he organizations have expressed concern over the snail pace of efforts to establish a war and economic crimes court to prosecute accused perpetrators.
Leading local and international human rights organizations have joined together to issue a statement urging Liberian President Joseph Boakai to renew an executive order for the Office of War and Economics Crimes Court set to expire tomorrow, May 1.
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives
The groups, including the Liberian based Civil Society Advocacy Platform of Liberia, Global Justice and Research Project, and international organizations, Civitas Maxima, Center for Justice and Accountability and Human Rights Watch, said the president must step up now – when cuts to US government aid have cast a cloud over the transitional justice process – to show the Liberian people his serious commitment to the court.
“Liberia’s quest to bring closure for victims of civil war atrocities, and ensure their access to justice, remains a major priority,” said Adama Dempster, secretary-general of the Civil Society Human Rights Platform of Liberia. “We call for government and international support to ensure the establishment of the court.”
The group also released a joint 10-page report, that it has submitted to the UN Human Rights Council ahead of its fourth review of its human rights record in November as part of the “Universal Periodic Review” of its actions to improve the human rights situation in the country.
The joint report the government of a “persistent lack of accountability for the crimes and human rights violations committed during the civil wars and calls for the development of a concrete plan to establish a War and Economic Crimes court.” The report said the government should also “set out a clear timeline for the establishment of the war crimes court, including reporting obligations on the advancement, and ensure transparency in the working methods of the war crimes court Office.”
President Boakai sparked a wave of excitement and energy for the court during the early days of his government, breaking ranks with Liberia’s previous two post-war presidents to commit to establishing a court and implementing outstanding recommendations of the country’s 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He signed an executive order on May 2, 2024 to establish an office to establish a war and economics crimes court.
The Office was mired in controversy early when the president was forced to withdraw his first appointment to head the Office because of an outcry over the lack of transparency in the appointment process. The second appointee, Dr. Jallah Barbu, has repeatedly expressed frustration with the government’s slow speed in sending funds allocated in the national budget. Dr. Barbu has also demanded a four-fold funding increase to the $300,000 allocated in the 2025 budget.
This year the court was dealt another major blow when the incoming US Trump administration slashed international aid across the world, all but ending hope that the US would provide the majority of the $10 million to $60 million experts estimated was needed for the court. Last week Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, announced the State Department was closing the Office of Global Criminal Justice, which had already allocated funding to support the court and which was expected to provide more.
With the one-year executive order expiring on Thursday the Office has not sent a bill to the Legislature to establish the court – the key objective of the executive order. Dr. Barbu, is expected to report a range of actions undertaken by his office since he took the job in November in a report to President Boakai Wednesday. President Boakai has not given any sign of whether he intends to renew the executive order.
Human rights groups expressed frustration at the slow progress of the Office and urged the government to establish an oversight body for the Office to speed the process. “Establish an independent committee comprised of government officials, a member of the Independent National Commission of Human Rights, international and regional legal experts, and civil society actors from various sectors that is mandated to advise the government on the court’s creation,” they said. “Engage with the United Nations, African Union, ECOWAS, and other international and regional partners to secure technical and financial assistance to develop a credible war crimes court. This may include requesting from international partners adequate support (such as e.g. logistics, operational and legal expertise etc.) and funding for programs designed to improve Liberia’s judiciary and criminal justice system to ensure an effective war crimes court, victims’ access to justice and the right of the accused to a fair trial.”
“Any Executive Order adopted for the extension of the Office should be replaced by legislation in the shortest delays to ensure a continued and sustainable operation of the Office and eventually the war crimes court,” said the organizations in their report. They called on the president to “renew the executive order and ensure sufficient funding is in place so that the necessary work to establish the court can accelerate.”
They called on the “Office to adopt an action plan, or ‘roadmap,’ to advance preparation for the court’s establishment,” a plan they said “should address the model on which the war crimes court will be designed; the composition of the court; a clear procedure for the election and appointment of its officials; a proposed budget; and efforts needed for the adoption of a statute, among other issues, and have clear action points and intended outcomes.”
“A comprehensive roadmap that can ensure the Office has both the resources and mandate to fulfill its key mission—establishing a sustainable war crimes court—is therefore vital and urgent,” said Mr. Hassan Bility, director of Global Justice and Research Project, in the report. “We urge the Office to move swiftly in the adoption and implementation of such a plan of action.”
During a FrontPage Africa/New Narratives interview on the margins of the 35th memorial service last month for the estimated 600 people killed in the Carter Camp massacre 35 years ago, Dr. Barbu said a bill for the court would be ready “very soon.” He said a roadmap, encompassing security and location, for the court and Liberia’s transitional justice process on the overall, was also being developed.
The expiration of the executive order comes as Mark Toner, US Ambassador to Liberia, met with Dr. Barbu and his team on Friday, giving justice actors hope that some US funding might be found. In a Facebook post by the embassy, Ambassador Toner is quoted as saying they had “a great meeting. The team is off to an impressive start to bring long-overdue justice to Liberia and end the culture of impunity. Their work is making a real contribution to Liberia’s long-term prosperity and stability. Thanks for hosting me and keep up the good work!”
In response to an FPA/NN email inquiry the embassy said, “the Ambassador was impressed with how much the OWECC (Office of the War and Economics Crimes Court) has accomplished while acknowledging more work needs to be done to bring long-overdue justice to Liberia and end the culture of impunity.” It said he “expressed his hope that the Executive Order extending the OWECC’s mandate would be signed soon, so it’s important work can continue.”
On the question of support for the court, the embassy said, “Since the OWECC EO was announced, the U.S. has supported the initiative with three sets of technical visits. We will continue to stay engaged and explore possibilities for future assistance.”
Dr. Barbu didn’t respond to a request for an official comment on the meeting.
Mark Tonor, the US Ambassador to Liberia(right), said he had a “great meting” with Dr. Jallah Barbu(left) and his team at the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia. Credit: US Embassy in Liberia. Credit: US Embassy.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Toner held a separate meeting with Cllr. Oswald Tweh, Liberia’s justice minister, on Monday. In a Facebook post, the justice ministry said the discussion covered “progress made on the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court (WECC), the impasse at the House of Representatives , as well as progress made in the investigation of the fire incident at the Capitol building early this year.” Minister Tweh didn’t directly comment on the court, but did say that “the government of Liberia will do everything legal within its power to ensure that Liberia continue to be a safe and conducive environment for all Liberians, its international partners and the protection of current and potential investments opportunities for the betterment of all its citizens,” according to the post.
Cllr. Oswald Tweh did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
US Ambassador, Mark Tonor and Cllr. Oswald Tweh, Liberia’s justice minister. Credit: Justice Ministry.
It’s been close to 22 years since Liberia’s civil wars. Despite its international obligation, Liberia has yet to hold anyone to account for their alleged crimes. The human rights organizations’ report commended Liberian governments for creating an “enabling environment for criminal cases to move forward in other jurisdictions.” That referred to the growing support in the Weah and Boakai governments’ for international investigators and, in once case a court, to operate in Liberia to pursue more than 15 cases against accused perpetrators who had relocated to Europe or the United States. Those cases were based on evidence gathered by American and European investigations following complaints by Global Justice and Research Project and its partners, Civitas Maxima and Center for Justice and Accountability, on behalf of victims.
The international organizations also raised the issue of reparations for victims. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report recommended $US500 million in reparations payments to victims and communities of the wars over a 30-year period. Despite a promise at a UN meeting in August, the Boakai administration has yet to openly apologize to Liberians for the wars, or make note of any plan for reparations. The human rights organizations urged the government to make the issue a top priority especially as victims get older.
“The reparation scheme remains an urgent need, as many of the victims continue to suffer from
severe bodily harm and psychological trauma,” said the report.
The report also called out Liberia for failing to engage victims in a reconciliation process. It said Liberia had constructed just 10 war memorials and “very little has been done to engage participation of victims and their families as well as civil society organizations active in seeking justice for past crimes. The process of building memorials was not inclusive or holistic, and it left out significant stakeholders.”
A memorial service at the Carter Camp Memorial in March, one of 10 sites constructed Liberia. Credit: Anthony Stephens/New Narratives.
The human rights organizations have also called on the government to ensure the protection of victims and witnesses who testify in trials overseas, as well as human rights defenders. Witnesses and human rights defenders have been subjected to numerous threats in the course of the international trials.
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia which had no say in the story’s content.
