Mr. Lewis Brown before Liberia’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee for confirmation.

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. Mr. Brown told the committee he expects the courts to exonerate him from accusations by Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he committed economic crimes during Liberia’s civil wars.

The human rights groups criticized President Joseph Boakai’s appointment of Mr. Brown to the key post particularly because it comes at a sensitive time when the country is courting technical and financial support from the UN and the international community for the war and economics crimes courts. Liberia’s ambassador to the UN will have a lead role in appealing for that support.

Mr. Brown was a key ally of Charles Taylor, the ex-Liberian president currently serving a 50-year prison sentence in the UK for crimes committed in neighboring Sierra Leone. When Taylor, who headed the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), was elected president in 1997 Mr. Brown held several positions in his government, including managing director of the Liberia Petroleum Refining company, national security advisor and foreign minister. The 2009 TRC Report recommended Mr. Brown as one of 26 individuals who should face prosecution for his alleged economic crimes.

“Yes, I support the establishment by the government of Liberia, whether through the Senate and the steps taken by our president, which have been publicly announced to establish the war crimes court and the court for economic crimes,” said Mr. Brown in response to a question from Darius Dillion of Montserrado County, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the hearing that lasted more than five hours. “I support it 1000 percent. I support it because I know it will provide me an opportunity for exoneration.”

Thomas Nimely Yaha of Senator for Grand Gedeh County and Edwin Snowe of Senator of Bomi, who were recommended by the TRC for prosecution for alleged war and economic crimes respectively, are also members of the committee, but did not question Mr. Brown over his alleged crimes.

Mr. Brown jointly appeared before the committee alongside Dr. Al-Hassan Conteh, Liberia’s US Ambassador designate. He too said he supported the courts. As with many other individuals accused by the TRC, Mr. Brown criticized the Commission, accusing it of “poor judgment, lack of competence, peer envy and lack of legal standard for prosecution of some of the cases. The truth is some of the people in the report are living with a stain on their character.”

But Mr. John Stewart, an ex-Chairman of the TRC, defended the report.

“I stand by the TRC report,” said Mr. Stewart in a phone interview. “This was a product of in-depth investigation.”

Mr. Brown was Liberia’s UN ambassador during the administrations of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and George Weah, two ex-presidents who refused to support the establishment of a court. His latest nomination comes at a critical time for Liberia. The country’s efforts to establish the courts have only recently been reenergized, 21 years after the end of the conflict, after President Boakai signed an executive order to establish an office of the courts and the Legislature passed a resolution supporting them. President Boakai appointed Dr. Jallah Barbu as executive director of the Office for the courts at the start of this month.

Should he be confirmed by the senate, Mr. Brown will be Liberia’s most senior diplomat at the UN making a case for the courts. The government will rely heavily on the UN and the international community for the technical support and funding for the court – with costs estimated at anywhere between $US10m and $100m. Activists have insisted it would be an error to have a potential defendant in the courts, in charge of asking for that support.  

“First, it is rare, very rare to see any country send one person to the same post twice,” said Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe, a veteran Liberian human rights lawyer and court advocate, in an interview. “He was National Security Advisor to President Taylor at a time that some of the worst things happened in this country. His name is among the recommended people to be held accountable for what happened here. I don’t believe that he is in the best position to mobilize the resources that we need for the war economic crimes courts.”

Cllr. Tiawan Gongloe, a veteran Liberian human rights lawyer, says he does not believe that as Ambasador to the UN, Mr. Lewis Brown will mobolize the resources neded to support Liberia’s war and economic crimes courts. Credit: Anthony Stephens/New Narratives.

Mr. Hassan Bility, director of the Global Justice and Research Project, which has helped gather evidence in 15 cases of accused perpetrators in Liberia’s civil wars for law enforcement in Europe and the United States, echoed Cllr. Gongloe’s view.

“We strongly believe Mr. Brown should NOT be Liberia’s permanent representative to the UN,” Mr. Bility said by text. “His confirmation totally negates the raison d’etre of the values and essence of the TRC. While it’s true the findings of the TRC are not pieces of evidence, it will impede and abort the donation of funding to the Court. Moreover, it will signal that Liberia is not serious in its quest for justice.”

Mr. Peterson Sonyah, executive director of the Liberia Massacre Survivors Association, the largest victims and survivors’ group in Liberia, which had earlier criticized president Boakai’s decision, restated their opposition to his nomination.

“If Lewis Brown is confirmed, it will undermine our justice system. It will undermine the establishment of the war and economic crimes court,” said Mr. Sonyah. “If he faces the court and he is exonerated, can get that job. That will be very good. But for now, he shouldn’t be confirmed.”

Mr. Sonyah claimed Mr. Brown reached out to him earlier this week, seeking an audience to “explain his role during the wars,” but did not follow through.

The Committee must now consider the nomination and make a recommendation to the plenary of the Senate which will approve or reject the recommendation.

This story is a collaboration with FrontPage Africa as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia which had no say in the story’s content.