Truth Commission now at work

Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Monday announced it had begun collecting information on alleged human rights abuses and atrocities linked to the country’s 14 years of civil war. The commission, which was officially launched in February by the then barely one-month-old government, is to look into a quarter-century of coups, instability and war that began in January 1979 and ended in October 2003. On announcing its launch, newly elected President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said the Commission would offer “hope” to Liberians working to overcome the trauma of war. “This commission is our hope,” she said. “To define the past on our behalf in terms that are seen and believed to be fair and balanced, and bring forth a unifying narrative on which our nation’s rebuilding and renewal processes can be more securely anchored.” In a statement on Monday, the commission said it was collecting information on "human rights violations of any kind whether as witness or victim including massacres, killing, looting, rape, arson." It would also seek to establish the role of international actors during the conflict, whether they be individuals, institutions or governments, to see whether they had a negative or positive impact on the conflict. The commission said it aimed to receive data also on what it called "Economic crimes and corruption". The commission was created under a comprehensive peace agreement signed in August 2003 by Liberian warring parties and civilians in place of a war crimes tribunal and was subsequently enacted into law by Liberia's past power-sharing transitional parliament in June 2005. But there has been a mounting public campaign for the establishment of a war crimes court instead of a truth commission. And last week, the Liberian parliament debated a petition by a group named Forum for the Establishment of a War Crimes Court demanding the trial of former warlords. The group's petition included a catalogue documenting abuses. Presidential spokesman Cyrus Badio told reporters however that Sirleaf disapproved of the formation of a war crimes court. "All Liberia needs is a truth and reconciliation commission now to heal the wounds of the past," the spokesman said. Since the end of the war, key figures from past violence have entered parliament, including Prince Johnson, a former warlord in the early days of the civil war, and two former armed group commanders. This has left many Liberians wondering whether some individuals would be immune from abuses of the past. But the head of the nine-member commission, renowned rights advocate Jerome Verdier, has insisted that no one will be permitted to hide. "No Liberian will be immune from appearing before this TRC," Verdier said. "The commission is a forum providing an opportunity for victims and perpetrators of human rights violations to share their experiences, in order to create a record of the past and facilitate genuine healing and reconciliation". AK/CCR/SS