After a nearly four-week trial in the Paris Court of Appeal Kamara was found guilty of torture, barbarism and complicity crimes against humanity this week and was sentenced to life in prison. As evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh reports for Okay FM and PrimeFM Kunti’s victims in Foya say the French court’s ruling is long overdue justice…
Liberia
Foya Victims Celebrate Kamara Conviction
By Evelyn Kpadeh Seagbeh with New Narratives NGISAKONJA, Lofa County – Evelyn Pillo points to the spot where her father’s house once sat. It was here that her family endured the horrors that, she says, haunt them to this day. In 1993 when troops with the United Liberia Movement of Liberia (Ulimo) took control of…
Two Young Liberian Entrepreneurs are Building a Business and Creating Jobs
Ask any university graduate and they’ll tell you: It’s hard to get a job in Liberia right now. That reality is pushing a lot of budding entrepreneurs to strike out on their own. Economists say Liberia needs more successful companies if the economy is to grow and create jobs. That’s the motivation behind a range…
Activists Say Govt’s Failure to Release Auditors’ Deaths Report Creating Trust Crisis
Monrovia – It is two years since Sylvester Saye Lama lost his wife Gifty, the breadwinner of his family, under unusual circumstances. Gifty was one of four government auditors, tasked with uncovering government corruption, that were found dead in the space of weeks. Their deaths shocked the country, scared anti-corruption activists into silence, and raised…
Local Farmers Embark On Snail Farming In Grand Bassa County
(Last Updated On: November 3, 2022) PHOTO: One of the local Farmer, Emmanuel Giddings By King Brown with New Narratives KPANDY TOWN, Grand Bassa County – For Emmanuel Giddings, raising snails is second nature. The 47-year-old farmer has been raising, selling and eating the mollusks since he was a child. Giddings’ late father used to sell snails…
How the Liberian Government has Silenced Accountability in Runup to Elections
Three months after the government raced an act through the Legislature overhauling the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, Liberia’s independent corruption watchdog has almost ceased functioning, all but ending scrutiny of government corruption in the runup to next year’s election. As Varney Dukuly reports for Okay FM a source inside the Commission, who requested anonymity for fear…
How the Government Silenced Accountability in Runup to Election
Three months after the government raced an act through the Legislature overhauling the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, Liberia’s independent corruption watchdog has almost ceased functioning, all but ending scrutiny of government corruption in the runup to next year’s election. A source inside the Commission, who requested anonymity for fear of losing their job, said prosecutions have…
Bridge International Promised to Solve Liberia’s Education Crisis. Six Years On Schools Are Still Failing
In 2016 US-based Bridge International Came To Save Liberia’s Schools. In the first of a two-part investigation with New Narratives Eric Opa Doue finds Bridge schools doing little better than state schools. YARPAH TOWN, River Cess County – Babygirl Smith helps her mother to sell snacks at the town market every Monday. The 17-year-old should…
Teacher Shortages Force Schools to Close as Rural Education Crisis Continues
This two-part series by Eric Opa Doue with New Narratives examines the county’s school system. MONWEH, River Cess- Jacob Beegar sits on a rattan chair under a palaver hut while his friends run around. Jacob doesn’t join them. The 15-year-old doesn’t want to play. He would rather be in school. Jacob should be in the…
Witnesses’ Lawyer Confident Accused Liberian Warlord Will Be Found Guilty in Paris Trial
PARIS, France—The lawyer for the ten plaintiffs who filed a formal complaint against Kunti Kamara, an accused Liberian warlord, says she’s hopeful he will be found guilty when the jury retires to consider their verdict next week. The defendant, 47, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted….
Accused Liberian Warlord Calls Plaintiffs Criminals in Paris War Crimes Trial
PARIS, France—Kunti Kamara has lashed out at the ten plaintiffs in his trial for crimes against humanity here calling them “criminals” and professing his innocence on charges of cannibalism, torture, rape, murder and forced labor….
Why the International War Crimes Trials of Liberians Matter
By Massa Washington, commissioner of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission for New Narratives PARIS, France – The trial of former Ulimo battalion commander, Kunti Kamara aka “Kunti K.” ends its third week. Kamara is being tried for crimes against humanity, torture, forced labor and acts of barbarism, in the town of Foya in Lofa Country, Western…
Court Abruptly Adjourns as Inconsolable Witness Recalls Alleged Rape by Accused Warlord’s Soldiers
PARIS, France – The judge in the ongoing war crimes trial of Kunti Kamara abruptly adjourned the hearing on Tuesday after an inconsolable witness began a graphic description of her alleged rape by a soldier under Kamara’s command. It was an emotional day of testimony that saw two witnesses break down in tears as they described…
Convicted War Criminal Kosiah Dismisses Cannibalism Charge in Paris War Crimes Trial
PARIS, France – Alieu Kosiah, convicted of war crimes in a Swiss court last year, appeared as a defense witness in the trial of Kunti Kamara, his one-time United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy colleague today and rejected the charge that Kamara had committed cannibalism. Kosiah, who travelled from Switzerland under heavy guard, was not…
Child Soldier Confirms Forced Labor; As Kosiah Testifies Today In War Crimes Trial in Paris
PARIS, France – A witness claiming to be a child soldier with Kunti Kamara has confirmed testimonies of over a dozen witnesses of forced labor by Kamara—one of the charges the former commander of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy faces at his war crimes trial here in Paris, France. The issue has been critical in…
Plaintiff Alleges Attacks and Intimidation In Retaliation for Testimony in Kosiah Trial
BELLINZONA, Switzerland – In a dramatic third day in former Liberian rebel commander Alieu Kosiah’s appeal of his 2021 war crimes conviction, a plaintiff in the 2021 trial told the court he has been threatened, beaten and forced to flee his home because of his testimony. By Antoine Harari with New Narratives “When I came…
Former Child Soldier Again Upends Kosiah War Crimes Court; Asks UN to Hear Asylum Claim
By Antoine Harari with New Narratives BELLINZONA, Switzerland — In a dramatic replay of his controversial appearance in convicted Liberian war criminal Alieu Kosiah’s 2021 trial, a former child soldier has upturned court proceedings, claiming he is in danger if he returns to Liberia. The former child soldier was brought from Liberia to testify for Kosiah…
Alleged Rape Victim Gives Emotional Testimony at Start of Appeal of Liberian Warlord
By Antoine Harari with New Narratives BELLINZONA, Switzerland—The appeal of the Liberian warlord Alieu Kosiah, former commander with the Ulimo rebel group, against his 2021 conviction for war crimes, opened today with a surprise report financed by Kosiah’s friends and family. Redacted by a Liberian lawyer, it consisted of eight pages of fact finding missions…
US Amb. On War Crimes Decries “Corrosive Impunity” in Liberia, Backs Work of Justice Advocate, Hassan Bility
MONROVIA – Beth Van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice has warned that impunity for past and current crimes remains high in Liberia. Ambassador Schaack says this weakens the country’s peace. “Liberia faces many challenges when it comes to justice and accountability,” says Schaack in an open letter to Liberians seen by FPA/NN. “Not…
Charles Taylor’s Ex-Bodyguard “Bull Dog” Dies
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Momoh Gebah, commonly known as “Bull Dog”, an ex-aide-de-camp to warlord turned President Charles Taylor, has died. Gebah died on Saturday of XX, according to the National Patriotic Party (NPP) of which he was a member. Gebah was considered one of Taylor’s most trusted security chiefs and was seen…
Convicted Liberian War Criminal Appeals Paris Guilty Verdict
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Lawyers for Kunti Kamara, a Liberian war criminal who was convicted by a French court last week for his role in the country’s first civil war, have appealed his landmark judgment. It is a decision that may see the entire case being re-litigated. Last week the Paris Appeal Court…