Monrovia, Liberia: On Thursday, May 2, 2024, the President of Liberia, Joseph Nyuma Boakai, signed Executive Order No. 131 establishing an Office with the specific mandate of setting up a Special War Crimes Court and a National Anti-Corruption Court.

According to the Order, this Office is to define the model for this Special Court, drawing inspiration from what has previously been done at the international level, determine its duration and jurisdictional scope, and collaborate with international partners to secure financing for this Special Court. The Office will be headed by an Executive Director who will report to the Minister of Justice. According to the Order, this Executive Director will be guided strictly by legal considerations, free from any political influence.

So, more than 35 years after the start of the first civil war in Liberia, more than 20 years after the end of the conflict, and almost 15 years after the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a Liberian President has taken the full measure of the importance of justice for “the quest for national unity“.

Hassan Bility, Director of the Global Justice and Research Project (GJRP), said from Monrovia: “We warmly thank President Boakai and his cabinet for taking this historic and essential step for justice that paves the way for an end to impunity in Liberia for the bloody crimes committed during the two civil wars. My organization and our partners will collaborate with the Office in every possible way to help it live up to its mission. The time for justice is now”.

GJRP and Civitas Maxima would like to pay a heartfelt tribute to the Liberian women and men they have had the privilege of accompanying for over 12 years, whose courage and determination have contributed greatly to the voices of victims of mass crimes finally being heard in Monrovia today.

Unable to obtain justice at home, for years these Liberians led a heroic quest for justice outside their borders. This quest for justice has left its mark on Liberia’s legal history:

• 2017: first criminal conviction of a Liberian national for acts related to the civil war (Mohammed Jabbateh case, United States);
• 2018: second criminal conviction of a Liberian national for acts related to the civil war (Thomas Woewiyu case, United States);
• 2019: first official visit by foreign investigators working with the Liberian police on reenactments of crimes committed during the civil war (Kunti Kamara case, France);
• 2021: first criminal conviction of a Liberian national for war crimes (Alieu Kosiah case, Switzerland);
• 2021: first criminal hearings for international crimes conducted by foreign judges on Liberian soil (Gibril Massaquoi case, Finland);
• 2022: first criminal conviction of a Liberian national for crimes against humanity (Kunti Kamara case, France).

None of this would have been possible without the application of principles of international law by national courts. And it is this same international law that President Boakai rightly invoked in his Order no. 131 to allow the Liberian victims’ quest for justice to manifest in their own country, where they experienced so much suffering at the hands of the armed forces and rebel groups.
 
For more details on the history of non-governmental organizations’ demands for the establishment of a war crimes mechanism in Liberia, read our previous press release on our website.