Liberia’s push for justice is at risk: a public feud between War Crimes Court Office chief Jallah Barbu and Justice Minister Oswald Tweh has exposed funding delays and political resistance that threaten to stall the creation of war crimes and anti-corruption courts. As survivors demand accountability and activists warn of sabotage, the dispute casts doubt…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: A public dispute between Jallah Barbu, the executive director of the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia, and the Oswald Tweh, the justice minister, has cast a cloud over the war crimes court and a national anti-corruption court, prompting a range…
Liberia’s Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) chief sharply criticized the country’s persistent corruption problem, warning that it undermines justice and governance. His remarks came as the United Nations launched a justice training program aimed at strengthening rule of law institutions, with the hope that such initiatives can help Liberia confront systemic issues that…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: The United Nations began training Liberian prosecutors, investigators and civil society actors to tackle corruption through a human rights lens this week, as the country advances plans to establish a National Anti-Corruption Court and the long-delayed War and Economic Crimes Court. The two-day initiative was…
The Gambia has begun paying reparations to victims of crimes committed during the violent 22-year regime of former president Yahya Jammeh, which ended in 2017. The country’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission recommended that more than 1,000 victims receive 237 million dalasi (about $3.7 million) for abuses that left around 250 people dead and thousands…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: The Gambia has begun paying reparations to victims of crimes committed during the violent 22-year regime of former president Yahya Jammeh that ended in 2017. The country’s 2021 Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission report recommended that more than 1,000 victims be paid 237 million dalasi…
Promises of jobs in Canada and Australia have lured hundreds of people into the hands of human traffickers in Liberia. But fair trials for those affected have been elusive. A months-long New Narratives investigation detailed bribe payments that more than 50 victims said had protected their traffickers from prosecution. Delays have meant that the accused traffickers could walk free….
A Belgian court has ordered a former commander in Liberia’s civil war to stand trial for allegedwar crimes committed more than three decades ago. The suspect is Martina Johnson, a key ally of former Liberian warlord-turned-president CharlesTaylor. Prosecutors say she took part in killings and mutilations during one of the war’s most violentoffensives. New Narratives’…
In Liberia, victims and human rights advocates are expressing anger over the government’s silence in the country’s largest human trafficking case — as suspects move closer to possible release.The case involves more than fifty victims and allegations of bribery within the justice system. It is one of a growing number of human trafficking cases –…
The story follows Eriah Nahnie, a Liberian refugee detained in Massachusetts after arriving in America as a child. Despite raising a family and believing his asylum status protected him, he now faces removal to Liberia—a nation he has no ties to and barely recalls. His case highlights a broader pattern of Liberians being targeted under…
Liberia’s biggest human‑trafficking case is now hanging by a thread as government officials remain silent over explosive bribery allegations, while 11 accused traffickers could walk free on bail this month due to delays in prosecution. Victims who bravely came forward say they feel abandoned as the justice system falters, raising serious concerns about corruption, accountability,…
More than 50 victims of human trafficking in Liberia say they were promised jobsabroad—but instead ended up trapped, abused, and extorted.Now, months after coming forward, they say justice is slipping away.Their case promised to bethe biggest win against criminals who are profiting from fraudulent promises of sending peopleoverseas for jobs, in a business known by…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Victims in Liberia’s largest human trafficking case said they were deeply disappointed by the government’s silence after they revealed to FrontPage Africa last week that they were repeatedly told by traffickers that they had paid bribes to Bestman Juah, a public defender, to keep the cases from free from justice….
By Anthony Stephens and New Narratives editors It was Kayla’s birthday. She was putting her baby son into his car seat, her daughter climbing into the back, her fiancé Eriah Nahnie behind the wheel. It was just after 8 in the morning — a routine school run on a cold winter’s day in United States…
A mass escape from a trafficking ring handed prosecutors everything they needed for Liberia’s biggest trafficking conviction. 51 victims say a bribe is about to set their traffickers free By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent and New Narratives editors On a morning last October, more than 50 women and men walked into Paynesville magistrates’ court…
After more than 15 years of investigation, a Belgian appeals court has ruled that Martina Johnson — one of the most powerful commanders in Charles Taylor’s rebel movement — must finally stand trial for alleged atrocities committed during Liberia’s first civil war. Johnson is accused of leading brutal attacks during Operation Octopus, a 1992 assault…
Armed men recently broke into the offices of the Global Justice and Research Project, threatening director Hassan Bility and warning that they “knew where he lived,” in what activists say is the latest attempt to intimidate those pursuing accountability for Liberia’s civil‑war atrocities. The attack, along with fresh threats against witnesses and officials working on…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: A high court in Belgum ruled on Thursday that Martina Johnson, one of the most powerful women of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front for Liberia, should stand trial for crimes she’s accused of committing during Liberia’s first civil war between 1989 and 1996. The decision by…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Summary: Armed men broke into the offices of the Global Justice and Research Project last month, targeting Liberia’s leading organization investigating civil war crimes, according to security guards, and alarming activists who say threats against victims, witnesses and investigators are rising. According to Hassan Bility, director…
Threats to witnesses in the trials of accused perpetrators in the United States and Europe aregrowing according to justice activists. Seven victims who have testified have been relocated inthe last six months alone.New Narratives’ senior justice correspondent, Anthony Stephens, met one of the witnesses,who says he now fears for his safety after the United States…
Liberian justice advocates are pushing for stronger protections for victims as the country moves toward establishing a war crimes court. At a recent conference in Monrovia, human rights expert Elise Keppler stressed that crimes like forced marriage and other gender‑based abuses must be fully recognized in the court’s legislation to ensure meaningful justice. She said…
