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Members of Lower House of Legislature Adopts War and Economic Crimes Court Resolution

Monrovia, Liberia – The Liberian lower house of parliament has passed a motion calling for the creation of a court for war and economic crimes. Dr. Beth Van Schaack, the US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, visits occur simultaneously with the adoption. Decades after the bloody civil war that claimed thousands of lives and sent many more into exile, the resolution, if approved, would subsequently result in the passage of a law creating the Court.

A historic vote in support of the victims of the Civil War was marked by the resolution, which was signed by 40 out of 73 House members. Strangely, every member of Nimba County, the home of the erstwhile warlord Prince Johnson, voted against the resolution, with the exception of Taa Wongbe. Musa Bility, a businessman and recent county seat winner, did not vote.

The resolution requests that President Joseph Boakai collaborate with the UN, foreign partners, institutions, and civil society groups to help Liberia establish the Extraordinary Criminal Court in a way that will enable the prosecution of transnational crimes in conformity with international norms and best practices.

The resolution acknowledges that the civil wars that raged in Liberia between 1989 and 2003 caused death and destruction throughout the country, forcing nearly half of the population to flee their homes. Horrible abuses such as summary executions, massacres, rape and other sexual assaults, mutilation, torture, and the use of child soldiers are also mentioned.

The resolution further reminds us that Article XIII of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Liberia and the United States, which was signed on August 18, 2003, calls for the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to serve as a forum for discussing impunity and to give both victims and offenders of human rights violations a chance to share their experiences and gain a clear understanding of the past in order to promote real healing and reconciliation.

The resolution states that in order to formally establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC) and to investigate grave human rights violations, violations of humanitarian law, sexual offenses, and economic crimes that took place between January 1979 and October 2003, the Liberian legislature passed the Act to Establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC ACT) in 2005.

Furthermore, the resolution mentions that on December 19, 2009, the Liberian TRC delivered its final report to the National Legislature, suggesting the creation of an Extraordinary Criminal Court of Liberia, an international domestic court with the power to bring criminal charges against anyone suspected of grave human rights violations, serious violations of humanitarian laws, and specific domestic crimes.

All recommendations shall be implemented, and where the implementation of any recommendation has not been complied with, the Legislature shall require the Head of State to show cause for such non-compliance. These are the provisions stated in Section 48 of the TRC Act, which the resolution states. The Head of State shall report to the National Legislature regarding the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations within three months of receipt of the TRC report, and on a quarterly basis thereafter.

The resolution so declares that, in spite of being required to do so by the TRC Act, the government of Liberia has not yet completely carried out the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including the creation of an extraordinary criminal court for Liberia.

The resolution also bemoans the fact that, between 1989 and 2003, while Liberia was embroiled in armed conflicts, not a single individual was tried for serious crimes. The resolution states that the UN Human Rights Committee expressed concerns in July 2018 about Liberia, stating that “none of the alleged perpetrators of gross human rights violations and crimes mentioned in the TRC report have been brought to justice.” Liberia was urged to establish a process to bring about accountability for past crimes and report back on the issue of impunity and accountability for crimes eradicating civil wars by 2020. “Whereas the United Nations (UN) and other international partners have experience with the creation and functioning of war crimes courts, including courts with international and domestic participation and expertise,” the resolution states.

With a majority vote on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the Lower House decided to endorse the TRC’s recommendations in their entirety, especially the creation of an extraordinary criminal court in Liberia, and to cooperate with President Joseph Nyumah Boakai in this regard.

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