The Transitional Justice Working Group of Liberia (TJWG) has cautioned Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the government to respect the outcome of the recent “Swedish Embassy Roundtable.”
The group stated that, the meeting aimed at promoting dialogue and cooperation resulted in important agreements that must be upheld by all parties involved for the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia.
In a release issue yesterday by the group, the TJWG noted that it was and it is clear that the civil war had nothing to do with the protection of the political, economic and social rights of Liberians as was pretexted by the warriors and their supporters rather, it was a calculated and selfish ploy to murder the Liberian populace, acquire state power, and plunder their wealth.
According to the group, these people must account for their crimes and the victims must get the deserved justice and stated that the dispensation of justice for the victims which also include the holding of perpetrators accountable is a tedious, professional and above all a sensitive process which must be devour of political or personal influence and consideration.
The group release noted, “It may be recalled that to address the pressing issues of justice and accountability, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was put in place and presented its recommendations which includes but not limited to criminal prosecution, peace-building, memorialization, reparations etc.”
“While successive governments showed no sign of implementing the TRC recommendations, steps so-far taken by the current government indicates that the victory for justice and accountability is reaching an irreversible point which needs to be encouraged and not hindered,” it emphasized.
Notable among steps taken so far by the current government include the submission of an official communication to the Secretary General of the United Nations of the Liberian Government’s willingness to establish a war and economic crimes court so as to hold perpetrators of war and economic crimes during the Liberian civil war accountable and give justice to the thousands of victims and survivors of the carnage,” the release said.
The statement also mentioned, “The appointment of the Executive Director of the office responsible to coordinate the establishment of said court is a remarkable opportunity for all Liberians including civil society institutions for which we are grateful. Notwithstanding, there has been some dissatisfaction especially from some civil society groups over the lack of consultation before the appointment.”
As solid as these concerns may be, TJWG views it inconsistent to how some of these very civil society institutions secretly without consultation with their fellow civil society actors, recommended individuals from their ranks to the President for the same position when they were not consulted.
TJWG informs Liberians that during this meeting, majority of civil society speakers including victim groups acknowledged that consultation before the appointment was a prudent way for the government to go, but they favored moving forward rather than continuous bickering over mere appointment.”
The TJWG release maintained, “It was then agreed that civil convening another meeting and engaging with Cllr. Massaquio upon his return from the United States was the best and appropriate path to resolving the impasse with the civil society community and there should be increase in civil society representation during the next meeting and engagement with Cllr. Massaquio.”
The TJWG is therefore, calling on all civil society actors, the government and our international partners to respect the outcome of the “Swedish Embassy Roundtable” and accordingly resolve concerns.
In the coming days the TJWG and an expanded coalition of prominent civil society groups are working to implement the outcome of the “Swedish Embassy Roundtable.” Let the Liberian Government, people and international partners give the civil society the benefit of the doubt,” the statement asserted.
The group, in its release added, “With confidence we will resolve the impasse peacefully. Which way it may go the Liberian people stand to win. Liberia is bigger than us all. We need not to for that the President Executive Order has a time limit and we have eight months of the one year time limit left.”
