By: Julius Konton
Liberians have since enjoyed over seventeen years of uninterrupted peace. However, the silence of the guns is no more but the triggers still linger across all corridors of the Country due to scores of unresolved issues.
Currently, there are visible signs of dissatisfaction and mixed feelings amongst the people over Untold suffering, Hardship, Corruption, rule of law and justice issues, generational gaps, and underdevelopment which are mainly common amongst the already suffering masses as they continue to battle and experience such even though they have lived with them for decades.
Among other issues the people are still bitter with and want prompt intervention for is the issue of justice and impunity for war victims and survivors respectively.
According to them, the Government allegedly failed to Investigate the Massacre In 2009.
They referred to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations which among other things call for the establishment of a war crimes court to investigate atrocities committed during the civil wars including the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Massacre including prosecuting those responsible, However, to date, the Government has failed to do so.
On the other hand, is the Lutheran Church Massacre where the U.S. Court finds AFL Responsible In 2021, after reviewing 2,000 pages of evidence including eight witness declarations and two expert reports, a U.S. court found that the AFL forces specifically
SATU was responsible for the Massacre and that it was a war crime and crime against humanity.
At the same time, the Liberian Government, sued in ECOWAS Court In 2018, the UN Human Rights Committee directed Liberia to establish an accountability process to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of civil war-era crimes.
In October 2022, GIRP and three sibling survivors of the Massacre sued Liberia at the ECOWAS Court because Liberia has failed to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the Massacre. However, A hearing is set for September 27, 2023, at the ECOWAS Court in Abuja.
This will be the first time the Liberian Government is forced to respond in court for its failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the St. Peters Lutheran Church Massacre.
At its 33rd anniversary to mark the infamous Lutheran Massacre, survivors and victims’ narrated with huge emotions, pains, and tears how they experienced said painful situation thirty-three years ago.
As Liberians especially, victims and survivors of the crisis continue to live with the skies and traumas as a result of the Country’s dark past, it appears even more imperative to intensify the advocacy for the establishment of war and economic crimes court in Liberia in order to bring to book those who committed human rights violations against innocent people across the country to face justice.
According to them, it is time that Liberians learn from their past and do not pay evil for good by electing people to office who committed atrocities during Liberia’s dark past ahead of the crucial general elections.
Arguably, the wounds as a result of the civil crisis have not been healed totally as many victims still live with the traumas, skies, and lasting and physical wounds among others, and are desperate for the national government to do the needful for the betterment of the larger society.
