Liberia Launches Truth and Reconciliation Commission

June 22, 2006
http://www.ictj.org/en/news/features/961.html

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) today welcomed the launch of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), presided over by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf at a public ceremony in Monrovia.

Today's events marked the official start of the TRC's two-year mandate to investigate human rights abuses that occurred between 1979 and 2003. In that year, a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was adopted in Accra, Ghana, ending an era of intensely violent civil strife and ushering in the first period of relative calm in more than 14 years.

"Today's ceremony emphasized a tremendous national desire to understand, reckon with, and move forward from Liberia's traumatic history," said Director Priscilla Hayner, head of the ICTJ's Liberia program and a participant at today's launch. "This marks a potentially crucial milestone in Liberia's transition-from a period of despair to a time of healing and hope-that will require the courage to face painful truths and a commitment to the pursuit of justice. It was encouraging to hear President Johnson-Sirleaf's promise to support the TRC in facing up to the complex challenge of pursuing restorative and retributive justice for Liberia-both key to addressing the needs of victims."

The TRC is composed of nine national members, all of whom were selected after a widespread consultative process and nominations from the general public in the fall of 2005, with help from a selection panel chaired by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Since its inauguration in February 2006, Commission members have been engaged in preparatory activities in advance of today's operational launch, including extensive public outreach both within the country and to the Liberian diaspora community spread throughout the world. The TRC hopes to involve those dispersed communities in the truth-telling process.

An aggressive outreach and awareness campaign is currently underway within the country, calling for widespread participation from all members of society. The Commission's chairman, attorney Jerome J. Verdier, also recently toured the United States to encourage Liberians living there to participate in the process, reflecting the TRC's strong commitment to hearing from as many victims and witnesses as possible to determine the truth about Liberia's violent past.

"To really move on from this era in our history, we need Liberians to come together in a common forum to investigate the crimes that took place, discuss our problems, and explore possible solutions," said Verdier, a key speaker at today's event. "We will need to hear the truth from as many victims and perpetrators as possible. At the same time, we recognize that for our country to move forward, the Commission will have to recommend institutional reforms, advocate the prosecution of certain crimes, and establish a firm record of the atrocities that took place here. To create a peaceful future, we will have to rewrite our own history."

Although the TRC's temporal mandate covers the period ranging from 1979 to 2003, it is also authorized to look more deeply into Liberian history to uncover and analyze social divisions, economic disparities, and other factors that may have contributed to the recent conflict.

"We must look at the deep roots of conflict in our society if we hope to address issues of impunity in our country," said Verdier. "Time cannot be a limiting factor to our investigations. We will look as far back as possible to understand what allowed such mass atrocities to take place."

Today's ceremony, attended by several hundred people, was the first in a series of events meant to generate discussion, educate, celebrate, and inform the public about the Commission. A public conference on transitional justice,
co-hosted by the ICTJ, the Liberian TRC, and a coalition of national NGOs known as the Transitional Justice Working Group, will take place on Friday, June 23. It will be followed by a national "jubilee" on June 24 and 25, featuring music, festivities, public outreach, and religious ceremonies. From June 26 to 28, the ICTJ will conduct a seminar bringing together representatives from former truth commissions to speak with members of the Liberian TRC.

The TRC will have two years to conduct its investigations. At the end of its mandate, it will have three months to produce a comprehensive final report, detailing its findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Background

With the departure of former president Charles Taylor in August 2003, Liberia entered its first period of relative calm in more than 14 years. That same month, a Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in Accra, Ghana, mandated the eventual creation of a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), passed into law by the National Transitional Legislative Assembly in June 2005. After several months of public consultations, on October 19, 2005, the names of the nine Commissioners were formally announced to the Liberian public.
Following the first elections held since the departure of former president Charles Taylor, on November 23, 2005, the National Elections Commission declared Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf President of Liberia. In February 2006, she inaugurated the TRC, giving it three months to make preparations. From the time of her election, President Johnson-Sirleaf has publicly supported a truth-seeking and reconciliation process for Liberia.


(To read the formal act establishing the TRC, see: http://www.ictj.org/static/Africa/Liberia/liberiatrcact.eng.pdf
To view the official website of the TRC, see:
http://www.trcofliberia.org)

The ICTJ in Liberia

Since January 2004,the ICTJ has worked closely with the UN Mission in Liberia and the Transitional Justice Working Group-a coalition of national NGOs- to provide extensive advice on the creation of the TRC, as well as on all Commission-related work. In August of that year, Center staff attended a three-day workshop held in Monrovia to discuss and debate proposed TRC legislation.

ICTJ staff returned to Liberia several times during the first half of 2005 to finalize the TRC act and worked closely with civil society, the UN Mission in Liberia, and government officials to plan for the TRC's operation. In August 2005, at the invitation of ECOWAS, the Director of the ICTJ's International Policymaker's Unit, Priscilla Hayner, led a two-day training for the TRC Selection Panel. She also worked closely with civil society and others to advocate for broad public engagement in the process of nominating commissioners and for the transparency of the selection process.

In January 2006, the ICTJ established an office in Monrovia, staffed by two local consultants. Since then, it has held intensive meetings with the TRC, local NGOs, civil society, and government representatives; conducted intensive trainings on the subject of truth commissions; and has been actively engaged in establishing Liberia's security sector reform program.

(To read more about the ICTJ's work in Liberia, see: http://www.ictj.org/en/where/region1/589.html)

About the ICTJ

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved.

In order to promote justice, peace, and reconciliation, government officials and nongovernmental advocates are likely to consider a variety of transitional justice approaches including both judicial and nonjudicial responses to human rights crimes. The ICTJ assists in the development of integrated, comprehensive, and localized approaches to transitional justice comprising five key elements: prosecuting perpetrators, documenting and acknowledging violations through non-judicial means such as truth commissions, reforming abusive institutions, providing reparations to victims, and facilitating reconciliation processes.

The Center is committed to building local capacity and generally strengthening the emerging field of transitional justice, and works closely with organizations and experts around the world to do so. By working in the field through local languages, the ICTJ provides comparative information, legal and policy analysis, documentation, and strategic research to justice and truth-seeking institutions, nongovernmental organizations, governments and others.