Monrovia – Victims of atrocities of Liberia’s 14 years of civil war wishing for retributive justice can certainly not depend on a Charles Brumskine presidency for the kind of justice they are yearning for.
Report by Lennart Dodoo, [email protected]
“We have to realize that we are a people different from other people. What we need the international community to do now is to help us rebuild our country. “
“There is no statute of limitation on crimes, especially felonies. We can always go after people later on, but right now, I will do nothing that will disrupt the peace of the country.”
The Liberty Party standard bearer speaking to media executives Monday at the party’s headquarters in Monrovia said his government, if elected, would rather focus on rebuilding and restorative justice, noting that this is not the time for retributive justice.
There would be no time for the establishment of war crimes court in Brumskine’s government, but he believes there will always be time for retributive justice which would not be part of his agenda.
Brumskine: “My ultimate goal is that justice will be served. Those who committed war crimes would be shamed and those who were victimized would be made whole and we can accomplish this through the process of restorative justice.
“We have to realize that we are a people different from other people. What we need the international community to do now is to help us rebuild our country.”
“There is no statute of limitation on crimes, especially felonies.”
“We can always go after people later on, but right now, I will do nothing that will disrupt the peace of the country.”
Many Liberians, especially victims of gross human rights violations find it troubling that perpetrators of such atrocities are freely gallivanting around with impunity – some hold high ranking positions in government while others are opting to be the country’s next President.
Realizing the need to fully reconcile the country after years of brutal civil war, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up in 2006 “to promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation” by investigating gross human rights violations and violations of humanitarian law, sexual violations, and economic crimes that occurred between January 1979 and October 2003.
Part of the Commissions mandate was to provide a forum against impunity, establish the record of the past and compile a public report with findings and recommendations.
In 2009, the TRC completed its investigation and recommended amongst other things, the establishment of an Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal for Liberia and named individuals, corporations and institutions recommended for prosecution or, in some cases, for further investigation.
The commission also included a list of individuals recommended to be barred from holding public office for thirty years (including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf).
The commission urged the Government of Liberia to guarantee the full enjoyment of social, economic and cultural rights, in addition to civil and political rights.
The TRC recommended that the Government of Liberia assumes its full responsibility under international law to provide reparations for all those individuals and communities victimized by the years of instability and war, especially women and children.
The commission also recommended a reparation program of approximately US$500m over 30 years and general amnesty for children and amnesty for lesser crimes in an effort to foster national healing and reconciliation if individuals admit their wrongs and express remorse.
But the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been selective in the implementation of the recommendations.
Many experts, including the United Nations has repeatedly said that though Liberia enjoys some level of sustainable peace, the country’s remains fragile to the its failure to reconcile wounds from the past.
The implementation of the TRC recommendations, in the view of many of Liberia’s international partners like the UN, the European Union, amongst others is the surest way of ending the culture of impunity and solidifying the country’s peace.
However, these international partners have said it is up to Liberians to demand the implementation of the TRC recommendations.
However, the Liberty Party leader believe that Liberia could be better off focusing rebuilding rather than prosecuting people associated with the war.
Brumskine believes Liberia’s democracy has matured enough and there have been two consecutive democratic elections which, according to him, suggest that Liberians are prepared to move ahead and rebuild their country instead of prosecuting perpetrators of war.
“The primary concern of the Liberty Party, however, is to reconcile our country, ensure that we have peace and stability and rebuild this country to the benefit especially of the poor and oppressed Liberians,” he averred.