The National Transitional Legislative Assembly (NTLA) after several months of screening process of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Bill yesterday passed into law an Act to establish the entity.

The Act which is pending the subsequent approval of the Chairman of the transitional government will tomorrow be forwarded to the Executive Mansion and later to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where it will be printed into hand bill, Rep. Conmany Wesseh, the sponsor of the bill told reporters.

Mr. Wesseh maintained that the essence of the TRC is to create a forum that will bring together victims of perpetrators that will look at historical past, all those endeavors he noted gears towards national reconciliation.

Mr. Wesseh stressed that the mandate of the Commission has to do with gross human rights violations and violation of international humanitarian laws as well as abuses that occurred including massacres, sexual violations, murder, extra-judicial killings and economic crimes.

The Commission will also focus on the exploitation of natural resources to perpetuate armed conflicts during the period January 1979 to October 14, 2003.

"Determining whether these isolated incidents or part of a systematic pattern establishing the antecedents, circumstances factors and context of such violations and abuses, and determining those responsible for the commission of the violations and abuses and their motives as well as their impact on victims," the Commission's mandate noted.

Mr. Wesseh noted that the TRC shall conduct a critical review of Liberia's historical past, with the view of establishing and giving recognition to historical truths in order to address falsehoods and misconceptions of the past relating to the nation's socio-economic and political development.

According to him, the TRC shall investigate the antecedents of the crises which gave rise to and impacted on the violent conflict in Liberia and it shall compile a report that includes a comprehensive account of activities of the commission and its findings.

The TRC shall comprise nine commissioners with no less than four women making up its entire composition.

Mr. Wesseh is the Chairman of the NTLA Committee on Peace Process and the brain behind the TRC bill. He however used the occasion to thank all those who supported the TRC bill for its passage into law.

He made specific reference to UNMIL, human rights organs, ECOWAS and the Center for Democratic Empowerment (CEDE), among others.