Monrovia — Former rebel leader Thomas Nimely Yaya used the 21st Anniversary of Peace Celebrations on Friday to voice his opposition to the country's nascent war and economics crimes courts claiming they threaten the country's political stability.
Mr. Nimely, 68, headed the Movement for Peace and Democracy in Liberia (Model), one of two warring factions that helped force Charles Taylor, then-Liberian president, out of power in 2003. Model was accused of committing more than 11,000 or 7 percent of crimes -including rape, murder, torture, forced labor, looting and recruitment of child soldiers - reported to Liberia's 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Now a senator for Grand Gedeh County, Mr. Nimely is one of 116 alleged perpetrators recommended for prosecution by the TRC.
Nimely told Friday's commemoration of the 2003 signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord the courts are a mistake.
"We brought our own peace, and we are trying to dismantle it," said Senator Nimely, who in April signed a Legislature resolution committing to establish the courts. "For those of you who were not there, we crossed valleys, and crossed rivers and climbed mountains to get here. When you look behind, there's danger. There's distress. There's trauma. We are not going back."
Senator Nimely's was the only discordant note among a full day of speeches and panels - from victims, leading human rights leaders, government officials and senior diplomats - celebrating Liberia's 21 years of peace and President Joseph Boakai's recent decision to establish, finally, war and economics crimes courts to bring justice to victims of Liberia's 24 years of conflict.
After playing a major role in securing the peace in 2003 Liberia's victims and survivors used the conference to signal to government their high expectations for justice and inclusion in the process.
"We want a very clean justice," said Madam Bernice Freeman of Women in Peacebuilding Network, a powerful force in bringing the warring parties to peace in 2003. "If we are talking about a war crimes court, lawyers, prepare yourselves, because if you come back and say 'Bernice, we can't find the person that committed this crime,' you will be killing me because, I know my perpetrator very well. And I pass by him, and he passes by me."
Following his August appearance at a United Nations meeting on Liberia's peace process in New York, Justice Minister Oswald Tweh reiterated the government's commitment to the courts and to victims.
"For peace to be sustained, we must hold people accountable for their actions so that they do not go with impunity," said Cllr. Tweh. "Sustainability of peace is for each and every Liberian to commit to demonstrate respect for the rule of law, trust in the justice system, and to do everything within their power not to take the law into their own hands. Trust the government you elected to do the right thing. It may take time, and it may seem a slow pace, but what is not done right, is not done at all."
Cllr. Tweh's comments were applauded by Mark Toner, newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to Liberia. The U.S. is expected to the major provider of funding and technical support for the courts.
"Liberia cannot rest on its morals," said Ambassador Toner. "Political stability requires vigilance. It requires responsible actions rather than rhetoric on the part of political leaders, political parties, civil societies and the media. It also, as the minister just said, demands that you hold people accountable. And that's what they are trying to do with the war and economic crimes courts. We support that. The United States supports that effort."
Felicia Ubbesen, political and communication officer of the Embassy of Sweden, another key donor, reiterated Sweden's backing of the justice process.
"Together we can ensure that the legacy of the Accra Peace Accord endures, bringing hope and prosperity to all Liberians," Ms Ubbesen said. "Sweden's support to Liberia is rooted in our long history and shared values of human rights, democracy and justice."
The need for victims to be at the heart of the process was the key message from Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) Resident Representative Josephine Nkrumah. She said psychosocial support to victims was of "critical importance." There has been very little psychosocial support provided to Liberians since the war.
"I have not seen enough of that, and I see that even though the CPA talks about rehabilitating victims, we don't see that," Representative Nkrumah said. "For a nation to heal, it's important that we ensure that the psychosocial need, particularly of victims, is something that must be a priority."
Support for victims was a key part of speeches by Minister Tweh and Sara Beysolow Nyanti, Liberia's Foreign Minister, at the U.N. Minister Tweh told the U.N. meeting that the Boakai government plans to apologize to victims of the wars and provide reparations - though the government has yet to lay out how that might work.
The 21st Anniversary celebration capped a turbulent period for the courts after the first appointment of the head of the Office of the Courts was assailed by activists, the Bar Association and the international community, for its lack of transparency and consultation. President Boakai withdrew the appointment in August.
Senator Nimely's comments are a reminder that court advocates still have a long way to see the courts become a reality and they face heavyweight opponents.
Speaking as a panelist Senator Nimely rehashed his earlier criticisms of the TRC, which was set up as an outcome of the Peace Accord, accusing it of carrying out a "fishing expedition." He said he had agreed to the TRC because it was based on the South African model which he understood to mean perpetrators would meet victims face to face to apologize for their actions and there would be no prosecutions. In the end the TRC Report recommended 116 alleged perpetrators be tried including him.
Senator Nimely's speech drew occasional laughter from the audience that included youth and women students' groups. He singled out the 12 guarantors of Liberia's Peace Accord, including ECOWAS and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia, for what he said was their silence, amid momentum for the courts.
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"Peace was never, ever, our destination. We needed to bring this country to peace and the next place we should have gone is stability. We have been here 21 years...this country has never seen stability because of the lack of a political will. There's no stability in this country."
George Boley, another rebel faction leader who addressed the gathering and who has previously opposed the courts, was more cautious at the conference. Mr. Boley is also among the 116 recommended for criminal prosecution by the TRC.
"It's very important to make the point that we need peace," said Mr. Boley, 74, who was deported from the U.S. in 2012 after being found "inadmissible" to the United States based on the U.S. government's charge of extrajudicial killings and recruitment and use of child soldiers. U.S. prosecutors based their case, in part, on the TRC report. Mr. Boley was the leader of the Liberia Peace Council, which was accused of committing nearly 17,000 or 11 percent of the atrocities reported to the TRC.
A special commission of stakeholders is now consulting widely to decide on a new head for the office of the courts. They are under pressure to move fast. The president's executive order to establish the office and the courts runs out in March 2025.
This story is a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.
