In Liberia, a Tricky Path to Justice

Last week, Liberia took a big step towards bringing justice to a nation torn apart by civil war. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) presented its recommendations for who should be prosecuted, and who should be sanctioned, for their roles in the bloody violence waged between various factions from 1989 to 2003.

Here in the capital city of Monrovia, the mood has been a mixture of relief and heightened anxiety. And outside this African nation of 3.4 million people, established in 1822 by Americans as an enclave for freed slaves, the world watches and waits to learn the answer to the key question. Can this medicine concocted to heal the wounds of war be administered without provoking a new, violent reaction?

Villains named after 20,000 testify

The TRC produced three lists of people it recommended banning from public office or prosecuting for either economic or violent crimes. Those lists are rife with ex-generals, politicians, businessmen, former rebel leaders and, to the general surprise of observers, calls for President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to not be eligible for re-election.

Since the release of the recommendations, debate in Liberia has raged over the legitimacy of the findings -- the official end to three years of TRC testimony from some 20,000 people.

However, says TRC Chairman Jerome Verdier, these recommendations are a necessity for Liberia's progression. "Once we create the environment of accountability and justice, reconciliation will flourish in a better way than if we do not give people hope that our country will be a new country where the rule of law will prevail and all men will be equal before the law, especially when a crime is committed."

Although many agree that this is true, coming up with an effective way to implement these changes and deliver justice to Liberia will mark an even greater challenge than the TRC process itself.

Drained public faith

Although the TRC is not responsible for enacting their recommendations, the overall lack of respect for their work will mar the potential of seeking assistance to help enact their findings. Nationwide criticism and disinterest in the process belie the international support behind the creation of the TRC. Infighting, accusations that two of the nine commissioners committed war crimes, and the unprofessional appearance of the commission have drained public faith in its worth.

Admittedly, the TRC had no easy task. Very few Liberians played no role in the conflict; directly or indirectly, by choice or not, almost every person supported a warring faction at some time or another. Though certain leaders, generals and financiers played greater roles than average citizens, the line demarcating levels of culpability is far from crystal clear. "In some ways," a local journalist told me outside a recent TRC press conference, "everyone is guilty, and everyone is innocent." This may be a defeatist lens with which to view justice in the country, but the underlying point is valid: guilt must be looked at in relative terms here.

Another significant challenge lies in the fact that the majority of alleged perpetrators in the conflict hold top positions in government or business, and continue to carry the support of those loyal to them during the war. Unsurprising then that many former commanders have offered numerous public statements decrying the TRC, calling its findings unjustified and politically motivated.

Why Sirleaf made the list

Not surprising, however, is that the TRC's three lists of recommendations -- one for perpetrators to be prosecuted for violent acts, one for economic crimes and one that would ban people from public office for the next 30 years -- included numerous senators, representatives, ministers and other well known public figures.

That Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf found herself on the list was met with greater shock. Despite rumours of this in the local press last week, many believed they were just that. Nonetheless, the official TRC report recommended her to be barred from office for the next 30 years.

The reasons for her presence on the list are relatively simple. "Sirleaf openly supported at least two rebel movements," says Yale professor and popular development blogger Chris Blattman, "Charles Taylor's attempt to overthrow President Doe in 1989, and LURD's [Liberians United for Reconciliation for Reconciliation and Democracy] invasion to oust Charles Taylor a decade later."

In her official TRC testimony, she only admitted to giving Taylor US$10,000 in support of his quest for power, claiming she was misled by his intentions. This, she stated, was the extent of her role in the conflict.

The TRC commissioners believe demonstrable evidence suggests otherwise. And, they ruled, since Sirleaf chose not to abide by the mandate of the TRC to come forward and disclose fully truthful accounts of her role in the war, she should forfeit her ability to further hold public office. Undoubtedly, this will make a bid for her re-election in 2011 difficult. But not impossible; justice does not always follow predictable lines in Liberia.

Senior senator a former torturer

Prince Johnson topped the list of perpetrators recommended for prosecution. Johnson, currently a senior senator and the most vocal critic of the TRC, led a break off faction from Charles Taylor's initial rebellion. His troops took control of Liberia's main port in 1990, and he appears in a video, sipping a Budweiser as his bodyguards cut the ears off of then-president Samuel Doe, before torturing him to death.

Though he now expresses remorse for having to kill Doe, he also emphasizes that it was a necessary action. "We all regarded Doe a dictator, and we all did well to revolutionize the country," Johnson told me in an interview conducted in his office.

Predictably, Johnson was incensed following the official release of the first draft of the report last Thursday evening. "This is a gross violation of existing laws," Johnson said from the senate halls, before a private talk in his office. Face to face, Johnson displays his characteristic intensity, speaking passionately about the shortcomings of the TRC.

Once at his desk, Johnson pointed to a law formed in 2003 that grants amnesty to any actions during the war years, 1989 - 2003.

"This is an act to grant immunity from both civil and criminal proceedings from acts or crimes committed during the civil war from December 1989 - August 2003," he reads from, then passes me a copy of the bill to verify. "Approved August 2003, published by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Liberia," he said with special emphasis.

In order to bring the so-called justice the TRC recommends, Johnson explains, laws will have to be subverted. "This," he added, "is not justice."

'If it is true, I will have to apologize'

Thomas Yaya Nimeley, former head of the warring faction MODEL (Movement for Democracy in Liberia), further explained that the TRC also failed to meet one of its significant mandates: to have victims and perpetrators exchange dialogue about the past, and find means to resolution. "If I hurt [someone], the victim must be able to have the opportunity to sit down with [me] and say 'you hurt me'. And, if it is true, I will have to apologize... there should be the opportunity for the perpetrator and the victim to sit down face to face."

Failures such as these, he argues, invalidate the findings of the TRC, and delegitimize its recommendations. He now stands publicly with eight former adversaries -- all leaders of various warring factions in the conflict -- united by the idea that they should not be unjustly indicted.

This unlikely alliance and their accompanying public declarations have brought a sense of unease to both national and international observers in the country. Even outside of this unexpected meeting, numerous reporters expressed their fears in seeing some of these leaders speaking powerfully in public: their past records are not exactly such that Liberians feel altogether comfortable seeing ex-rebels denounce the TRC's recommendations towards a greater peace for the country. Many believe these men should face punishment for their actions.

Nonetheless, this group will certainly hold influence in how justice will play out in Liberia. They, along with other politicians, powerful businessmen and citizens on the lists will also play a significant, no doubt highly controversial, role in shaping the views of the legislature, when they will eventually have to either vote for or against the TRC's recommendations.

Back to square one?

If the TRC's recommendations fail to achieve approval, Liberia will be back to square one. With the already limited funds used up, and no mechanism to apply any formal justice to perpetrators of the grotesque violations of human rights or violence that tore the country apart for so long, a serious chance exists that some of Liberia's worst offenders of the war will never face justice, and Liberia will be worse off for it.

For now, the country holds its breath and waits to see if a process said to pursue "truth and reconciliation" can really bring about such lofty goals -- or whether it has instead placed a too heavy strain on Liberia's already fragile peace.

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