–As Efforts To Fast Track Establishment Of War & Economic Crimes Court in Liberia Under Threats
IPNEWS: On Monday, September 23, the United States Embassy near Monrovia announced the visit of an inter-agency delegation of representatives from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Criminal Justice, Homeland Security Investigations, Department of Justice (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Philadelphia), and Federal Bureau of Investigation is visiting Liberia from September 22—24, 2024 to strengthen U.S.-Liberian cooperation across the justice sector and contribute to Liberian efforts to establish a War and Economic Crimes Court.
The delegation, according to the US Embassy accredited near Monrovia, is scheduled to meet Representatives from the Liberian government, as well as Liberian counterparts in law enforcement, the legal sector and civil society to build partnerships, exchange ideas and share experiences with regard to prosecuting complex cases in a trauma-informed and victim-centric way. The delegation brings extensive experience investigating and prosecuting war crimes and other atrocity crimes, as well as victim support.
“We commend Liberia’s commitment to build a War and Economic Crimes Court, and we are proud to send this delegation to Liberia to support local efforts towards justice and accountability,”
“We stand ready to be a partner as Liberia takes on this challenge, and we hope this visit will be the start of a productive relationship, where both U.S. and Liberian officials can learn from each other.” Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack said.
Amidst this U.S. Delegation visit, one of the Americas top national security specialist, Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Researcher Iran, Turkey, and Middle East, has taken an unprecedented position on the delegation’s visit.
Rubin, a former Pentagon official has given his perspective about the role of Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack and ties to the alleged coaching Swiss NGO Civitas Maxima, might just be a catalyst for an indefinable future for the establishment of War and Economic Crimes court for Liberia.
Rubin perspective takes you back to Liberia’s two turn-of-the-century wars that were fierce, replete with forced impressment of child soldiers, torture, rape, and summary executions, but specifically economic overtone of the wars for blood diamond trade which enabled militia leaders to purchase weaponry and pay salaries.
“Political leaders also leveraged their militias into lucrative contracts, winning at the barrel of a gun what they could not through honest negotiations. While Liberia is at peace, its recovery remains shaky. In 2009, Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission directed the presidency to establish a War and Economic Crimes Court. Successive presidents, including Nobel Peace Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, ignored the directive, though it was too inconvenient. Her successor, George Weah, traded protection for power and sheltered many of those suspected of war-era economic crimes, most notably Monrovia Mayor Jefferson Koijee. Weah lost reelection in 2023, and Joseph Boakai, Sirlead’s vice president, took the helm. Nearly 80 years old, Boakai explained to his friends that he wanted a legacy and that the War and Economic Crimes Court was it.”
“He got off to a strong start, appointing Jonathan Massaquoi, the lawyer for Gibril Massaquoi (no relation), an accused war criminal tried in Finland and Liberia but acquitted when it emerged that he was a victim of the Swiss NGO Civitas Maxima’s cash-for-testimony scheme. Gibril was a confidential witness under the protection of the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal in Sierra Leone when witnesses coached by Civitas Maxima and its partners falsely said they had personally witnessed him commit crimes in Liberia; the witnesses then admitted the Swiss NGO’s Liberian partner paid them to deliver the false testimony.” Michael Rubin narrates.
He further insists that the abrupt relived of Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi, was not isolated but well-crafted behind the scenes lobby by Swiss NGO Civitas Maxima’s cash-for-testimony scheme.
Michael Rubin: “Jonathan Massaquoi envisioned a hybrid model for the court, akin to the successful Sierra Leone Special Tribunal that the United Nations and Sierra Leone government jointly established. The Sierra Leone Court successfully prosecuted a number of war criminals including former Liberian President Charles Taylor. The benefit of a hybrid court is two-fold. First, it marries the resources and experience of international experts with the legitimacy and local knowledge of national experts and, second, it creates mentorship and training opportunities that can advance the capacity of investigators, lawyers, and judges in the home society.”
“The human rights industry can be a racket, though, as the Civitas Maxima scandal shows. Doing what is necessary for the next grant application too often trumps justice, and politics too often trumps human rights. Any group can claim to speak on behalf of civil society, though such positions are often self-appointed and unregulated. So, it is now in Liberia.”
“The corruption surrounding the botched Liberia war crimes prosecutions—Gibril was the tip of the iceberg—should be a cautionary tale about the drawbacks of relying exclusively on local partners or embracing a model that confuses legitimacy with local origination. Rather than root out the corruption at the heart of the botched Liberia prosecutions, groups such as Human Rights Watch and the California-based Center for Justice and Accountability circled the wagons to protect their local partners from accountability for their own criminality.”
He discontent that Beth Van Schaack, a former Center for Justice and Accountability official-turned-political appointee in the Biden administration took matters further when she used her State Department perch allegedly to threaten to withhold funding for the War and Economic Crimes Court sparking President Joseph Boakai’s recall of Cllr. Johnathan Massaquoi.
“Her demand? Boakai must fire Jonathan Massaquoi and place the court instead in the hands of the self-defined civil society groups at the heart of the scandal. Rather than take seriously the evidence against her former Liberian partners, Van Schaack takes the weasel approach, suggesting any criticism endangers civil society.”
“Boakai is right that standing up the War and Economic Crime Court can cement his legacy. It is a move long overdue, but he must stand up to personal agendas, human rights industry profiteers, and the simply misguided. Today, Boakai is failing, however. He affirms his staunchest critics’ concern that he is too old, weak and deferential. He should not listen to individual ambassadors who do not have the power of the purse, but pretend they can reward or punish individuals using U.S. government grants.”
“Liberians need justice to succeed, but that justice must come in partnership with the international community. The Sierra Leone Special Tribunal should be the model, not Civitas Maxima.” Dr. Michael Rubin concludes.
Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum. A former Pentagon official, Dr. Rubin has lived in post-revolution Iran, Yemen, and pre-and postwar Iraq. He also spent time with the Taliban before 9/11. For over a decade, he taught classes at sea about the Horn of Africa and Middle East conflicts, culture, and terrorism to deployed US Navy and Marine units. Dr. Rubin is the author, coauthor, and coeditor of several books exploring diplomacy, Iranian history, Arab culture, Kurdish studies, and Shi’ite politics. The opinions and views expressed are his own.
