Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com
Monrovia – In spite of mounting pressure and incessant calls coming both from the local and international fronts for the establishment of a tribunal to ensure justice is served for the perpetration of heinous crimes during the country’s bloody civil war, President George Manneh Weah is yet undecided over whether or not there should be any such thing as a war crimes court for Liberia.
Amid street protests in the capital Monrovia by several Liberians calling for the establishment of a war crimes court, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, passed a resolution for the full implementation of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommendations, which in part call for the establishment of a special tribunal to try those bearing greater responsibility of the decade-plus civil war in the country.
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, recommending among other things that dozens of individuals who bear greater responsibility of the war that displaced millions of Liberians, left a quarter of a million dead, and countless more raped, disabled, and traumatized, should face further investigation and prosecution.
But on Thursday, upon his return to the country from the maiden edition of the Paris Peace Forum, President Weah, responding to a reporter’s enquiry as to what was his position on the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia, the Liberian leader laid the responsibility squarely at the feet of the citizens, stating that it is the prerogative of Liberians to decide whether they need the court as opposed to development or vice versa.
Weah said: “We have our liberty, we all have different minds, we’ve got different views and opinions; some people [are] calling for war crimes court, some people [are calling for peace. So I think what we need to do is that, we’ve got to find out what we need – if we need war crimes court now to develop our country or we need peace to develop the country – so that’s where all of us Liberians need to sit and talk about advancement.”
Howbeit, he noted that he will do for Liberia what’s necessary for him as the leader of his people, without clearly saying whether or not he would approve the establishment of a war crimes court for the country.
“What is necessary for us, [that] is the best thing for us, that’s what the leader will do,” said Weah, adding, “so if it means that we have to reconcile this country that is way that Liberia will develop and will progress, then we will have to work towards that.”
Punch FM/TV online service recalls that in a meeting with members of the country’s opposition bloc in August, President Weah asserted that some of those bearing the greater responsibility for the perpetration of heinous crimes in Liberia are in top decision-making positions, with some being officials of his administration, stressing that in his mind this makes it difficult to initiate any process that will bring such individuals to justice.
There are also reports that former dreaded warlord Prince Y. Johnson had allegedly sealed a deal with President Weah, for the president to trash the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia. Weah has neither deny nor confirm this report since it was first released in August.
Late in August, news broke that President Weah and the former leader of the defunct Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), Prince Y. Johnson, who is now senator of vote-rich Nimba County, had entered into an agreement for the latter to support the former second term presidential bid, while the former will in return use his presidential powers to quash the establishment of war crimes court for Liberia.
PYJ made the disclosure back in August that he had entered into a pact with President Weah and other individuals whose identity he did not reveal, so that the Liberian leader shields them away from appearing before a war crimes court, in exchange for their support to his second term bid to hold on to power.
A Punch FM/TV online service investigation reveals that the reported deal was uncovered when Senator Johnson at the time informed some lawmakers at the Legislature regarding what he called a set of proposals from the president, so that he gets their support in 2023 for the presidency and for the impeachment of embattled Supreme Court Associate Justice Kabineh Ja’neh, and for his part, he (President Weah) would squash anything that has to do with the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia.
Infamously credited with the capturing, torturing, disfiguring and murdering of former president Samuel Doe, Senator Johnson is also accused of taking several Liberians including renowned Liberian musicians Robert Toe and Tecumsey Roberts, to their early graves during the brutal Liberian civil war.
Now a preacher said to have been converted to Christianity in Nigeria, Senator Johnson, in August, while delivering a sermon at his Chapel of Faith Ministries, in Paynesville City, termed as a fiasco heightened calls for the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia, saying no such court would be established in the country, and that those calling for same are “foolish.”
Senator Johnson bragged that he played a pivotal role in bringing President Weah to power, indicating that to apparently protect him and others who allegedly perpetrated mayhem during the war, the Liberian leader will not give in to the establishment of war crimes court.
In the Nimba County senator’s sermon that went viral on social media, he noted that regarding President Weah’s resolve to protect him and others, he stands ready to rally citizens of Nimba to massively support the president’s second term bid, adding that such support would be contingent upon how many citizens of Nimba President Weah would appoint to major governmental posts during his first term.
“… If you touch George Weah, you’ve touched us. He has got our backing and we, too, got his backing; so, your war crimes court is [a] fiasco,” Senator Johnson said.
