6 July 2009
opinion
When in 2003 Liberia was at the critical juncture of transitioning or breaking, Liberian peace stakeholders and international mediators decided that Liberia's path to peace will be a truth and reconciliation process - not prosecution in search of so-called justice. This decision was not advised by fear of reprisal; it was compelled by due circumspection for the greater good of Liberia and Liberians. And it should have sealed the covenant path to peace; but unfortunately it didn't, it hasn't.
A few Liberians remained locked in vindictiveness, and they are using the very TR process to gain relevance - to settle scores - and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has become the trumpeter.
"But is TRC not turning the peace process upside down or torpedoing it?" observers say is the begging question."
The Analyst Staff Writer leafs through the Commission's final report.
The TRC has submitted its final report to the National Legislature, minus the signature of one commissioner and with little guarantee for the one thing that matters most to the Liberian people - peace and reconciliation without further hullabaloo.
The report, released last Thursday, calls for prosecution, political banishment, and reparation exacting, but to the bewilderment of many, mute on natural processes leading to genuine healing, reconciliation, and peace.
Observers say given these early signs of fundamental shortfall, the report's significance was likely to be overshadowed by legitimacy concerns. Due to this also, they say, the overall credibility of the TRC as a trailblazer for peace and reconciliation after a decade of mayhem and destruction is likely to be thrown into serious question.
If it does, they surmise, the whole process that involved thousands of Liberians, million of research and statement taking hours, international financial and technical support, the meager resources of the Liberian government, and the anxiety of vulnerable Liberians would be an exercise in flamboyancy and in vain.
Mandate Vs Recommendation
The TRC was mandated by an Act of the National Legislature under Art IV, Section 4 of the TRC Act, to foster truth, justice and reconciliation by identifying the root causes of the conflict, and determining those who are responsible for committing domestic and international crimes against the Liberian people.
It was to, amongst other things, identify victims and perpetrators of the conflict and most importantly establish a forum to facilitate constructive interchange between victims and perpetrators to recount their experiences in order to foster healing and reconciliation. It was also to investigate economic crimes and other forms of human rights violations and determine whether these violations were part of a systematic and deliberate pattern of violations or isolated events of violations.
Finally, it was to make recommendations to the Government of Liberia for prosecution, reparation, amnesty, reconciliation and institutional reforms where appropriate to promote the rule of law and combat impunity.
Analysts say the Mandate's call for a forum to facilitate constructive interchange between victims and perpetrators to recount their experiences in order to foster healing and reconciliation affirms Article XIII of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which Liberians and the international community consider the rallying point for peace building in postwar Liberia.
According to them, while prosecution, reparation, and amnesty would be applied where necessary and mandatory in order to promote the rule of law and combat impunity or non-compliance amongst perpetrators, the TRC mandate weighed heavier on a palava-hut settlement than on law and prosecution for reason the queer nature of Liberia's war.
TRC's Determinations
The report determined that the root-causes of Liberian conflict were poverty, the centralization of power and oppressive class dominance, the lack of the rule of law, the duality of Liberia's political, social and legal systems, and ethnicity. But it concluded that the way to remove these social vices was to prosecute, banish from the political process, and exact reparation from those who were suspected of committing war excesses and sabotaged the economy at one point or the other.
Altogether, there are some 94 individuals and institutions slated for "further" investigation and possible prosecution based on the Commission's suspicion, according to the TRC final 370-page report.
These include a list of 54 individuals and corporate entities that the TRC determined must be further investigation; 19 corporations, institutions and state actors suspected of being responsible for committing economic crimes; and 21 individuals responsible for committing economic crimes.
"Prosecution in a court of competent jurisdiction and other forms of justice, including public sanctions, is sine qua non to sustaining the fight against impunity, the promotion of justice, and genuine reconciliation....[they] are desirable and appropriate mechanisms to promote the ends of justice, peace and security, foster genuine national reconciliation and combat impunity," the report insists.
It said this, having determined that "all warring factions are responsible for the commission of gross human rights violations in Liberia, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, domestic criminal laws".
Notwithstanding its insight on the matter, the report fell short of saying who these individuals were, why they must be prosecuted in order for Liberia to heal naturally, what the alternatives and options were, and what is likely to happen when instead of prosecution, the individuals were monitored for future brush with the law.
The report then threw the public into a frenzy of debate about fairness and proper determination when it listed as "less significant violator group" institutions that were long determined to be instruments of political suppression and oppression, economic degradation, and class domination in prewar Liberia.
For instance, according to one analyst, the report listed the Liberian National Police, the notorious Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (SATU), the SSS, the CID, NSA, NBI, and the Special Operation Division of the LNP (SOD) as of lesser evils. It then recommend to the Liberian government the full and timely implementation of all the recommendations.
"The full and timely implementation of these recommendations is critical to Liberia's recovery and progress beyond the conflict and will contribute to the building of a more just and equitable society in which everyone is equal before," the report said without bothering to say why and how.
Extraordinary Criminal Court for Liberia
The TRC has meanwhile sent to the Liberian government what it called "Statute Establishing the Extraordinary Criminal Court for Liberia". The tribunal, according to the draft statute, is being recommended to in order to implement the recommendation of the TRC, to combat the culture of impunity, and secure justice for victims. It is also to ensure that Liberia adheres to, respects and protects prevailing international human rights and humanitarian law standards.
"The Court shall have all of the necessary power and jurisdiction to prosecute persons referred to it by the TRC for gross violations of human rights (GVHR), serious humanitarian law violations (SHLV) and egregious domestic crimes (EDC) as enumerated by this Statute," the report said.
It is not clear whether or not the Commission has ample admissible evidence to prosecute its horde suspects, but it noted in its "final statement" that was mindful that the individuals, groups of persons, institutions and corporate entities listed do not represent the entirety of economic crime or economic criminal actors that committed violations during the TRC's temporal mandate.
Why was the list inconclusive? The report did not say; but already, the public is using the omission to build a case of biasness against the commission, which has already begun taking punches from pro- and anti-prosecution advocates. But the report continued, "The TRC believes that further investigation and legal proceedings will likely uncover additional evidence of economic crime."
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