Interactive Capacity Building Workshop for Statement Takers (TRC press release)

December 29, 2006
http://www.trcofliberia.org/press.htm

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia is this week preparing Statement Takers for redeployment throughout the country. About one hundred and ninety-two (192) Statement Takers are currently benefiting from a three day Statement Taking refresher course being facilitated by the TRC and some of its partners at the Commission’s head office in Sinkor Monrovia.

The exercise is intended to provide statement takers with additional readiness skills to enable them record accurately and appropriately the statements of victims, witnesses and others recounting their experiences of human rights violations in the country.

The three day workshop is in accordance with the TRC’s work plan and timeline for the implementation of various phases of its mandate. The workshop comes in the wake of current reassessment exercise into initial statements from Statement Takers in the field.

According to the planning process of Statement taking, Statement Takers who were initially deployed for 2-3 weeks in October are expected to return to their various Counties of assignments for full scale statement taking following the workshop. Evaluation of the initial statement forms has been concluded and all necessary improvement and corrections made. Statement Takers will resume collecting statements from the public finally commencing January 2007.

In his opening remarks, the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia, Cllr. Jerome Verdier said, Statement Takers should be honest about the task of Statement Taking. The Chairman said, “it is better for you to record one accurate statement, then to record several statement s from your imagination.”