–US Global Crimes Envoy Beth Van Schaack Reechoes Liberians’ Calls to Government
IPNEWS: In October 2022, United States Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice (GCJ), Dr. Beth Van Schaack, arrived in Liberia and hit the ground running with a meeting with the civil society.
Dr. Schaack in her role advises the Secretary of State and other department leadership on issues related to the prevention of and response to atrocity crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Her visit was on the heels of renewed calls from justice activists for President George Weah’s administration to establish a War Crimes Court to prosecute alleged war criminals.
Removing the Blockage
When she addressed the Liberian media alongside U.S. Ambassador to Liberia, Michael McCarthy during her October visit, she said as part of her visit to Liberia, she outline planned meetings with major stakeholders concerning Liberia’s transitional justice mechanisms, especially the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations.
She said in October 2022: “As you also know, there has been no accountability here on the criminal side, or the civil side for those who have been most responsible for those abuses… I will be having some meetings with members of the government and I plan to ask: what the status of the draft statute is and why it is not being put forward; what are the blockages and how can the blockages be solved?”
Endless Culture of Impunity
Liberia’s brutal civil war was marred by widespread human rights abuses including rape, torture, and extra-judicial killings.
The Accra Comprehensive Peace Accord which ended the 14-year-long war, called for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which documented several atrocities and, among other things called for the setting up of a special court to try those who bear greater responsibilities of the war.
Sadly, successive governments after the war have failed to implement the TRC recommendations. Several attempts to set the legal basis for the establishment of the court have failed.
Dr. Beth Van Schaack said, as part of her visit, she was scheduled to meet with major stakeholders including the Legislature to find out the reasons behind the refusal to set up the court.
She noted that she has studied the TRC report and its recommendations, adding it was an ‘excellent’ exercise in gathering the views of many survivors across the country.
She said, “I have studied your system and read your Truth and Reconciliation Commission report which was an excellent exercise in gathering the views of many survivors across the country as to what happened during the two consequential civil wars.”
Continuing, she said, “And I think that TRC came forward with a number of very important recommendations, and those recommendations as we know, have not been fully implemented, they have been stalled. Part of the reasons that I am here is to better understand what’s happening with them, and the implementation of these recommendations.”
Speaking further in October 2022, she noted that the United States, like other European countries, has prosecuted and punished several key players of the Liberian civil war, and if Liberia decides to hold those accountable for the crimes committed during the war, the United States will provide basic support.
The US has shown support for campaigns for a war crimes court for Liberia. In October 2018, the US House of Representatives adopted a resolution for the court and the full implementation of the TRC recommendations.
The US has also been key in prosecuting and convicting some Liberian warlords on perjury and immigration fraud charges, including Mohammed Jabateh, commonly known as Jungle Jabbah.
The former United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy commander was sentenced to 30 years in jail by the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in April 2018. Tom Woewiyu, Charles Taylor’s number two in the National Patriotic Front of Liberia was also prosecuted and found guilty of the same charges three months earlier, but he could not be sentenced because he died of Covid-19 in 2020.
In August, a US District court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in a ruling during a civil suit ordered Moses Thomas, a former commander of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit to pay US$ 84 million to survivors of the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church massacre in July 1990—a ruling Thomas has since condemned.
In June, Moses Wright, another top SATU commander was charged by US authorities with perjury and immigration fraud charges in relation to the massacre.
In an apparent further demonstration of its uncompromising stance on human rights violations, the District Court for the Southern District of Florida convicted and sentenced to 97 years, Charles Taylor Jr., alias Chuckie Taylor, a son of former Liberian President, Charles Taylor for torture and related crimes when he led the dreadful Anti-Terrorist Unit during his father’s brutal rule in Liberia.
Chuckie, a US citizen, was prosecuted and convicted in 2009 under the extra-territorial torture statute, which authorizes US Federal courts to exercise universal jurisdiction over persons found in the US who are suspected of torture committed anywhere in the world.
US Envoy’s Visit Renews Hope
The visit of the U.S. Envoy Ambassador in October 2022 renewed the hope and aspiration of victims nd activists that all is not lost yet.
“We will be making our case to the US Diplomat and will ask that the US prioritize this issue and encourage Liberia to set up this accountability mechanism,” leading justice activist Hassan Bility of the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP) told the local media prior to Dr. Schaack’s visit.
Bility said the visit of the US War Crimes Ambassador was a testament to the fact that Liberia is reneging on its international treaty obligations.
“The Liberian people have waited too long for justice and accountability for abuses suffered during the civil wars”, said Adama Dempster of the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia and the Secretariat for the Establishments of a War Crimes Court in Liberia.
“The US government has the opportunity to stand with victims of atrocities committed in Liberia’s civil wars by assisting in establishing a war crimes court”.
An Open Letter to Liberians from Ambassador Beth Van Schaack – U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice
I am writing to extend my thanks to the people of Liberia for a very meaningful visit in October of this year. On my first trip to Liberia, I very much appreciated the opportunity to meet with, and hear from, a wide range of policymakers, lawmakers, members of the media, and Liberians who shared with our delegation their perspectives on the prospects for justice in Liberia. I owe special thanks to Pastor Janice Gonoe, who gave me a very moving tour of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, where 600 Liberians lost their lives after they sought sanctuary in this place of worship.
Liberia faces many challenges when it comes to justice and accountability, not only for the terrible war crimes committed during two consecutive civil wars, but also for subsequent crimes and corruption. Impunity is corrosive; when it is allowed to flourish in one sector, it will undermine the foundations of peace and the rule of law across an entire society.
The overwhelming message we heard on our visit was a call for those with the power to do so to implement the important recommendations of the 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC). These recommendations reflect the wisdom of Liberian leaders and experts in law, human rights, theology, and journalism. The TRC commissioners were tasked with the awesome responsibility for generating a framework to prevent a return to mass violence in Liberia, answer the call of victims and survivors for justice, and hold accountable those most responsible for war crimes and other atrocities.
Notwithstanding the recommendation of the TRC to establish an Extraordinary Criminal Court for Liberia, with a mandate to investigate war crimes and economic crimes, the only justice Liberians have enjoyed to date has occurred in foreign courts. This includes the recent verdict in France against Kunti Kamara, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for complicity in crimes against humanity, torture, and acts of barbarism. Currently, two cases are proceeding in U.S. courts against former rebel general Laye Sekou Camara and former Armed Forces of Liberia commander Moses Wright for charges related to misrepresenting their wartime conduct on immigration forms in attempts to evade accountability. My visit followed on the heels of a civil judgment in Pennsylvania against Moses Thomas, establishing his liability for the Lutheran Church massacre and resulting in an $84 million damages award to victims. Because he absconded from the United
States, this judgment has never been paid. And just before my delegation and I arrived in Liberia, a suit was filed in the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice on behalf of the survivors of the massacre at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. The basic claim: that Liberia has failed to provide victims justice.
These cases would not be possible without the amazing work of the Global Justice and Research
Project (GJRP) and other Liberian and international civil society actors who have rigorously, reliably, and with unwavering integrity worked to keep the dream of justice alive. Liberians can be proud of the work of their compatriots in the GJRP who are working hard to support war crimes accountability. They should also be concerned, as am I, that the GJRP’s work has resulted in threats and intimidation against their staff members.
It was inspiring to hear such a sustained desire for justice from Liberians, and I thank those who shared their thoughts and hopes with me. It is my hope that these aspirations, and expectations, will be met by those entrusted with the power to fulfil them, in service of the lasting and just peace the people of Liberia deserve.
