Statement Taking and Awareness in the US (TRC press release)

March 20, 2007

TRC Commissioner Massa A. Washington has been visiting several key cities and states in the United States, among them Minnesota, Philadelphia and Atlanta, to create awareness of the TRC process and get the Liberian community involved.

Addressing Liberians in the US, she said that the importance of the “expansion of the TRC process to include Liberians in the Diaspora cannot be overemphasized, considering the pivotal role of Liberians, particularly in the United States, in the body politic of Liberia. Liberians abroad stuck with their homeland through thick and thin assuming various roles at different times in our national history especially in the peace process. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission recognizes the importance of the Diaspora community and is determined to give it a voice in this all important national process.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner Pearl Brown Bull on a private visit to the States, met 200 members of the group ‘Liberia First’ and members of the People’s Christian Church in Durham, North Carolina. The pastor of the church, Reverend Cecilia Towah, introduced the Commissioner and asked the faithful and Liberians everywhere to pray for the work of the TRC and to participate in the process. Commissioner Bull talked to them about the TRC mandate and the process in Liberia, encouraging the audience to give their statements. “You may not have waged the war but you can contribute to the peace,”she said.

The Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, a pro bono group of lawyers that represents the TRC in the US and supports its work by providing voluntary services, material resources and the funds for the diaspora programme in the US. The group has started taking statements in Minnesota and will extend the programme to other states shortly.