PHOTO: Nimba citizens react
By Vivian Woyah
KARNPLAY CITY, Nimba County – As talks heat up about establishing a war and economic crimes court following the signing of the resolution by both houses of the Liberian Legislature, residents of Karnplay in Nimba County, have expressed mixed reactions about the move.
When the Liberian Senate on April 9, 2024, signed the resolution agreeing with the House of Representatives for a court to be set up to prosecute people responsible for Liberia’s war atrocities, two infamous former warring faction leaders, now senators were among senators who signed the resolution.
Nimba County Senator, Prince Johnson, former leader of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), and Thomas Yaya Nimely, of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), now senator of Grand Gedeh County, were among the 28 senators who affixed their signatures marking a significant step towards accountability more than two decades after the end of the devastating civil conflict.
Liberia’s two brutal civil wars which lasted from 1989 to 2003 killed an estimated 250,000 people, saw the use of child soldiers, and displaced thousands some of whom have yet to return to the country. Despite international and domestic demand, Liberia has yet to try anyone for crimes committed during the bloody conflicts, which resulted in massacres, mutilation, rape, and cannibalism.
Nimba County in Northern Liberia, the second largest county in this West African nation, was considered Prince Johnson’s stronghold and has gained so much regard even further being considered the political godfather of the country long after the war.
Johnson, a fierce critic of the establishment of the war and economic crimes surprised many including residents of Karnplay when he was among the senators who overwhelmingly endorsed the establishment of a long-awaited war crimes court.
“I just want to praise God that the old man (Prince Johnson) took the bold steps to sign that document, we embraced the idea because everyone was looking at Price Johnson.”
Sixty-one-year-old Sam Gayegumtoah, cotenant fell as he looked sadly and slowly pointed to a mass grave in Karnplay zone 2 in which he said about a hundred people including his father were buried.
In the 1990s, the 62-year-old said the murder of his father by men he said were believed to be Samuel Doe’s troops forced him to join Charles Taylor National Patriotic Front of Liberia, which fought alongside Prince Johnson against Samuel Doe’s military.
But, two decades since the end of the wars, Sam is among many Liberians who hold the belief that impunity for war crimes atrocities must end.
“Those who were involved that killed innocent civilians in Karnplay from that time up until now, nothing has been done about them, and so I embrace the idea of the war crimes court coming to Liberia.”
Sam Gayegumtoah told this paper that not only would the court put an end to war crimes impunity, but would also prevent the country from slacking back into hostilities and civil unrest noting that when people are prosecuted for their crimes but would set a precedent.
“The war crimes court is very important, and it would teach people lessons,” he said. Adding that “If people are guilty and sentenced for life or some years, people would not be able to bring war here anymore.
The former NPFL fighter also stressed that a war crimes court would set the pace to ending public corruption, and misuse of government’s resources and help to develop the country since corruption was one of the major factors that contributed to the country’s 14 years of brutal civil wars.
“When the war crimes court comes, people will not be able to steal the country’s money and use the big term embezzlement. If people steal, they will be carried to court and it will help to improve our country.
Gayegumtoah described the decision by warring faction leader, Prince Jonson as a step in the right direction, but said the court process would befit the country provided if the court does not target only one group of people or targeted at one person.
Jerome Titus a youth in the area agrees with Sam Gayegumtoah that a war and economic crimes court is the way to go, adding that war perpetrators and financiers of the war atrocities must pay for their roles in the wars. He said it happened when he heard that the man he and many perceived to be a key challenger of the court signing the war crimes court resolution.
“I feel fine about the court coming to Liberia because during the past, people did so many things and nothing has happened to those people.”
Other residents in Karnplay who spoke to this paper said it’s been several years of peace as such setting up a war crimes court would be a recipe for conflict or one that could trigger political instability and further divide the country.
They want Joseph Boakai’s administration to abandon its plan of setting up a court fearing that Liberia’s peace is still fragile.
“I am not happy for war crimes court to come to Liberia, so those who sign the paper, they should go back and erase it and let the war crimes court business cease.” 52 years old Annie Gweh said
Victoria Sonkalay, and Betty Nulay, petty traders both share the thoughts that the new administration must focus its efforts on providing basic social services to improve the living conditions of the poor and unite the country rather than establishing a war crimes court.
Since the Liberian wars ended in 2003, not a single perpetrator of the war has been prosecuted within Liberia. Only a handful of Liberian war victims have been able to get justice following a few international war crimes trials in Europe of America where some former Liberian warlords have been tried for war crimes committed in Liberia.
Long-serving, civil society and human rights advocate Madam Yah Balleh described a war and economic crimes court as a very important step to moving the country forward saying that, justice for war crimes would help victims of the wars heal.
“Though we’ve passed the war, we have somehow forgotten but we still have the stigma and trauma,” she said adding that “Liberia can never grow unless we start to hold people accountable. I feel that war and economic crimes court is very important.”
Responding to fears across some devise of the Liberian communities elsewhere in Nimba that a war and economic crimes could risk or stir trouble, Yah Balleh Suah disagrees.
“It’s not about an individual, it’s about us Liberians because if justice is not done, there would be another group that would wake up some days and say we are going to get rid of that president, and we could go into another problem. So we should establish this court so that others will be deterred”
In 2009, Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommended the establishment of a war crimes tribunal, but this has largely gone unheeded, particularly in the name of peacekeeping as many accused warlords remained influential in Liberia’s governance system.
One of the most prominent of these is current senator Prince Johnson, shown in a video sipping the beer of the country’s former president Samuel Doe while fighters under his command tortured Doe to death in 1990.
As mixed reactions heap debates throughout Nimba of Senator Prince Johnson affixing his signature to the resolution for the setting up of a war crimes court Liberians wait to see how soon a bill for the court, comes fast. This story is produced by FeJAL Mentorship Fellow, through the support of Internews USAID, Year III Media Activity Reporting Program. The funder has no say in the story content.