Impunity for Past Crimes Key Concern
PHOTO: Flashback images of the 14 years brutal Liberian civil war
Monrovia, October 29, 2020) – Countries will review Liberia’s human rights record during the 36th session of the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council on November 2, 2020, a dispatch from the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday.
Liberian officials will participate in the review, which will be broadcast live from 13:30 to 17:00 GMT and will be viewable at: http://webtv.un.org/.
Ahead of the review, Liberian, regional, and national nongovernmental organizations submitted a stakeholders’ report. It highlighted the need for Liberia – and President George Weah’s administration – to finally take concrete steps to create a war crimes court to try civil wars-era atrocities committed in the country, and to request UN assistance in creating the court.
The United States government, along with the German and UK governments, submitted questions to the Liberian government in advance of the review about its plans to carry out the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations on bringing accountability for past crimes.
Liberian activists spoke about the need for a war crimes court in a panel on October 12 in advance of the review, a recording of which is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_af-NkRIuRA.
“Liberians have waited too long for justice for wartime atrocities and deserve to see the government move ahead with a war crimes court,” said Elise Keppler, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch.