By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Joseph Boakai, Liberia’s President, has renewed the mandate of the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia and given the court a six fold increase in annual budget, quieting growing concern about the government’s commitment to the court after numerous funding delays. The president’s action will…
By Anthony Stephens, senior justice correspondent with New Narratives Leading local and international human rights organizations have joined together to issue a statement urging Liberian President Joseph Boakai to renew an executive order for the Office of War and Economics Crimes Court set to expire tomorrow, May 1. The groups, including the Liberian based Civil…
By Anthony Stephens, Senior Justice Correspondent with New Narratives Human rights advocates working on transitional justice and human trafficking in Liberia say they are shocked by this week’s announcement by Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, that the US government will shut down the Office of Global Criminal Justice and the Office to Monitor and Combat…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The Independent National Commission on Human Rights, Liberia’s independent human rights body, has condemned the government for what it calls “the snail pace of support” to the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia. The Commission issued its critique in a statement after Dr. Jallah Barbu, executive…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MAMBA POINT, Monrovia – People living with disabilities and women’s rights groups took center stage at a meeting of stakeholders in Liberia’s transitional justice process on Friday. While stressing the importance of the country’s nascent war and economics court, the groups said the process needed to go beyond criminal…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Civil society organizations working on transitional justice in Liberia have urged President Joseph Boakai to extend his executive order establishing the Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts which expires May 1. Key mandates of the Office, including a roadmap for Liberia’s transitional justice process and a bill for…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The Liberian government said it would hold “tough conversations” with the country’s international partners in April to explore ways to deal with the “shock” of the US aid cuts announced by the new Trump administration this month. The US is Liberia’s second largest donor after the World Bank. Most…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives A Finnish court has additional compensation to Gibril Massaquoi, an ex-commander of Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF), acquitted in 2024 of charges that he committed egregious human rights violations in Liberia under the direction of then-president Charles Taylor. In 2024 the Pirkanmaa District Court in Finland ordered the country’s government…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives CARTER CAMP, Liberia—Dr. Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts of Liberia, says a bill for the courts will be ready “very soon.” Dr. Barbu said that a technical committee comprising Liberian transitional justice experts, was “reenforcing the bill” drafted by a committee…
By Anthony Stephens and Prue Clarke with New Narratives Economists have warned expected cuts to United States aid funding will hurt Liberia’s progress on development and threaten political instability. They have urged the administration of President Joseph Boakai to cut salaries and allowances of officials among changes they say will be needed to withstand the…
By Anthony Stephens, Senior Correspondent with New Narratives PELEBO TOWN, Maryland County—Alvin sits under the shade of a mango tree outside a health clinic here coming to terms with the news he has just received. Though he had barely heard of Donald Trump before now, Alvin has just learned that the American president, coming into…
By Anthony Stephens With New Narratives In one of its first moves the Trump administration has frozen all government assistance programs across the world for 90 days. Though much remains unclear, the new administration has indicated most of those programs – funded by USAID and the State Department – will be shuttered. Liberia is not…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Leading human rights advocates have condemned President Joseph Boakai’s decision to commission Lewis Brown, a former national security adviser to Charles Taylor, as Liberia’s ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Brown was recommended for prosecution by the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and could be one of those prosecuted…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Beth Van Schaack, US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice in the Biden administration has left the post as the second Trump administration took power on Monday. In a farewell message Ambassador Van Schaack called her work in Liberia, The Gambia and other countries “impactful,” and applauded the human…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The US Trial of accused Liberian warlord, Laye Sekou Camara, alias “K-1” or “Dragon Master” has been called off after he pleaded guilty to criminal immigration fraud charges. A former commander of a rebel group, Mr. Camara, 46, was due to go on trial on January 21st in a US…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MAMBA POINT, Liberia— Two months after the appointment of Dr. Jallah Barbu as the second head of Liberia’s Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court, the government has finally released $368,000 funding for Dr. Barbu and his team which has been working without pay or operations funding since…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives ONE UN HOUSE, Liberia—A United Nations expert has warned that poverty and equality are high among “children, women and girls” in Liberia and “are drivers” of human trafficking. Madam Siobhán Mullally, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, said the issues were also fueling “sexual exploitation” among children “in rural and hard…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MAMBA POINT, Monrovia—The Office of Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Courts is facing eviction in from its rental space as the ongoing battle with government for funding reaches a crisis point. Dr. Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office, made the disclosure to Front Page Africa/New Narratives as he…
By New Narratives justice correspondents Yankuba Jallow in The Gambia and Anthony Stephens in Liberia. In a potential precedent for Liberia’s transitional justice process, Ecowas, West Africa’s regional bloc, has finally approved The Gambia’s request to establish a Special Tribunal to try alleged crimes committed during the military dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh whose rule from…
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The Liberian Senate has confirmed Lewis Brown, President Joseph Boakai’s controversial pick for Ambassador to the United Nations, despite opposition from leading voices in the human rights community in the country. Advocates had argued that Mr. Brown, recommended in Liberia’s 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commision report as one of 26 individuals who should face prosecution…
By Anthony Stephens, Senior Justice Correspondent with New Narratives Summary: One of the most important issues for designers of Liberia’s war and economic crimes court will be security. Opponents of the court, including Thomas Nimely Yaya, an ex-rebel leader, now a senator of Grand Gedeh County, have long threatened a court would “dismantle” peace, stir up old…
