Summary:
- Armed men broke into the offices of the Global Justice and Research Project, a war-crimes investigation group, in an incident the organization said police are investigating.
- Human rights groups urge the Liberian government to protect witnesses and investigators after a rise in threats and attacks.
- The attack comes as witnesses who testified in war crimes trials in the United States and Europe say they have been threatened.
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives
Armed men broke into the offices of the Global Justice and Research Project last month, targeting Liberia’s leading organization investigating civil war crimes, according to security guards, and alarming activists who say threats against victims, witnesses, and investigators are rising.
According to Hassan Bility, director of the group, security guards said three armed men – one carrying a single-barreled gun and two carrying cutlasses – jumped into the compound (the location of which is withheld for security reasons) by climbing on top of an adjacent uncompleted building after electricity from the national grid had gone out in the neighborhood.
He said the intention was to intimidate him from doing the work that has brought more than a dozen accused perpetrators in the United States and Europe to justice in the last decade.
“The armed men told the security guards to tell me they ‘knew where I lived,’” said Bility. “And no matter what, ‘they would get at me, at any and all costs.’”
Bility, who has faced numerous threats for his work over the years, said nothing would stop them. “Nothing can discourage the Global Justice and Research Project and its partners from fighting for justice… They cannot scare us.”
A portion of the 16-foot fence surrounding the offices of the Global Justice and Research Project, which the group says were recently broken into by armed men.Credit: Global Justice and Research Project.
The organization and its international partner Civitas Maxima, have supported three cases set to go to court in the next year against accused warlords Saturday Tuah, Martina Johnson and Moses Wright.
In the wake of the attack leading local and international human rights organizations are urging the Liberian government to step up protection for human rights defenders and those cooperating with war-crimes investigations, especially as Liberia’s war and economic crimes courts are due to start in the coming year.
In a joint statement, four human rights organizations — Human Rights Watch, the Global Justice Center, Civitas Maxima and the Global Justice and Research Project — condemned the incident and called for stronger protection for those involved in justice efforts.
“It is crucial for individuals to participate in justice processes freely without fear of reprisal.”
The organizations said they stood in solidarity with the Global Justice and Research Project and called on the government to establish “a war crimes court with a robust and specialized victim and witness protection unit.”
A rainboot left behind by the assailants during the break-in, according to the Global Justice and Research Project.
Bility said his investigators had faced intimidation before, including from individuals he said were linked to former fighters from Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia and the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy.
Although he said he was “NOT surprised at all” by the latest incident, Bility said he could not directly identify those responsible.
“I honestly believe the men were sent by people whose commander or commanders might have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed… through the Global Justic and Research Project and its partner, Civitas Maxima.”
The two organizations have helped investigate and document 16 war-related crimes and supported the prosecution of suspects in courts in the United States and Europe. Civitas Maxima, like the Global Justice and Research Project, has also faced threats and attacks.
The break-in occurred the same day that a witness FrontPage Africa/New Narratives is identifying only by his middle initial, N., to protect him from retaliation, said he received threatening text messages for testifying in a U.S. case against Layee Sekou Camara, a former commander with the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, the rebel group known as Lurd, in 2025.
In the messages, reviewed by FrontPage Africa/New Narratives, the sender indicated that they knew he had been relocated with his family but warned that relocation would not protect him.
“There’s no hiding place for your a***,” the text said.
Camara, also known as “K-1,” is serving a 57-month prison sentence after he pleaded guilty in a United States court to lying about his rebel activities during Liberia’s civil wars.
In January N. said that he had also been tortured under the command of Mayama Sesay, known by her war name, “Black Diamond” in 2003 and feared for his safety after her recent deportation to Liberia by U.S. authorities.
Like Sesay, Camara was a commander in the Lurd. Maxwell Grigbsy, director of the Witness Protection Agency of Liberia, said the government was “assessing the threat level” that N. had faced. Recently, he said that the agency had spoken to him about the situation.
Bility said N. was one of six witnesses who testified against Camara and who were later relocated by his organization for safety reasons. Both Bility and N. said they had reported the threats to the Liberia National Police, including its Criminal Investigation Division and Anti-Robbery Unit.
Meanwhile, Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia, which is overseeing the establishment of a war and economic crimes court and a national anti-corruption court, told a monthly transitional justice stakeholders’ meeting on Thursday that he and his staff had also faced renewed threats.
Barbu said afterwards that they “are doing this work at the peril of our lives.” He declined further comment, saying the matter had been referred to the police.
Gregory Coleman, inspector general of the Liberia National Police, did not respond to requests for comment on the status of the investigations.
Police officers were seen on the compound of the Office during the transitional justice stakeholders’ meeting, though it was unclear whether their presence was related to Barbu’s complaint. It’s been months since police were last seen at such meetings.
Oswald Tweh, Liberia’s justice minister, did not respond to inquiries about the attack, including what measures the government had put in place to prevent similar attacks.
A national protection policy for human rights defenders has been drafted with support from the United Nations and civil society. Although consultations and conferences — including discussions in 2025 — have taken place, the framework has yet to be formally adopted and implemented.
The fresh threats come as Liberia debates establishing a long-delayed war and economic crimes court. Six separate bills have been drafted proposing the creation of the court and a national anti-corruption court.
Tiawan Gongloe, a former solicitor general and a veteran human rights lawyer, said the attacks were concerning but not unexpected.
“We are in a battle zone between rule of law and lawlessness,” said Gongloe, who himself said he faced numerous death threats, including at the hands of Taylor’s forces. “Those who are acting are cowards… and cowards should not prevail over people who stand on the side of justice.”
He said international support for accountability efforts remained strong.
“The burden of fear, as I’ve said before, has shifted to the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the “Investigating Liberia” project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia. The funder had no say in the story’s content.
