By Grace Q. Bryant
The Chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, Cllr. Dempster Brown, says the commission strongly supports the Unity Party government for the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court.
According to him, the Commission has already contacted the international community and has received a green light.
Commissioner Brown also called on President Boakai to not be deterred by threats of words, saying, “Anyone who will continue to threaten Liberians will be picked up and carried by ICC. We will not sit here again to see people killing and go free; we will deal with them legally.
We are planning a dialogue with other stakeholders, including the LNBA, to have a one-day retreat to prepare a roadmap on the establishment of Economic Crimes Court,” disclosing that the War Crimes Court will be separated from the Economic Crimes Court.
The INCHR boss revealed that the United National is willing to sponsor the one-day retreat for the dialogue to establish the WCC and the ECC in Liberia.
“We want to make this clear that the Human Rights Commission stands by the government to establish the War Crimes Court,” he asserted.
He maintained that the INCHR believes that the implementation of the TRC report must be done in good faith, recognizing that Liberians have suffered one of the worst egregious crimes in the sub-region.
He noted that the Commission has heard horrible stories of survivors of civil war through the Palava Hut hearing, and has seen physical scars and destruction of villages and towns that have left victims hopeless.
He emphasized that the Commission frowns on those in leadership who continue to compel survivors to accept the anguish they have experienced and continue to live through their lives.
The Commission called on all Liberians to wake up to a call to ensure that justice is done to the victims of the civil war so that we can turn a new page in our country
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia was established as a result of the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement (ACPA), bequeathed, as a residual responsibility, to the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR), to ensure the implementation of the TRC report published in 2009.
The TRC Act of 2005 Sec. 10 (46) provides, “The Independent National Human Rights Commission shall be seized with the responsibility to ensure that all the recommendations contained in the Report of the TRC are implemented, and that civil society organizations and moral guarantors of the CPA shall be seized of the responsibility to monitor and campaign for the implementation of all recommendations contained in the report.
The TRC report contains 207 recommendations, formulated as a result of hearings and statements collected from victims and perpetrators in the 14 years of civil war.
The recommendations are clustered into four pillars: national reconciliation, lustration, accountability, and memorialization. The Commission has started to implement the recommendations, amongst which include memorialization ( Duport Road Memorial, Mahar Memorial etc.).
