- Adhering to a recommendation of the country’s T. R.C., President Joseph Boakai has officially apologized to victims of Liberia’s civil wars, an action none of his predecessors took
- Boakai has also pledged to erect a national memorial and ensure criminal accountability for wartime atrocities
- Human rights advocates want him to provide financial support to the Office for the Establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court, whose head has repeatedly complained about a lack of funds to operate.
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives
MONROVIA, Liberia — President Joseph Boakai has issued an official apology on behalf of the Liberian nation “to every victim of our civil conflict”— ending more than two decades of wait by victims, survivors and advocates seeking accountability for wartime atrocities.
The president apologized on Saturday during a state-sponsored “National Healing, Reconciliation and Unity Program” at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex for those killed during the wars, the Ebola epidemic and Covid pandemic. It was the climax of what the government said was the first phase of an exercise launched earlier this year to rebury William Richard Tolbert and Samuel Doe, two ex-presidents with complex chapters in Liberia’s history.
By openly admitting to wrong and offering an apology, Boakai has done what none of his predecessors—Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, whom he served as vice president to for 12 years and George Weah, whom he succeeded more than one year six months ago—had done. The country’s brutal civil wars killed about 250,000 people, millions displayed and destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of properties.
“The State could have done better but was used as an agency,” said Boakai. But we are here now, and we must do everything we can to make sure that it never fails you again. This apology must be followed by action. We are committed to implementing key recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”
A formal apology from the state is one of dozens recommendations the Commission made in its final 2009 report. The Commission also recommended reburials for “all victims of massacres” and for “certificates of death adorned in the National Colors” to “be issued to the surviving heirs of all those who lost their lives during the period 1979 to 2003 and who to date remain unaccounted for, are without a grave or other legal evidence of death.”
Transitional justice experts say official apologies are key to national healing and reconciliation, as they demonstrate state ownership of past wrongs and create space for forgiveness.
“I think this is a great start to a long process of national healing, justice, and reconciliation,” said Aaron Weah, executive director of the Ducor Institute for Social and Economic Research, a Liberian think tank. “The president needs to draw specific attention to his action as fulfilling the T.R.C. report. National apologies and issuing death certificates to survivors who lost loved ones and don’t know where they are buried are part of the T.R.C. recommendations.”
Adama Dempster, another leading Liberian transitional justice expert, agreed with Weah on the significance of the president’s apology.
“His action signifies acceptance and acknowledgment of the wrong things that happened in Liberia,” said Dempster in WhatsApp messages. “Whilst we know public apologies don’t guarantee forgiveness, it’s a genuine step towards healing and reconciliation for victims to find closure.”
Adama Dempster (in coat) at a recent meeting of stakeholders working on Liberia’s transitional justice process.
On Thursday, the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia, where Dempster serves as Secretary, criticized the government for reburying Doe and Tolbert and failing to do the same for “the families of victims and survivors of atrocities and communities.”
An Americo-Liberian, Tolbert was killed in office during a coup in 1980. His government was accused of rampant corruption, nepotism, and class system. It was also blamed for the killing of protesters who demonstrated a year earlier against a hike in the price of rice, the nation’s staple food.
Similar accusations engulfed Doe’s government, including widespread human rights violations, most notably the St. Peters’ Lutheran Church massacre, which was allegedly carried out 35 years ago by the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SATU), a force loyal to Doe. An estimated 600 people, including women and babies, who had sought refuge in the church, a Red Cross shelter, were allegedly shot and hacked to death by SATU forces. Satu forces claimed the civilians, mainly members of the Mano and Gio ethnic groups, were supporters of Charles Taylor, a former Liberian president, who had launched a military incursion on Doe’s government from Nimba County, a region dominated by the tribes. Taylor was a rebel leader at the time of the invasion.
No one has been directly held to account for the carnage, which drew the world’s attention to Liberia’s first civil war. In 2022, a U.S. court district court found Moses Thomas, accused of leading the troops in the attack on that day, liable for the killings and ordered him to pay $US84 million in damages. The ruling has yet to be enforced, because Thomas fled the U.S. to Liberia. Moses Wright, a former brigadier general of the Liberian army, considered by many as one of Doe’s most trusted people, is expected to stand trial this October in the U.S. for allegedly lying about his war past.
Although the decision of Boakai to rebury Doe and Tolbert was controversial, the president defended his action, saying “by honoring their memory, we acknowledge an entire generation of loss and national trauma.” Boakai then reaffirmed his commitment to accountability for atrocity crimes.
“Some will say move on and let bygones be bygones. But how does a child forget the brutal execution of his parents and then forcibly conscripted to bear arms?” asked Boakai. “We were even forced to sing the Lord’s song in strange lands. My fellow citizens, you will agree with me that there is hardly a Liberian family that has not been touched by the pain, the violence, and the injustice that have haunted our nation.”
Since coming to power, Boakai has been taking what experts say are bold steps for accountability toward wartime atrocities. One of them is requesting financial and technical support from the United Nations(U.N.), for a war and economic crimes court and a special anti-corruption court. Earlier this year, the U.N. sent a technical team to assist the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court, which the president set up. Christine N. Umutoni, the U. N. Resident Coordinator in Liberia, praised the country’s resilience and for being a post-conflict success story, including peaceful transfers of power. But she said, “a lot of work” remained for the country to “forget the past traumas, foster forgiveness and build a shared future.” But she was a key to what was “promoting truth telling, promoting justice and accountability.”
Unlike his predecessors, advocates say, Boakai has demonstrated a political will by setting up the Office, which has designed a blueprint for the country’s transitional justice process, including drafting statues for the courts. But Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office, has consistently complained about the lack of funds to operate. Dempster said it was important for the president to demonstrate his commitment with action.
“Without funding the accountability process, the lack of funds to operate the Office of War and Economic Crimes court of Liberia will stall and not achieve its objectives and goals, thereby making room for alleged perpetrators to not be held accountable,” said Dempster. “The process of the war and economic crimes courts remain slow because there’s no funding to facilitate its operations.”
“Perhaps, the need to appoint a transitional justice advisor, an intermediary between the presidency, the cabinet and Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia is imperative,” said Weah, also by WhatsApp messages. “That way, you can have someone whose task is to remind the president about these commitments. It’s possible he’s unaware that the Ministry of Finance or the Ministry of State is not following as it should be.”
Aaron Weah wants Boakai to appoint a liaison between his office and the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia.
At the program, President Boakai also pledged to “revive the National History Project to produce a comprehensive and inclusive account of Liberia’s history that reflects the nation’s diversity.” He promised to “establish a national memorial to honor the victims of the country’s conflicts and “preserve the T.R.C. archives as a testament to our national conscience and collective memory.”
But Dempster cautioned him about the potential impact of the projects.
“Rewriting history to honor victims will spark confusion,” Dempster warned. “No one victim is more important than another. What you can do is support a reparations process for all victims and their communities.”
Weah offered a different view.
“The idea of resuscitating the National History Project is commendable,” Weah said. “But for all these measures to have their desired impact, the president needs to set up a presidential task force as a standard to follow or equip the Independent National Commission on Human Rights with the necessary resources to implement the recommendations.”
The Monrovia Mass Choir sang at the program.
Antoine Rutayisire, a renowned Rwandan Anglican pastor and reconciliation advocate who delivered the keynote address at the event, praised ex-presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah for ensuring peaceful transfers of power. He also commended President Boakai for “taking the wounds of Liberia seriously.”
“Healing and reconciliation are a very long journey,” Rutayisire said. “It is a marathon, not a one-hundred-meter dash. You cannot rush healing. You cannot force reconciliation because people do not embrace reality and change at the same pace.”
Antoine Rutayisire cautioned Liberian authorities that “healing and reconciliation are a very long journey.”
He continued, “you cannot talk about reconciliation and unity to people who live in hunger, poverty, and disease while others live in extravagant wealth. You cannot tell me to forgive and love those who have offended me when I do not feel secure in my neighborhood.”
President Boakai urged ministries, agencies, civil society, development partners to “align their efforts in support” of an 18-year national healing, peacebuilding, and reconciliation roadmap now in its final 5 years.
Saturday’s program was attended by people from different backgrounds, including victims and survivors of the wars and accused perpetrators, including Senator Thomas Nimely Yaya. The program was a mixture of live musical and cultural performances, as well as poetry recitations. But there were no representatives from women’s groups, ECOWAS, Mano River Union and the interview-relations council at the program, although they were named in the program sheet. President Boakai lit a candle for peace, reconciliation and unity and posed for photographs with attendees, including ordinary Liberians, at the event.
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.
