Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar
Pressure is mounting for the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia, with the latest call coming from a young man believed to be a Liberian-American, Christmas Sailey Wendell, blaming President George Weah for blocking the establishment of a legal process to bring to justice those suspected of perpetrating heinous crimes during the country’s war years.
Liberia went up into flames for over a decade, resulting to the wanton destruction of lives and properties, including the death of approximately 250,000 people and the displacement of thousands others, when a fratricidal crisis engulfed the country on Christmas Eve in 1989, after rebel forces under the command of jailed former Liberian president Charles Taylor shot their way into the country through Buutuo, in Nimba County.
Since then, in spite of recommendations from the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) final report presented to former president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, not a single Liberian has been prosecuted for alleged atrocities committed during the war days
But in a video released Tuesday evening, Sailey, who claims he is a supporter of the Liberian leader’s political party, the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), accused President Weah of refusing to establish a war crimes court for Liberia, adding that this is so because some of those accused of executing criminal actions during the war are his (Weah) friends.
“US/UN sanction for Liberia”
Carrying a huge placard containing the photographs of President Weah; former warlord now Nimba County senator, Prince Y. Johnson; Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; some gruesome war scenes, and the five Catholic nuns killed during the Liberian civil war, Sailey screaming in demand of justice for the five nuns who are all American citizens, called on the United States government and the United Nations (UN) to impose sanction on Liberia due to what he calls the refusal of the Weah administration to establish a war crimes court.
“We are calling on the United Nations and America, sanction Liberia until Liberia can provide justice for our American citizens,” Sailey is heard shouting at the peak of his voice in the video that is making the rounds on social media.
The five nuns were murdered in cold blood in Liberia and their blood is still fresh in the memories of many, he said, adding, some 250,000 people were killed in cold blood during the Liberian civil war, but by his refusal to establish a war crimes court for Liberia, Sailey said, President Weah is saying the murdering of the Catholic nuns and the thousands of others that lost their lives is okay.
“The Liberian president said it is okay that these people should die in cold blood because the war criminals are his friends and family,” he said.
President Weah recently told a gathering of opposition political party leaders in the capital, Monrovia, that because some alleged perpetrators of war crimes in the country were the friends and family members of other Liberians, and that at the same time, some of those accused are serving as officials of his government, with some holding top positions, it would be difficult to bring them to justice.
But standing across the street from the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, USA, Sailey shouted, “Justice for our five Catholic nuns; they are [were] Americans too, they deserve to share in our inheritance – [As] Americans, we deserve to be protected anywhere on earth.”
He reminded the American government and its citizens about the U.S. core values of liberty, justice and equality, adding that it is their responsibility to uphold same in the case of the slain Catholic nuns.
He added that the Catholic nuns did not deserve to be raped and murdered, while Liberian president Weah by his refusal to initiate a process of justice for them, is saying it’s okay that these horrible things happened to the Catholic sisters.
“Rise up America, rise up in your anger – rise up America, for what you stand for. America, you stand for justice, fairness, equality, you stand for liberty. America, stand up for your citizens. America, stand up for the over 250,000 lives [people] that were murdered in Liberia in cold blood,” Sailey pleaded.
He asserted that by President Weah administration’s refusal to establish a war crimes court for the country, Liberia was clearly not an adherent to the core values of the U.S., and as such, is not qualify to benefit any goodwill from the government and people of America.
“Warlords should be put behind bar – in America, we have no room for war criminals. In America, we have no room for people who support war criminals. Even the murders in America, we put them behind bar, that’s where they belong,” he said.
He said the killing of the Catholic sisters is an affront to the U.S. democracy, saying, America is known for not supporting warlords and countries that shield warlords – “Rise up in your anger America, rise up and demand justice for the Catholic nuns – rise up and demand justice for the over 250, 000 people killed in Liberia.”
Catholic nuns’ actual killers unknown
In 1992, as the war heightened and rebel forces loyal to warlord Charles Taylor launched “Operation Octopus”, Sisters Kathleen McGuire, Shirley Kolmer, Barbara Ann Muttra, Mary Joel Kolmer, Agnes Mueller, all of the Roman Catholic order of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in tiny Ruma, Illinois, about an hour south of St. Louis, and grew up in rural southern and central Illinois, were murdered and their bodies burned, mutilated and left to rot for weeks, in the sun of the Monrovia suburban of Gardnerville, in Liberia.
About two decades ago, the actual killers of the women, remain unknown, with Taylor denying involvement in the nuns’ murder, at his 2008 war crimes court trial in The Hague; even though, several investigations over the years, including probes by the Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia, the Liberian TRC, and the FBI, blamed Taylor’s rebel force, the erstwhile National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL).
Following the brutal murder of the nuns in Liberia in October 1992, the FBI mounted an investigation, but no one was ever arrested, and the case was considered closed.
Howbeit, in 2015, the FBI for the first time after several years, acknowledged that the investigation of the 1992 killing of the five Americans in Liberia is again part of an active case.
In its first public statement regarding the murder case of the Catholic sisters, the FBI says, the case remains relevant to a “pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding.”
Eager to seize Monrovia, Taylor had launched one of his most aggressive offensive to date – a campaign known as Operation Octopus that brought sporadic gun battle to the doors of the small Gardnersville convent, where the slain nuns were providing relief and humanitarian service.
On 20 October, Sisters Barbara Ann and Mary Joel agreed to drive the compound’s security guard to check on his family in a nearby suburb, but when the women failed to return that evening, their colleagues began to worry.
Sounds of automatic weapon fire and mortar explosions crept ever closer. Sisters Kathleen, Agnes, and Shirley decided they had to get out. They attempted an evacuation on the morning of 23 October, before abandoning the plan as too risky. They vowed to try again the next morning, but by then it would be too late.
That night, a squad of rebels reportedly under a fighter named Christopher “Mosquito” Vambo, allegedly charged toward the gates, firing AK-47s and demanding cars and cash.
Eyewitnesses, including many young Liberian aspirants preparing to join the nuns’ order, recounted what happened next for investigators in the recent case of Tom Woewiyu, a former high-ranking official of Taylor’s rebel force, who was recently convicted in the U.S.
Sister Kathleen was the first to fall when she was shot in the arm as soon as she opened the gates. Later, she was executed with a second bullet through the back of her neck, according to eyewitnesses.
The eyewitnesses’ account has it that Vambo separated Sisters Agnes and Shirley, and accused them of working with Taylor’s enemies. A fighter named “Black Devil” shot them both, silencing their pleas for mercy, the witnesses added.
Many of the convent’s other occupants were spared, but taken as prisoners and marched into Taylor-held territory, according to the witnesses, who said along the way, one of those spared, recounted later that they passed the burned-out shell of a car, with the charred corpses of Sisters Barbara Ann and Mary Joel laying inside, slumped over in the seats.
“Shame on you Liberia”
Sailey, in his advocacy for justice for the slain nuns, slammed Liberia for President Weah’s refusal to set up a war crimes court, saying, “Shame on you Liberia.”
He informed Americans that while it’s true they do not tolerate war on U.S. soil, Liberia has declared war on the people of America, drawing the analogy that by the Liberian president refusing to set up a war crimes court to ensure justice is served perpetrators of atrocities including the murderers of the five Catholic nuns, is tantamount to waging war on the United States.
“The president of Liberia is saying it’s okay for Americans to be murdered – shame on you Liberia!”
“America, your citizens’ blood is still soaked in the soil of Liberia until Liberia can give us justice for these five Catholic nuns, we demand justice for the Catholic sisters,” he added.
He continued: “America, sanction Liberia until Liberia can provide justice for our fellow Americans. Sanction Liberia, Liberia cannot survive without America – America, are you going to allow your citizens’ death to go in vain? I am an American, and I say no, as long as we live, the voices of these Catholic nuns have not been silenced yet.”
“Justice for these five Americans. Justice for the over 250,000 Liberians murdered in cold blood,” Sailey maintained.
“Weah compromised by politics”
Sailey intimated that although President Weah is a former UNICEF ambassador for peace, he has been compromised by politics.
“The president of Liberia has been compromised in politics, to silence the voices of the dead,” Sailey said, adding, “Rise up America, Liberia is not your friend, because Liberia has denied justice.”
He maintained that Liberia under the rule of former footballer turned politician Weah, is not a friend of the U.S., saying, “Liberia is trying to undermine our democracy – Liberia is posing a threat to all Americans on earth.”
