Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com
Monrovia – As the search for justice continues in Liberia for the over 250, 000 killed and thousands of others subjected to the worst kinds of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country’s 14-year gory crisis, it seems former president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf may go scot-free for her involvement in the carnage.
If the words of renowned Liberian human rights lawyer, Cllr. Tiawan S. Golgloe is anything to hold with a pinch of salt, then Sirleaf will walk free, even if a war crimes court were to be established for Liberia.
While recently advocating for the establishment of a war crimes court for the country, Cllr. Gongloe, a long-time human rights lawyer and former solicitor general during the regime of Sirleaf, opined that war criminals are individuals who violate the law of war, indicating that those referred to as war criminals in Liberia are those who killed civilians and committed other gruesome acts during the fourteen years of civil conflict in the country.
Cllr. Gongloe continued: “These people are well-known to the Liberian people and others, including employees of non-governmental organizations and journalists who covered the war. They cannot be forgotten and they cannot hide.”
He noted that testimonies recently given by Liberians against former dreaded rebel general of the erstwhile LURD, Jungle Jarbah and defunct NPFL defense spokesperson, Tom Woweiyu in the United States of America, show that the events of the war are still fresh in the minds of the victims, families of victims and those who witnessed the perpetrators of war crimes in Liberia.
“In our advocacy for war crimes court in Liberia, it is important to be clear about those whom we refer to as war criminals. We are not referring to men and women in arms who killed other men and women in arms on the opposite side,” said Cllr. Gongloe, adding, “If an armed combatant kills even ten thousand men and women in arms, he has committed no war crime. But if that same person kills or even inflict wound on one civilian during a war, he has committed a war crime.”
He stressed that there are many Liberians who took part in the country’s deadly gun battles without committing war crimes, saying, “Some combatants even went out of their ways to help Liberians with food and to protect them from other combatants.”
He further said not just by fighting for any given warring faction during the war years makes a person a war criminal, saying, “A war criminal is a person who violates the law of war. Therefore, those whom we refer to as war criminals in Liberia are those who killed civilians and committed other gruesome acts during the fourteen years of civil conflict in Liberia.”
‘Gongloe’s definition may set Sirleaf free’
Unlike her peers, former warlords Charles Taylor, Prince Johnson among others, who are accused by multiple witnesses of personally unleashing mayhem against scores of victims during the civil crisis, former president Sirleaf just contributed financially and morally to the staging of the war.
In her testimony when she appeared before the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Sirleaf admitted that during the early years of the war she supplied Charles Taylor with food and financial assistance in the tune of some US$10,000, stating at the time that she wanted to see an end to the tyrannical regime of slain former President Samuel Doe, adding that she did so unwittingly.
But according to the TRC, Sirleaf didn’t go far enough, by showing remorse for her role in the war, with the TRC indicating that by not apologizing or showing more remorse, Sirleaf denied both her own responsibility and undermined the TRC process.
Following an investigation that sought to unravel the causes and consequences of Liberia’s conflict, the TRC collected more than 20,000 statements and released a 370-page report, in which Sirleaf is among 50 people the Commission recommends should not be allowed to hold public office, a recommendation the former leader flouted while in power.
The TRC report also recommends that dozens of individuals who bear the greater responsibility of the war should face further investigation and prosecution, and as if corroborating Cllr. Gongloe’s assertions of who a war criminal actually is, the Commission does not include Sirleaf on the list of those to face extra probe and prosecution, possibly a war crimes court.
‘Sirleaf, others must face justice’
Howbeit, TRC former chairman, Cllr. Jerome Verdier is insisting that Sirleaf and others be brought to justice for their roles in the 14-year ruthless civil war in the country, saying that the former president “aided and abetted the commission of war crimes and mayhem in Liberia.”
Cllr. Verdier reportedly wrote last week that Sirleaf hands are stained with the blood of over 250,000 of the innocent people who he said were, prematurely killed during Liberia’s war years, for which the former boss of the TRC wants her prosecuted.
He accuses Sirleaf of being both a war and economic criminal, adding that she is being shielded without any consideration of the massive victims of her war machine.
The killings, maiming, looting and brutal destruction of Liberia and the future of Liberian youth is not excuse for killings and assembly of the worst war machine ever unleashed on poor and innocent people in Africa, said Cllr. Verdier.
But former president Sirleaf has since dismissed all allegations of wrongdoings being levied against her, adding that she did nothing wrong during the country’s brutal civil war to be held for war crimes or crimes against humanity.
In an apparent response to Cllr. Verdier, Sirleaf threw out a challenge via a local radio talk show last week, calling on those claiming that she should be held accountable for war crimes not to be out of the country telling lies but that they should bring any case they have against her back home before the courts in Liberia, stating that she is not afraid.
However, PUNCH online service has gathered that Liberian Americans, identified as Rev. Mahn Coaley and Pastor Torli Harlan Krua have filed a lawsuit against former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and others in the District Court of Massachusetts in the United States on account of their alleged roles in the 1990 war that took more than 200,000 lives and displaced countless more.
The Court’s summons, a copy of which is in the possession of PUNCH online service gave the defendants, who include former president Charles Taylor, current president George Manneh Weah, and Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu, 21 days as of March 26, 2018, to have filed a response and serve their motions on the plaintiffs or their attorney and failure to respond, the summons said, default judgment would have been entered into against the defendants for the relief demanded by the complainants.
Gongloe woos Liberians for war crimes court
Rallying Liberians for the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia, when he made a presentation at a one day workshop on Transitional Justice organized by Civitas Maxima in the capital, Monrovia, last week, Cllr. Gongloe said: “Until we Liberians muster the courage to examine the immediate past history of this country and hold accountable those who committed atrocities in the Liberian civil conflict, Liberia will not enjoy genuine peace, reconciliation, unity and sustained national development and prosperity.”
“Let’s act today to create a better Liberia tomorrow for our children’s children,” he said, adding, “Today, we live in peace guided by the rule of law; therefore, only criminals should live in fear and not law-abiding citizens.”
He wants Liberians to rely on the rule of law in order to shift the burden of fear to those he called war criminals, adding, “This will only happen when more Liberians call for bringing to justice those who committed war crimes during the Liberian civil conflict.”
“The Late Arch-Bishop Micheal Kpakala Francis repeatedly told us, “There cannot be genuine peace without justice” All Liberians, including those who fought in the Liberian conflict, must call for war crimes.”
He emphasized: “We especially call upon our president, whom by all known accounts did not participate in the Liberian civil conflict to take the lead in the efforts to establish a war crimes tribunal in Liberia in order to bring to justice those who committed crimes against humanity during the Liberian civil conflict.”
“We call upon the law-makers to take every step in the interest of the people whom they represent, to establish a war crimes tribunal in Liberia, he added.
Cllr. Gongloe wants those who fought in the Liberian civil conflict and did not commit war crimes, who he said are suffering prejudice today in their communities only because they participated in the civil conflict, to join in on the call for the establishment of war crimes tribunal in Liberia, adding that the setting up of the tribunal will help clear all doubts about their roles during the civil conflict.
“If nobody brings a case against them or if someone makes a false claim against them and they are exonerated, their good names will be restored in their communities,” said Cllr. Gongloe, who is of the belief that without an accountability mechanism such as a war crimes court for Liberia, those he referred to as good people who fought in the Liberian civil conflict will continue to suffer from collective guilt.
“Justice is on the way”
Cllr. Gongloe recalls that while serving as Liberia’s Solicitor General, on March 29, 2006, at about 5:00 PM, he told the world press at the Roberts International Airport, speaking on behalf of the Liberian Government in his official capacity, as SG, that the arrest of Charles Taylor was the beginning of the end of impunity in the country.
“Following the trial and conviction of Mr. Taylor, we have begun to see the world arresting and putting on trial, some notorious perpetrators of world crimes during the fourteen-year civil conflict in Liberia, said Gongloe, noted that the arrest and trial in the United States of America and Europe, of some of the notorious perpetrators of war crimes in the country, have clearly shown that the world has clear and cogent evidence on those who committed atrocities in Liberia.
“The quality of evidence produced during the trial of Jungle Jarbah and Tom Woewiyu should be a clear signal to those who committed war crimes and have not been brought to justice that justice is on the way and it will make no mistake when it arrives in Liberia,” he said.
Gongloe disagrees with those who are dismissing calls for the establishment of a tribunal to probe war crimes, and are instead opting for restorative justice, saying, “Those who are maintaining this view are not guarded by history.”
“I disagree with this position. I am on the side of the victims and their families,” said Gongloe, adding, “In order to have sustainable peace and development, there must be justice for the victims of war crimes in Liberia. To hold the view that we must ignore the pain and agony with which many individuals are living within Liberia today and to only talk about developing our country would be like building a house upon the sand.”
“Many persons, including perpetrators of war crimes in Liberia and their associates and sympathizes have maintained the argument that Liberians should let bygones be bygones and forget the past for the sake of peace and that Liberians should focus more on development instead of talking about war crimes, he recounted, countering that “Lasting peace and sustainable development in Liberia are only possible when those who committed atrocities in Liberia are made to account for their criminal conducts.”
“Those who committed war crimes in Liberia have no right to tell the victims of the war to forget the past and move on, especially so when they have not made any attempt to meet the families of those who were killed or injured to express sorrow for their actions,” he said, adding, “Some even justify their actions during the conflict, thereby bringing more bad feelings to the families of those killed by them.”
‘Fear factor debunked’
Gongloe debunked assertions that in the event a war crimes court for Liberia was established, those accused of committing heinous crimes and their supporters would wage war on the country.
“Some people in Liberia harbor the fear that if those who committed war crimes in Liberia are brought to justice, then those people will bring war. This is not true. This is a propaganda by war criminals and their associates and sympathizers to create fear in the Liberian people. We should not listen to them. They made the Liberian people live in fear during the war when they were in charge,” he said.
