By Throble Kaffa Suah, Freelance Journalist
The head of the United Nations Human Rights office in Liberia says accountability facilitates the discovery of truth behind past atrocities and knowing the truth aids reconciliation and sustainable peace.
Dr. Uchenna Emelonye, the UN Human Rights Commission’s Country Representatives said in Monrovia at the weekend that to move Liberia to a true national healing, enduring reconciliation and sustainable peace, more needs to be done by the government, its partners, including civil society organizations to ensure accountability.
UN Human Rights official was speaking during a one-day National Justice Conference on Friday, November 9, 2018, which was dubbed: “Opportunities and Challenges for Truth and Justice in Liberia for Past Crimes.”
The forum brought together over 100 delegates drawn from local and international civil society organizations, diplomats, officials from public and private sectors, religious groups, war civil victims and survivors.
Also in attendance were the defunct Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) former commissioners including Massa Washington, John T. H Stewart, Deddeh Dolopei, Pearce Brown-Bull, and its Executive Director Nathaniel Kwabo as well as National Election Commission’s former Chairman, James Fromoyan
The conference was organized by Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform, Liberia with support from Advocates for Human Rights, Center for Justice and Political Rights, Center for Justice and Accountability, Civitas Maxima, Global Justice and Research Project and Human Rights Watch.
Mr. Emelonye stated among many things that it is not prescriptive on accountability processes or methodology, provided it meets international standards.
He said in the case of Liberia, accountability in whatever form chosen must primarily be a Liberian led endeavor, nationally owned, complaint with international standards, credible in the eyes of the victims and must lead to a durable peace and reconciliation.
Conceding that seeking accountability is a big task for Liberia to undertake vis-à-vis all its circumstances, the UN rights official said there lies huge national opportunities and gains.
“Accountability is a veritable platform to forestall the circumstances that allowed the violations to occur in the first place and responds to the sufferings of the victims and the restoration of their dignity,” the UN official said.
Mr. Emelonye furthered: The envoy indicated that it is pertinent to note that the accountability framework for Liberia has been fashioned by the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2009.
“It is on this pedestal that the human rights committee, in its concluding observations in July 2018, on the initial report of Liberia, regrets the very few steps taken to implement the bulk of the TRC recommendations, including the fact that alleged perpetrators of gross human rights violations and war crimes mentioned in the TRC report have not been brought to justice,” Mr. Emelonye noted.
The UN rights official then asked how does a country with a history of gross violations of human rights reckon with its past to shape its future? How can such a country ensure accountability, discourage impunity and achieve lasting reconciliation?
According to him, this is a dilemma for most post-war countries including Liberia.
“I can feel and see from where I sit that Liberians are more determined now than ever to put the dark history of the conflict behind them,” Mr. Emelonye stressed.
The head of the UN Human Rights office in Liberia believed that Liberians desirous to close that ugly chapter of their history and turn a new page to sustainable peace as they await the transformational promises of the recently launched Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development(PAPD).
Also speaking at the Monrovia Justice Conference, the former Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Stephen Rapp emphasized the need that victims of Liberia’s civil war deserved justice; therefore, those perpetrators who bear the greatest responsibilities must be prosecuted.
Mr. Rapp, who is the United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, indicated that United States position is to work with the nationals of that nation to put things in place and when that is done, there would be lot of developmental assistance.
He recounted his experience in working with various war crimes’ courts in Africa including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, pending one in South Sudan among others as well as in Europe, South America and elsewhere.
Mr. Rapp said United States as one of the close friends of Liberia that will support the future of the country in order to move forward, but it must be done with justice. Rapp was the third prosecutors of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) who prosecuted former President Charles Taylor.
On financing the court, the US envoy for Global Criminal Justice Rapp said Sierra Leone Special Court survived on contributions from United Nations’ membership as well as individuals of goodwill; as such, Liberia cannot be exempted.
Montserrado County’s Electoral District #4 Representative, Rustonlyn S. Dennis, Chairman House of Representative Standing Committee on Claims and Petitions said that the National Legislature is undesired or inability about how to proceed with the TRC process.
Rep. Dennis expressed the legislators’ apprehension on the timing, funding estimated at US$250M and insecurity thereof associated with the country. Dennis stated Liberia readiness to address the past.
But the Liberian female Lawmaker said that the government has to take into account all of the international treaties signed as it needs to know who are to be charge and who are not to be.
In an earlier statement, the Secretary of the Civil Society Organizations Platform the campaigner advocating for the establishment of war crimes court in Liberia, said the issue of accountability remain shackle as the past continued to hunt the country.
Mr. Adama Demspter said there are four main issues hunting Liberia and they included impunity of past human rights, administrative justice, customary and land rights need to be address so as to move forward.
“This conference was a result of effort made by civil society organizations in Liberia. Because there are crimes that were committed back to back here but these crimes remain in shackle 11 years after the country ratified the treaty to address human rights abuses but nothing has being done until now,” Demspter noted.
On the lack of justice to date, with litigation moving forward in Europe, and the United States, Hassan Bility, Head of the Global Justice and Research Project, rejected any instability in Liberia again.
Reflecting on octopus Tuesday, 15 October 1992, Mr. Bility said if one of the fearful people during the civil war can dropped his arm and ran from Liberia, an apparent referenced to Nimba County’s Senator Prince Johnson than that means nobody will stage instability here again.
Noting that some members within the state security apparatus are ex-combatants of various factions, Mr. Bility boasted that there is no need for fear.
The fear of the victims have now shifted to the perpetrators, because the government will enforce the law as the country has long way to go because nobody here with weapons anymore, according to Mr. Bility.
However, observers and participants who attended the conference fears or concerns border on “insecurity or instability” setting up a war crimes court would have. And they think if not handled with care, it could drive away investors for already the struggling economy and could stall developmental programs initiative in the country.
Furthermore, loyalists, sectionalism or ethnic card could play out as heads of former factions are still influential.
On the other hand, there are many others who think it is long overdue that justice be brought for the hundreds of thousands of victims of the 14 years of senseless civil war in Liberia. They also believe that this will go a long way in ending impunity when perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity will be brought to book.
Meanwhile, campaigners and victims for justice on the establishment of the war crimes court in Liberia are expected to protest Monday, 12 November 2018 in Monrovia.
Their dress code is blue or black jeans with white t-shirt. One of the organizers announced at the conference said the march is intended to exert pressure on government by the international community to set-up tribunal so as to implement the TRC report.