Figures from country’s violent past cruising to legislative posts

Ex-combatants accused of grisly war crimes could soon be answering to “Honorable Member,” after Liberians voted overwhelmingly to hand them seats in the country’s new parliament. Ex-warlord “General Peanut Butter” might be known as a brutal militia leader under notorious former president Charles Taylor, but to youth in Nimba County he is the right man for the job. “Many young people in this county regard him as a hero who helped defend against rebels,” Saye Gbelli, a youth leader in Nimba, told IRIN. With no outright winner from the 11 October presidential contest, Liberians are scheduled to vote on 8 November in a second round between footballer George Weah and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Provisional final results from the National Election Commission on Friday gave Weah 28.3 percent followed by 19.8 percent for Johnson-Sirleaf. Lawyer and businessman Charles Brumskine came third with 13.9 percent. The returns from 3,070 polling stations also showed overwhelming leads in parliamentary races for an ex rebel commander linked to the hacking death of former president Samuel Doe, the wife and the one-time son-in-law of Taylor - both accused of continued close ties with him, and an ex-police chief accused of torture. Nearly 75 percent of Liberia’s eligible voters turned out for the ballot, a sign that the people are pinning their hopes on the elections as a turning point after a war that killed hundreds of thousands and essentially flattened the country’s infrastructure. But the spectre of past violence continues to haunt the present. Human rights groups warned before the elections that allowing villains from the past to serve in government was a risk. Diplomats earlier this year wrangled over whether to allow people suspected of war crimes or other offences to run, but those favouring keeping them within the fold won out. New York-based Human Rights Watch said in September, “The abusive records of these men and women, none of whom were ever prosecuted for alleged crimes, raises concerns that they may resort to force and other extra-legal measures to circumvent and subvert Liberia’s political process and the legal system.” The group’s report cited Adolphus Dolo (aka General Peanut Butter); Taylor's former son-in-law, Edwin Snowe; his wife, Jewel Howard Taylor; and former police official, Saah Gbollie - all of whom have taken wide majorities in their districts or counties. In its September report, HRW said Gbollie, while serving as deputy national police chief under Taylor, “was directly implicated in the arrest, beating and torture” of a journalist and a human rights lawyer. Gbollie – who has won the most votes for the lower house seat for Margibi County - denies any such act. “I committed no abuse in my past,” he told IRIN. “My people have confidence in me and that is why they elected me as their representative.” Ex-warlord Prince Johnson, who led the faction that murdered Doe, is now an evangelist. Along with Dolo, Johnson looks set to win a senate seat in Nimba County. “Prince Johnson is very popular with the people in upper Nimba since during the 1990 civil war when he broke away from Charles Taylor’s rebel faction,” youth leader Ggelli said. Snowe is one of several Liberians under a UN travel ban and other restrictions, accused of trying to foment unrest in the country and funnelling money to Taylor in exile. “I have no link with Mr Taylor,” he told IRIN on Friday. “I have sent him no money and I challenge anyone to prove it to the contrary.” Snowe said, “I have been advocating for Mr Taylor to face justice to vindicate himself of the charges against him.” He insisted Taylor would have no influence over him in his post as parliamentarian from one of the 14 districts in the capital, Monrovia. Taylor’s wife, who is also under a UN travel ban and assets freeze, is on her way to winning one of the two senatorial seats in Bong County. Official results of Liberia’s first election since the 2003 end of a 14-year war will be released by 26 October. As for the skeletons in the closets, candidates accused of past misdeeds say that since Taylor fled, the slate has been swept clean. “Those raising [claims of past abuses] should go and ask Charles Taylor in Nigeria,” said former police chief Gbollie. “He headed the government and he is answerable for it.”