Monrovia – Renowned female lawyer Cllr. Pearl Brown Bull is calling on the Government of Liberia to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) recommendations, which it made to the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led administration at the end of its (TRC) mandate.
Cllr. Bull indicated that the implementation of the recommendations will foster peace and reconciliation in the country.
Speaking on behalf of she and her 13 other graduates from the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary on Thursday, Cllr. Bull emphasized the need for the implementation of the TRC report.
According to Cllr Bull, the Legislature must say something about the report if they mean well for Liberia.
She preached on the theme: “When You Meet Jesus,” from the text John 20:7, a sermon that had everyone bursting into laughter intermittently.
She said her call for the implementation of the TRC report for the past nine years has not been adhered to by the past leadership.
Cllr. Bull, a signatory to the 1986 Constitution and one of the Commissioners of the TRC, lamented that it is disheartening that the government has not considered a review of the report something, she further stated that the past government raised as possibility before but with no actual results.
“Unity and reconciliation is what we need in Liberia. I urge the Legislature, the Government of Liberia to do something about the TRC report. We need justice in this country and the TRC report will help us get everlasting peace, unity and reconciliation in this country.”
“For the past nine years, I had been going from country to country calling for the implementation of the TRC report,” Cllr. Bull noted.
Speaking further, Cllr. Bull said the implementation of the TRC report will serve justice to the people of Liberia.
The program was attended by Justice Minister Cllr. Musa Dean and Associate Justice Cllr. Kabineh Ja’neh.
The TRC’s mandate was to promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation by investigating more than 20 years of civil unrest in the country and to report on gross human rights violations that occurred in Liberia during a specific period in the nation’s history.
The goal of the TRC was to dispel falsifications and misconceptions of the country’s past social, economic and political development.
It also strived 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.
Unlike the South African TRC, the Liberian TRC only had the ability to recommend candidates for exoneration to the Liberian government. The TRC could also make suggestions to the government of Liberia regarding reparation and rehabilitation for victims.