By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The Liberian government sought the endorsement of its war and economic crimes courts from the United Nations in a meeting on Tuesday. The meeting comes three months after President Joseph Boakai quietly sent a letter to the U.N. Secretary General, asking for technical and financial support for the courts. Though the…
Summary: By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Martina Johnson, one of the most powerful commanders of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front for Liberia (NPFL) rebel group, is expected to go on trial in Belgium next year for atrocities allegedly committed during Liberia’s first civil war. A court is considering evidence gathered during…
By Jake Duffy with New Narratives PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – Laye Sekou Camara, known by the war names “K-1” or “Dragon master”, a former commander of the Lurd rebel group, was taken into custody Thursday after being sentenced by a federal court to 57 months in prison for lying in U.S. immigration proceedings about his role…
As Liberia marks 21 years of peace, victims demand justice through war crimes courts. Former warlords resist, warning of instability, while international backers and activists call for accountability, healing, and reform….
Witnesses in Philadelphia accuse ex-LURD commander Camara of mass killings, torture, and child soldier use. Testimonies recount horrific scenes as victims seek justice decades after Liberia’s brutal civil war….
Former LURD rebel Laye Sekou Camara faces sentencing in the U.S. as 17 Liberian victims testify. His guilty plea marks a landmark step in international accountability for Liberia’s civil war atrocities….
Former rebel leader Thomas Nimely Yaya used the 21st Anniversary of Peace Celebrations on Friday to voice his opposition to the country’s nascent war and economics crimes courts claiming they threaten the country’s political stability….
The team designing Liberia’s courts have a range of former courts to learn from. The most obvious one is Sierra Leone’s Special Court – held in our neighboring country to try crimes that resulted as a spillover from our own conflict. …
Running a war crimes court is an expensive exercise no matter where it is held. From construction of court buildings and detention facilities to salaries of judges, lawyers and administrators, to security and witness protection, costs add up quickly….
In his first address to the United Nations General Assembly since coming to office eight months ago, President Joseph Boakai has called on the body to support Liberia’s war and economic crimes courts….
Osman O. Nyei looks sadly at the storefront that now hosts a frozen food importer. It was here, in the last battles of Liberia’s third civil war in August 2003, that Osman says, Laye Sekou Camara, then a general with Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, the rebel group known as “Lurd”, murdered his brother….
A whirl of speculation has clouded the work of the special presidential committee tasked with shortlisting candidates for the position of Executive Director of Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts of Liberia….
In a blow to victims and survivors of the brutal 1990 St. Peter’s Lutheran Church massacre in Liberia, the Ecowas Community Court of Justice has thrown out their case against the Liberian government….
Justice activists are adamant that justice for atrocities committed during Liberia’s civil conflicts since 1979 is essential to entrenching the rule of law and ending a sense of impunity that has thrived in the country. But how many people need to face justice for those benefits to be delivered?…
Lewis Brown, whose nomination last week as Liberia’s Ambassador to the United Nations was condemned by leading human rights organizations, has told his Senate confirmation hearing that he supports the country’s upcoming war and economics crimes courts….
More war crimes court advocates have joined the condemnation of President Joseph Boakai’s pick of Lewis Brown as Liberia’s ambassador to the United Nations….
It’s a mantra repeated by government officials, activists and the international community: Liberia’s victims and survivors must be at the heart of efforts to bring justice for crimes committed in the country’s long civil wars that ended in 2003. But now the office to establish the War and Economic Crimes Courts is finally taking shape, victims and survivors say they have been excluded from the process….
Lewis Brown, President Joseph Boakai’s controversial pick for Ambassador to the United Nations, said he is innocent of the economics crimes allegations leveled against him in the country’s 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. …
Human rights advocates and victims’ groups are angry over the death of Prince Johnson, the accused notorious warlord, who died suddenly in Paynesville early Thursday morning….
It’s been just one month on the job for Dr. Jallah Allen Barbu, as the country’s second head of Liberia’s Office for the War and Economics Crimes Court….
Justice activists are adamant that justice for atrocities committed during Liberia’s civil conflicts since 1979 is essential to entrenching the rule of law and ending a sense of impunity that has thrived in the country. But how many people need to face justice for those benefits to be delivered?…
