As the creation of the Court gains momentum in Liberia, it is stirring a range of reactions among citizens who were impacted by the 14-year civil crisis.
BUUTUO, Nimba County – The United Nations estimates that between 1989 and 2003, 150,000 to 250,000 women, children, and men lost their lives in Liberia as a result of the civil crisis. All parties to the conflict were responsible for grave crimes and human rights atrocities, including rape, torture, sexual slavery, unlawful executions and mobilization of child soldiers.
By: Laymah Kollie, contributing writer
Decades have passed, and most of those responsible for heinous acts of war have yet to face justice. For victims, hope was renewed in April when the Legislature approved a Joint Resolution, advocating for the creation of a War and Economic Crimes Court. President Joseph Boakai took a crucial step towards this cause by signing Executive Order #131 on May 2, 2024, to establish the War and Economic Crimes Court office in Liberia.
But as the creation of the Court gains momentum in Liberia, it is stirring a range of reactions among citizens who were impacted by the 14-year civil crisis.
Here in Buutuo – once a booming border town known for commercial trade between the capital, Monrovia, and other West African countries – people have diverging views on the need for war and economics crimes courts.
People are not feeling fine to rebuild the country because people who killed other people during the war are in government enjoying… Let us look inside it, let justice be done to all men.
Madam Annie Kwaleh, Women Leader, Buu-yao District.
Many in this town, which was the first to taste the war, when Charles Taylor’s rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia crossed into he country and sparked the war, are strongly in support of the court.
“People are not feeling fine to rebuild the country because people who killed other people during the war are in government enjoying,” said 74-year-old Annie Kwaleh, Women Leader of Buu-yao district. “Let us look inside it, let justice be done to all men.”
54-year-old Prince Kpolah is the Town Chief of Buutuo. He also said the establishment of the court is a necessity because the town has been stigmatized due to the fact that it was used an entry point for the rebels. “Buutuo being historical is not because we brought the war. This war caught us unalert but we are being marginalized because of it. Go to nearby villages, they are developed, but look at us.”
Establishing the court is a god idea. I feel it is little bit belated but I welcome it… I don’t think it is targeted at Nimbaians because Nimbaians were not the only people who fought or got victimized by the war.
Elder Peter Gweh, Elder, Buutuo
Elder Peter Gweh also says establishing the court is a good idea “I feel it is little bit belated but I welcome it,” Elder Gwen said. “I don’t think it is targeted at Nimbaians because Nimbaians were not the only people who fought or got victimized by the war.”
Peter Kerper, Development Superintendent of Buutuo, says the court will bring relief for war victims. “
“In Sierra Leone, right after the war, the war crime court came and people were served justice but our own has stay long and people have forgotten, but it’s not still late,” Kerper said.
But some other citizens contend that the establishment of a war crimes tribunal within the nation may reignite the wounds of the conflict and potentially precipitate another upheaval. Some are calling for an alternative approach to tackling the issue through They propose that the focus should be on providing job opportunities and other vocational programs for war victims, to foster growth within their lives and communities.
“The thing already happen, let’s forget about it before it bring(s) different problem,” said 85-year-old Mamie Willie who spoke through an interpreter.
Johnny Gborwoe, 36, was only a year old when the war broke out in Buutuo. He is the only surviving member of his family as he lost his mother, father and only brother in the crisis. But he prefers the human capacity development of war victims over a war crimes court.
“I don’t have peace; they killed my family and burned our house,” he said. “But what happened was war. Let them give war victims jobs to improve their living condition.”
Amanda Sangbe, 43, says establishing a war crimes court decades after the war subsided is a waste of time.
“Right now when it come(s), not one person will go because those who fought were many,” she said. “When they go to jail, their people will not feel fine.”
Alfred Nuenen, an elder of the town, says their views about a war crimes court do not matter. He points to Nimba County Senator Prince Y. Johnson’s failure to consult Nimba’s elders before affixing his signature to the Joint Resolution calling for the establishment of the court.
“We, the eelders were not consulted. The people just went ahead to sign the resolution, so there is nothing we can do about it now,” he said. “If they were to ask me, I would have preferred reconciliation.”
How the war started
In late December 1989, a small group of Taylor’s rebels attacked Buutuo, killing soldiers and immigration officers. The government of Liberia responded to the attack with a show of force, sending two battalions to Nimba. The army used brutal tactics in its efforts to crush the rebellion, indiscriminately killing unarmed civilians, raping women, burning villages and looting. Most of the victims of the army abuses were of the Mano and Gio ethnic groups, who traditionally inhabit Nimba County.
The rebel insurgents initially targeted soldiers and government officials, but later killed members of the Krahn ethnic group, in retaliation to the actions of then-President Samuel Doe, who was Krahn by tribe. They also killed at least seven people from the Mandingo ethnic group for allegedly informing the government about their activities.
At the climax of the crisis in 2003, the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Ghana put in place the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to investigate the crisis and uncover the truth while providing recommendations on the need for future prosecutions and amnesty. Priority amongst the the TRC’s recommendations was for Liberia to establish a separate court to prosecute war lords and individuals that committed atrocities during the 14-year unrest in Liberia.
After over 20 years, the country is finally taking a stand to establish a War and Economic Crimes Court to not only prosecute war lords but served victims justice. The court, when established, will also prosecute economic criminals and people who have corrupted and embezzled public funds.
As the country grapples with its tumultuous history, the establishment of a tribunal to address war and economic offenses continues to be a contentious topic, sparking divergent opinions.
