GANTA, Nimba County – No one hearing “rogue! rogue! rogue!” in the middle of the night in a community in the city of Ganta stays asleep long. This story first appeared on The Daily Observer as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Instead, people rush out with machetes to find the culprit. When…
West Africa Justice Reporting Project
Liberia: Questions about a War Crimes Court? Here is an Explainer
MONROVIA – The conversation about setting up a War Crimes Court in Liberia has intensified in the last 18 months. This is partly due to a push by local and international advocates for accountability, finally, for the brutality that claimed the lives of 250,000 Liberians. They’ve seen an opportunity in the election of President George Weah,…
Wartime Murder of Musician Casts Pall on Liberian Music Scene
Liberia’s music industry will mark a poignant moment this weekend. It is 28 years since musician Tecumsay Roberts was gunned down. Witnesses say the killer was General Samuel Varnii acting under the command of Prince Johnson. This story first appeared on Power TV as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Liberian musicians will…
Liberia: Defying Prince Johnson, Nimbaians Call for a War Crimes Court
GANTA, Nimba County – If Nimba’s most famous son, Senator Prince Yormie Johnson, is to be believed, this is one county that will not back the growing call for a war crimes court. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. “My people believe I am a hero…
Former Fighters Embrace War Crimes Court
They may be the most unlikely group of people expected to support the push for a war crimes court in Liberia. More than 100,000 of them, now former combatants, laid down their weapons at the end of the civil wars in 2003. Now some of them say justice must be served. This story first appeared…
River Cess Survivors Join Calls for War Crimes Court; Perpetrator Denies Responsibility
BLOH TOWN, River Cess – For Elizabeth Byamue, 63, the horror of the day that destroyed her world has never gone away. This story first appeared on River Cess Radio and Bush Chicken as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. “I can still remember – it was on a Friday when the…
Liberia: Slain Ex-Minister’s Son Calls for Prince Johnson’s Prosecution as He Avenges His Father’s Death
Monrovia – Joseph S. Kannah Jr. was just five years old when his father was allegedly gunned down by Prince Johnson’s forces. More than 28 years on, Kannah, whose father Joseph S. Kannah Sr. was the Assistant Minister of State for Logistics, is yet to locate his father’s remains for burial. This story first appeared on…
Former Fighters Embrace War Crimes Court
They may be the most unlikely group of people expected to support the push for a war crimes court in Liberia. More than 100,000 of them, now former combatants, laid down their weapons at the end of the civil wars in 2003. Now some of them say justice must be served. This story first appeared…
Liberians against Amnesty for War, New Survey on Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Shows
Monrovia – A new survey on social cohesion and reconciliation (SCORE) has found that majority of Liberians do not support amnesty for perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, the survey revealed that majority of Liberians seek apology, the truth and compensation from perpetrators as preconditions for amnesty. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline as part…
Advocates See a Big Year for Justice as Liberians face trial in U.S. and Europe over Civil War
MONROVIA – The year 2018 will go down as the biggest year yet for criminal accountability of war crimes and crimes committed in during the Liberian civil war (1989-2003). But advocates for a Liberian war crimes court say 2019 will be even busier, with two cases in the United States and four in Europe—one each…
Liberia: Witnesses Fear Testifying Before War Crimes Court without Security
SINJE, Capemount County – Alhaji Tucker was only 10 when the civil war started in Liberia, but he remembers clearly the day rebels fighting with ULIMO K brutally slaughtered his little brother and other family members here. Tucker has vowed to testify against the attackers known as “Senegalese” and “Bility” before a war crimes court…
Liberia: Residents of Speaker Chambers’ District Want Him to Agree to War Crimes Court Establishment
Pleebo, Maryland County – The 14-year civil war spared no part of Liberia. The county of Maryland suffered an especially heavy toll. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report recorded 3,934 victims here, the second highest after Sinoe (5,706). This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting…
Liberia: Tecumsay Roberts and Music Icons Slain in War, to be Honored at Industry Awards
MONROVIA – The lyrics of ‘Coming Home’ and ‘Ma Susu’ – albums by the late Tecumsay Roberts – live on in the minds of many Liberians. An icon of the music scene when he was killed in 1990 at age 39, Roberts was bigger in Liberia than Michael Jackson. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline…
Liberians Plagued by Mental Health Problems in Aftermath of War
Ganta, Nimba County – The heat of late morning sun here is overwhelming today. Dorbor Kullie- [name withheld to protect him from stigma] moves his chair by the side of a building to benefit from its shade. He uses his shirt to wipe his face but he continues to perspire profusely. Yet, he wears a…
Liberia: U.S. Judge Rules Lutheran Massacre Case Will Go Ahead
MONROVIA – An American court has ruled that Moses Thomas, the senior officer who allegedly ordered the Lutheran Church Massacre, will face trial in Philadelphia. A civil suit brought by the Center for Justice and Accountability on behalf of four anonymous survivors of the massacre alleges Thomas gave the command for the killings when he…
Samay Massacre Survivors Call for Justice Through a War Crime Court
SAMAY, Bong – As calls for the establishment of war and economic crimes court in Liberia intensify, victims and survivors of the infamous Samay Massacre have joined, demanding the prosecution of those who carried out the massacre here in 1994 that killed 28 people and destroyed 22 houses. This story first appeared on Bush Chicken as…
Liberia: “It Pains Me to See Children Playing over a Mass Grave” – Lutheran Massacre Survivors Angry at Treatment of Remains
Monrovia – It has been 28 years since the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Massacre. Survivors, most of whom only escaped death through the sacrifice of loved ones, have yet to see justice. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Peterson Sonyah, 43, was only…
Liberians March the Streets of Monrovia In Demand for Justice against War and Economic Crimes
MONROVIA – “We are the victims; we cannot get tired!” “We want justice!” and “Yor leave us oh! Dah justice we want!” were among an estimated 4,000 Liberians who gathered early Monday morning to memorialize the deaths of 250,000 thousand people who died during the Liberian civil war. The march, through the streets of Monrovia,…
Liberia: UN, American Envoys Call for War Crimes Court at Milestone Justice Conference
Monrovia – Stephen Rapp, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice and Dr. Uchenna Emelonye, Country Representative of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights have both called for Liberia to set up a war crimes court to prosecute perpetrators of its civil war. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfrica as part of…
The Quest for War Crimes Court: Who are the International Players?
Monrovia – The call for a Liberian war and economic crimes court has reached new heights since President George Weah became head of state. Campaigners see the ex-football superstar as the best person to muster the political will for a court because he has no known connections to the war. This story first appeared on…
German Envoy Says Justice for Liberian War Victim Is Key
MONROVIA – Hubert Jäger, the German Ambassador to Liberia, joined the chorus of international community calling on Liberia to hold a war crimes court. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Speaking at the launch of the Alliance for Transitional Justice, a collaboration of…