Monrovia, Liberia – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Government of Liberia has sent a letter to the ECOWAS Commission requesting support for the opening of the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court domestically.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Joseph Boakai’s decision to sign Executive Order No. 131 early this year which lays out a mechanism to study and recommend the apparatus and procedure related to the establishment of a Special War Crimes Court for Liberia signalled a significant boost.
“In order to prosecute individuals and groups found accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated throughout the Liberian civil war between 1979 and 2003, as well as the process for the creation of an Anti-Corruption Court,” the ministry stated.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs further stated that such a court would guarantee the execution of justice for victims of war crimes, with backing from the ECOWAS Commission.
The Republic of Liberia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs took use of the occasion to reaffirm to the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja that it will give the matter top priority.
The number of letters sent to the international community that have been viewed by the press has increased to two with the recent discovery of President Joseph Boakai’s letter to ECOWAS.
FrontPageAfrica/New Narratives noted confirmation from the UN Secretary General’s office that Boakai’s letter to the UN had been received on May 9, 2024.
President Boakai has not, however, admitted in public that he sent the letter to the UN. Kula Fofana, the presidential press secretary, did not reply to repeated inquiries seeking the letter’s authenticity. Supporters of the court are enraged by the president’s refusal to validate the letter.
The purpose of these letters is to initiate the process of seeking foreign assistance for the creation of Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Courts. In order to ensure that the courts become a reality, President Boakai writes to UN Secretary General António Guterres requesting financial and technical support.
There have been rumors regarding whether or how the Liberian government would set up a war crimes and economic crimes court to prosecute those who have committed and are still committing atrocities against the country’s men, women, and children for years after the first and second Liberian civil wars ended.
The Liberian Civil War claimed the lives of at least 250,000 people and forced thousands more to flee.
Later, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission report would name women’s rape and theft as the main forms of control used by rebel commanders. Along with accusing all of the fighting parties engaged of violating human rights, it promoted the war and economic crimes court as a means of providing compensation to the impacted Liberians.
That was not the case, though, under the administrations of George Weah and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, his predecessor and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, until President Boakai took office.
