MONROVIA – Establishing a war and economic crimes court for Liberia has always been a matter of political will from the Liberian government. The country’s biggest ally, the United States of America, has on many occasions pledged its commitment to providing the finance and technical support for the establishment of the tribunal in order to serve justice to victims of the 14-year civil war.
In 2022, Beth Van Schaack, the US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, echoed the United States government’s willingness to provide Liberia with all the needed support when she said, “The Liberian government has to be accountable to its people. The US government is willing to support through technical and financial means to establish a tribunal.” She made the statement while visiting Liberia in October that year.
By Lennart Dodoo
Schaack, who advises the US Secretary of State and other senior officials on issues relating to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, said it was time for the government of Liberia “to be accountable to its people”.
“The TRC report has some useful recommendations to address war crimes and atrocities. We encourage those in positions of power to look very carefully at those recommendations. It is never late to dispense justice. The individuals who suffered the crimes are still calling for justice and those who represent them should look into those calls,” Schaack further stated.
Schaack noted that the US government has played a pivotal role in fostering accountability in West Africa, including in the landmark trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor by the Sierra Leone Special Court.
“The Lutheran massacre was not done by rebel forces but government forces,” Schaack noted. “This is why it does not matter who is in charge as leaders… It is a government case. “I don’t think it is about creating a big court. It won’t be like the tribunal in The Hague.”
“Creating hybrid courts to address cases close to the people is now the model. No one is taken from the country to another country for trial or sentence.”
Schaack re-emphasized her government’s stance in an open letter to Liberians she published two months after her visit to Liberia.
She noted: Liberia faces many challenges when it comes to justice and accountability, not only for the terrible war crimes committed during two consecutive civil wars, but also for subsequent crimes and corruption. Impunity is corrosive; when it is allowed to flourish in one sector, it will undermine the foundations of peace and the rule of law across an entire society.
The overwhelming message we heard on our visit was a call for those with the power to do so to implement the important recommendations of the 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC). These recommendations reflect the wisdom of Liberian leaders and experts in law, human rights, theology, and journalism. The TRC commissioners were tasked with the awesome responsibility for generating a framework to prevent a return to mass violence in Liberia, answer the call of victims and survivors for justice, and hold accountable those most responsible for war crimes and other atrocities.
Notwithstanding the recommendation of the TRC to establish an Extraordinary Criminal Court for Liberia, with a mandate to investigate war crimes and economic crimes, the only justice Liberians have enjoyed to date has occurred in foreign courts. This includes the verdict in France against Kunti Kamara, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for complicity in crimes against humanity, torture, and acts of barbarism.
Boakai Made Commitment
Now, with President Joseph Boakai showing commitment to the establishment of the court as declared in his inaugural speech, the establishment of the tribual seems to be gaining some steam.
In his inaugural address in January, President Boakai addressed the issue: “We have decided to set up an office to explore the feasibility for the establishment of a War and Economic Crimes Court (WECC) to provide an opportunity for those who bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity to account for their actions in court.”
Winneba, Ghana Reportedly Chosen
Despite Schaack’s 2022 statement that with the new model, no one is taken from his/her country for trial or sentencing, information gathered by FrontPageAfrica indicates that Ghana is slated to be the venue for the hosting of Liberia’s long-awaited War and Economic Crimes Court.
Perpetrators from the country’s 14-year brutal fratricidal conflict will be tried and if convicted serve their sentences in the Ghanaian seaport town of Winneba, FrontPageAfrica gathered.
Winneba is a fishing town and capital of the Effutu Municipal District in the Central Region of Southern Ghana and lies 140 kilometers East of Cape Coast.
FrontPageAfrica has learned that negotiations are said to be concluding over the venue as the administration of President Joseph Boakai finalizes plans with international stakeholders pressing for the establishment of a war and economic crimes court for Liberia. The US Embassy has made it clear to Liberian officials that it considers the establishment of a War and Economic Crimes Court pivotal to ending impunity and putting Liberia on the path of national reconciliation and economic development.
Accordingly, some US$200 million has been set aside to finance the court’s operations, FrontPageAfrica gathered. What is unclear is how much of that money will come to Liberia and how much will go to Ghana.
The Court Must in Liberia – Cllr. Verdier
Cllr. Jerome Verdier, Chairman of the defunct TRC and now a war crimes court advocate based in the United States believe that establishing the court outside Liberia would deprive Liberians the social and economic benefit of the court. He also said, it would deprive Liberians of witnessing justice being served on their own soil.
“Liberians should have the benefit of seeing justice… “The economic benefits for establishing the court, the social benefits for establishing the court, the healing and recovering process for establishing the court should be in Liberia,” he said.
Cllr. Verdier dismissed the popular notion that the establishment of the court in Liberia could have a negative security impact on the country. He said, Liberians are no longer willing to go back to war just to please a few group of people who may not be satisfied with the status quo.
Between 1989 and 2003, the Liberian civil war resulted in the estimated deaths of 150,000 to 250,000 men, women, and children, and the displacement of over half the country’s population. All parties to the conflict were responsible for grave crimes and human rights atrocities, including torture, rape, sexual slavery, summary executions, and forced conscription of child soldiers.
