylor's version of Liberia's Civil Wars, the rewriting of Liberia's history is arguably incomplete, leaving the Liberian people vague as to the role he actually played in the humanitarian violations in Liberia. Priscilla Hayner, the a co-founder of the International Center for Transitional Justice, established three guidelines that Truth and Reconciliation Commissions should follow to ensure due process: the accused should be notified of the allegations held against them, they should be given the opportunity to respond to the charges, and the TRC should make clear in their final report that their findings on individual responsibility do not amount to criminal guilt. Because the Liberian government handed Charles Taylor over to the SCSL, they, and the Liberian TRC, lost access to Taylor, preventing him from testifying before the TRC and preventing a full truth of the events in Liberia from being constructed. [14]

Impact

The Liberian TRC impact locally was minimal. In January 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in Williams v. Tah, a case brought by one of the people listed to be barred from public office in the TRC report. Their ruling stated that the TRC's recommendation on who should be allowed to hold office was an unconstitutional violation of the listed individuals' right to procedural due process, and that it would be unconstitutional for the government to implement the proposed bans. This decimated a large portion of the TRC's recommendations, allowing people that perpetrated or aided in gross human rights violations to remain in power in Liberia. Additionally, the other recommendations that the TRC made have not been followed, lowering the local impact to essentially none. Even though the government has not instituted the recommendations made by the TRC, 73% of Liberians had heard of the TRC and 62% believed their proposed changes should be implemented. However, only 39% of Liberians believed that the TRC actually helped promote peace and unity in Liberia. [15]

While the Liberian TRC did not drastically alter the political situation in Liberia, it did take steps in the truth and reconciliation process that other TRCs had not taken. The TRC worked with The Advocates for Human Rights, a U.S. based organization to help promote Liberian diaspora communities in the TRC's work, the first time a TRC had gathered statements and hearings in this method. These diaspora communities allowed the TRC to gather statements from the refugees that had fled during the Liberian Civil Wars. The Liberian TRC also broke new ground in recommending prosecution of groups that committed economic crimes. These crimes ranged from tax evasion to aiding and abetting war crimes. Even though the TRC did not have its suggestions enacted by the Liberian government, the steps they took in the truth and reconciliation community will likely be taken into consideration by Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in the future. [16]

Criticisms

The Liberian TRC has faced much criticism for a variety of reasons. Critics have claimed that the TRC lacked adequate funding, competent staff, and sufficient infrastructure. The government's failure to follow through on the recommendations made by the TRC has reflected poorly on the Liberian Truth Commission's image. In 2008, Amnesty International criticized the TRC's inability to publicize its policies on reparation and prosecution, as well as the commission's policies on protection for victims, lack of general amnesty for those that provide information, and inability to provide individual reparations. The TRC also ran past its indicated period of activity, which caused the final hearings and the report to be rushed to meet the mandated deadline. This hurriedness caused a disconnect between the names recommended for prosecution or to be barred from office and their specific crimes along with a general lack of evidence to support the claims made by the TRC. The Liberian TRC's lack of power has been pointed out and further demonstrated by the Liberian government failing to enact any of their recommendations. Beyond having its recommendations ignored, the list of individuals recommended to be barred from office was found unconstitutional by the Liberian government. This ruling allowed President Sirleaf, who was recommended to be barred from office, to remain in power, garnering much international criticism. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)</span> Restorative justice tribunal in post-apartheid South Africa

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa in 1996 after the end of apartheid. Authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, the commission invited witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations to give statements about their experiences, and selected some for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)</span> President of Liberia from 1997 to 2003

Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor is a Liberian former politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 22nd president of Liberia from 2 August 1997 until his resignation on 11 August 2003 as a result of the Second Liberian Civil War and growing international pressure.

Prince Yormie Johnson is a Liberian politician and former warlord who has served as a senator for Nimba County since 2006. A former rebel leader, Johnson played a prominent role in the First Liberian Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rettig Report</span> 1991 report by a Chilean truth commission documenting human rights abuses

The Rettig Report, officially The National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation Report, is a 1991 report by a commission designated by Chilean President Patricio Aylwin detailing human rights abuses resulting in deaths or disappearances that occurred in Chile during the years of military dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet, which began on September 11, 1973 and ended on March 11, 1990. The report found that over 2,000 people had been killed for political reasons, and dozens of military personnel have been convicted of human rights abuses. In addition, many reforms have been made based on the recommendations of the report including an official reparations department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truth commission</span> Commission tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing

A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government, in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. Truth commissions are, under various names, occasionally set up by states emerging from periods of internal unrest, civil war, or dictatorship marked by human rights abuses. In both their truth-seeking and reconciling functions, truth commissions have political implications: they "constantly make choices when they define such basic objectives as truth, reconciliation, justice, memory, reparation, and recognition, and decide how these objectives should be met and whose needs should be served".

The Saint James Church massacre was a massacre perpetrated on St James Church of England in South Africa in Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa, on 25 July 1993 by four members of the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA). Eleven members of the congregation were killed and 58 wounded. In 1998 the attackers were granted amnesty for their acts by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equity and Reconciliation Commission</span> Moroccan human rights and truth commission

The Equity and Reconciliation Commission was a Moroccan truth and reconciliation commission active under a two-year mandate from 2004 to 2005 focusing on human rights abuses committed during the Years of Lead mainly under King Hassan II's rule.

Truth-seeking processes allow societies to examine and come to grips with past crimes and atrocities and prevent their future repetition. Truth-seeking often occurs in societies emerging from a period of prolonged conflict or authoritarian rule. The most famous example to date is the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, although many other examples also exist. Most commonly these are carried out by official truth and reconciliation commissions as a form of restorative justice, but there are other mechanisms as well.

The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission was a commission of inquiry appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2010 after the 26-year-long civil war in Sri Lanka to function as a Truth and reconciliation commission. The commission was mandated to investigate the facts and circumstances which led to the failure of the ceasefire agreement made operational on 27 February 2002, the lessons that should be learnt from those events and the institutional, administrative and legislative measures which need to be taken in order to prevent any recurrence of such concerns in the future, and to promote further national unity and reconciliation among all communities. After an 18-month inquiry, the commission submitted its report to the President on 15 November 2011. The report was made public on 16 December 2011, after being tabled in the parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Liberia</span>

Human rights in Liberia became a focus of international attention when the country's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was named one of the three female co-winners of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, all of whom were cited "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work".

Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) was established in 2008. Kenya's modern history has been marked not only by liberation struggles but also by ethnic conflicts, semi-despotic regimes, marginalization and political violence, including the 1982 attempted coup d'état, the Shifta War, and the 2007 post-election violence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Woewiyu</span> Liberian politician (1946–2020)

Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, also known as Tom Woewiyu or Thomas Smith, was the former leader of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), with Charles Taylor.

The Commission of Inquiry to Locate the Persons Disappeared during the Panchayat Period (1990–1991) is a truth commission established in Nepal in 1990 after the end of the autocratic Panchayat Regime by the first post-Panchayat Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattharai. The commission was set up to examine allegations of human rights violations and inquire about enforced disappearances during the Panchayat system from 1961 to 1990. A report was officially submitted to the government in 1991, but it was made public only in 1994. The commission identified 35 persons disappeared on about one hundred studied cases. However, no alleged perpetrators were judged.

The Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a truth commission created as part of the Lomé Peace Accord, which ended the 11-year civil war conflict in Sierra Leone in July 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Peru)</span>

Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a truth and reconciliation commission established by President Alejandro Toledo to investigate the human rights abuses committed during the internal conflict in Peru between 1980s and 1990s. The TRC was a response to the violent internal conflict between 1980 and 2000 during the administration of Presidents Fernando Belaúnde (1980–1985), Alan García (1985–1990), and Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000). The commission's mandate was to provide a record of human rights and international humanitarian law violations committed in Peru between May 1980 and November 2000, as well as recommend mechanisms to promote and strengthen human rights. The TRC reported on the estimated 70 000 deaths, assassinations, torture, disappearances, displacement, employment of terrorist methods and other human rights violations executed by the State, Shining Path, and the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. The report concluded that there is both institutional and individual accountability, as well as identifying racial and cultural factors that became a catalyst for conflict.

The Ad Hoc Inquiry Commission in Charge of the Question of Disappearances was a truth commission created in 2003 to investigate the forced disappearance of people during civil conflict. Its creation took place after the election of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who then set up a National Human Rights Institution. Thereafter, the Commission was set up in order to give people the truth about what happened in the 1990s. However, its report was not made public and consequently, Algerians are not aware of the fate of their relatives.

The Commission Dialogue, vérité et reconciliation was sworn in by President of Ivory Coast Alassane Ouattara on September 28, 2012 in response to the post-election violence of the 2010-2011 Ivorian Crisis. The 11-member Commission, led by former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, consisted of religious leaders, regional representatives and Ivorian Chelsea soccer player Didier Drogba. The Commission was modelled on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and given two years to complete its mandate to investigate past human rights violations and provide recommendations on how to prevent future abuses and provide reparations to victims. In addition to gathering private statements from victims, the CDVR organized public hearings, during which victims confronted perpetrators in front of CDVR commissioners. However, the lack of television broadcasts from the commission and minimal media coverage meant that powerful witness statements had little impact across the country. Since the completion of the report and final recommendations, Ouattara has not published the final report, in spite of several calls to that effect. The CDVR led to the creation of the Commission Nationale pour la Réconciliation et l’Indemnisation des Victims (CONARIV) on March 25, 2015 with a compensation fund of 15 million Euros.

The Maher Massacre took place during the Second Liberian Civil War in Maher, Bomi County, on July 18, 2002.

Hassan Bility is a Liberian journalist, and the founder and Director of the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), a non-governmental organization dedicated to the documentation of war time atrocities in Liberia and to assisting victims in their pursuit of justice for these crimes.

References

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.