Joseph Boakai, who secured a slim victory in opposition to incumbent George Weah in a November run-off election, is ready to be inaugurated as Liberia’s new president on January 22.
The 78-year-old political veteran received the tightly contested race on a promise to handle corruption, work in direction of societal “peace and reconciliation” and ship justice to the numerous victims of Liberia’s civil wars (in 1989-1997 and 1999-2003), which killed greater than 200,000 individuals and displaced thousands and thousands of others.
As twenty years have handed for the reason that finish of the most recent spherical of battle, and as many accused of conflict crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity at the moment are of their previous age, Boakai’s upcoming six-year time period as president could also be Liberia’s final window for significant conflict crimes accountability and justice.
The duty by the hands of the brand new president, nonetheless, is neither simple nor straightforward.
Previously 20 years, a number of makes an attempt have been made to try to maintain perpetrators of conflict crimes accountable, with little success.
In 2005, following within the footsteps of neighbouring Sierra Leone, which was recovering from its personal battle (a battle that was very a lot intertwined with that of Liberia), the Liberian parliament enacted a Reality and Reconciliation Fee (TRC). 4 years later, in 2009, the TRC launched its closing suggestions, together with reparations to victims of the civil wars, reforms to forestall atrocities from reoccurring, the institution of a particular court docket for conflict crimes, and the banning of sure implicated people from holding workplace till their names are cleared. The fee’s checklist of individuals to be “barred from holding public workplaces” for “being related to former warring factions” was intensive and even included then-President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Nonetheless, most of TRC’s formidable suggestions, together with the urged political bans on outstanding people and institution of a conflict crimes tribunal, stay unimplemented to this present day. Amongst different elements, that is largely as a result of civil conflict actors who attained political energy after the conflict have been utilizing their positions to sabotage makes an attempt at accountability and justice inside Liberia.
This is the reason, through the years, most survivors of the civil conflict who’re in search of judicial justice have needed to flip to international courts, which have from time to time tried former warlords who settled exterior Liberia after the conflict. In sure instances, these warlords had been tried immediately for the crimes they dedicated in Liberia beneath the precept of common jurisdiction. In others, they had been prosecuted for “immigration fraud” for not declaring their historical past as a warlord in the course of the immigration course of. Nonetheless, international courts managed to attempt solely a small variety of people to this point, and typically, survivors of the crimes perpetrated by these people who stay in Liberia didn’t get to comply with, and thus meaningfully contribute to and profit from, these prosecutions.
President-elect Boakai, who hails from Lofa, one of many counties most affected by the horrors of the civil conflict, has promised to finish this reliance on international courts and convey justice and accountability again house by establishing a particular conflict crimes tribunal in Liberia.
However, many at the moment are questioning the reliability of this dedication due to Boakai’s all-important political alliance with former strongman Prince Yormie Johnson, who’s the senator for Liberia’s second-most populous county, Nimba. Senator Johnson, whose assist helped assure Boakai’s electoral victory, has all the time been vocal about his opposition to the institution of a particular conflict crimes tribunal.
The one impediment in entrance of the institution of a tribunal is just not Boakai’s problematic political alliances, both. Previously 20 years, Liberian authorities did little or no to doc conflict crimes, file eyewitness testimonies, and usually protect proof in regards to the conflict. In consequence, proving conflict crimes dedicated throughout Liberia’s civil wars has grow to be tougher and tougher through the years. This lack of sufficient record-keeping meant that trials of Liberian warlords going down in different international locations needed to rely extensively on witness testimony, which made it more and more tough to safe convictions.
After so a few years, the witnesses to civil conflict atrocities could discover it exhausting to precisely recall what they’ve seen and skilled in the course of the conflict, as evidenced in some international trials. . This implies if Boakai doesn’t institute a conflict crimes tribunal now, and make sure that testimony from all dwelling witnesses is securely recorded, Liberia could by no means get an opportunity to meaningfully prosecute conflict crimes dedicated throughout its bloody civil wars.
Whereas it stays unsure whether or not Boakai would be capable to maintain his marketing campaign promise of building a particular tribunal, and whether or not such a tribunal would achieve success in convicting perpetrators in any case these years, there are different, rather more simple steps the brand new president might take to ship justice to survivors, encourage reconciliation, and improve social concord.
First, he might develop the scope of and improve funding for the few current group justice and reconciliation mechanisms within the nation, such because the Palava Hut Program. This programme, outlined in TRC’s closing report in 2009, brings victims and perpetrators of lesser war-related crimes – equivalent to arson, assault, pressured displacement, pressured labour, destruction, theft of properties, and looting – collectively in a protected house and permits for truth-telling, forgiveness, and reconciliation beneath the steerage of conventional elders. At present, the programme visits just a few cities per 12 months and assist a really restricted variety of individuals. In response to the United Nations, till August 2023, Liberia’s Palava Hut Program resolved solely 277 instances that concerned solely 500 individuals inclusive of victims and perpetrators. That is even supposing hearings began in 2016. With many perpetrators dwelling alongside victims inside communities, the scaling up of the Palava Hut Program might ship justice and foster forgiveness and reconciliation for lesser crimes of the civil wars at a group degree. The non-retributive nature of this group justice mechanism additionally implies that it may well assist tackle the difficulty of crimes dedicated by baby troopers, who can’t be held totally accountable and punished for the heinous acts they carried out beneath duress and sometimes beneath the affect of medication they had been pressured to take.
Second, the brand new authorities might arrange a reparation programme for the victims and survivors of Liberia’s civil wars, which might assist additional societal reconciliation and therapeutic with out burdening the state with hard-to-secure prosecutions. Whereas direct reparations is perhaps impracticable as the complete inhabitants was immediately or not directly affected by the conflict, the federal government might select to pay reparations to communities that suffered the worst atrocities within the type of group initiatives and extra public companies, equivalent to remedy. A fund may be set as much as present direct reparations to victims who’re struggling bodily challenges as a result of abuse they endured in the course of the conflict.
Third, Boakai’s authorities might assist international courts prosecuting Liberian conflict criminals within the diaspora, and encourage future prosecutions by offering these courts with any info they could want about suspects on their radar. The federal government might additionally assist publicise these trials in Liberia, and provides the general public an opportunity to comply with the proceedings in actual time by way of native media organisations.
Fourth, the brand new authorities might begin meaningfully and systematically documenting the numerous crimes dedicated in the course of the wars – not solely to acknowledge the struggling of the victims, but in addition to tell future generations and forestall the repeat of such atrocities. A museum documenting the conflict and its many horrors – and regional memorial parks in recognition and honour of all those that misplaced their lives to the battle – may be established. These initiatives won’t price an excessive amount of cash or trigger vital controversy, however they may engender nationwide therapeutic.
“Now we have a job forward of us to do and I’m excited that the residents have given us approval,” Boakai informed the media shortly after the outcomes of November’s run-off election had been introduced. “Before everything, we wish to have a message of peace and reconciliation.”
If Liberia is to actually depart conflict behind, heal its wounds, and begin constructing itself a affluent future, the brand new president has to reach delivering that message of “peace and reconciliation”.
The strongest such message could be the institution of a particular tribunal for conflict crimes that may lastly carry justice again house to Liberia. But when the president, like these earlier than him, finds this to be an advanced job, there are nonetheless methods by which he might sign to the people who Liberia is prepared for reconciliation, growth and sustainable peace.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
