A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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Preface From 1979 to 2003, more than 1.5 million Liberians were forced from their homes to escape from the violence and destruction of a protracted civil conflict. Hundreds of thousands became refugees and many eventually made their way to countries of resettlement including the United States and the United Kingdom. Most of their stories have never been told. This report on the experience of the Liberian diaspora, entitled A House with Two Rooms, is the culmination of three years of work in the United States, the United Kingdom and Buduburam Refugee Settlement in Ghana. The report has been submitted to the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the body charged by the Liberian government with determining the facts of the human rights violations that occurred during the civil war. The Liberian TRC officially completed its mandate June 30, 2009. A House with Two Rooms documents the experience of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law that forced Liberians to leave the country. It is based on an analysis of more than 1600 statements, fact-finding interviews, and witness testimony at public hearings held in the U.S. The report also tells the story of the “triple trauma” experienced by members of the diaspora during their flight through Liberia and across international borders, while living in refugee camps in West Africa, and in resettlement in the U.S. and U.K. In addition, the report summarizes the views of Liberians in the diaspora on the root causes of the conflict and their recommendations for systemic reform and reconciliation. xiv
Table of Acronyms ACANA African Cultural Alliance of North America ACS American Colonization Society AFL Armed Forces of Liberia ATU Anti-Terrorist Unit BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BIAS Building Immigrant Awareness and Support CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination CIA Central Intelligence Agency DDRR Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration DED Deferred Enforced Departure ECOMOG Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States ELWA Eternal Love Winning Africa GEMAP Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program IDP internally displaced persons IGNU Interim Government of National Unity INPFL Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia LAMCO Liberia American Mining Company LDF Lofa Defense Force LINSU Liberian National Student Union LISCR Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry LNC Liberian National Conference LPC Liberia Peace Council LURD Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy MJP Movement for Justice and Peace MODEL Movement for Democracy in Liberia MOJA Movement for Justice in Africa MPIGO Popular Movement of the Ivorian Great West NDPL National Democratic Party of Liberia NEWAT Neighborhood Watch Team NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia NPFL-CRC National Patriotic Front of Liberia – Central Revolutionary Council NTGL National Transitional Government of Liberia PAL Progressive Alliance of Liberia PPP Progressive People’s Party PRC People’s Redemption Council PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder RIA Robertsfield International Airport RUF Revolutionary United Front SBU Small Boys Unit SSS Special Security Service SSU Special Security Unit TPS Temporary Protected Status TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission ULAA Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas ULIMO United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia ULIMO-J United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia – Johnson faction ULIMO-K United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia – Kromah faction ULO-UK Union of Liberian Organizations in the United Kingdom UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Program UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNMIL United Nations Mission in Liberia USAID United States Agency for International Development xv
Page 1 and 2: A House with Two Rooms Final Report
Page 3 and 4: This report is dedicated to the peo
Page 5 and 6: The Advocates for Human Rights The
Page 7 and 8: Table of contents Acknowledgments x
Page 9 and 10: The Return 374 Chapter Fourteen. Re
Page 11 and 12: Lindquist & Vennum LLP Maslon Edelm
Page 13: Finally, The Advocates thanks our i
Page 19 and 20: 3 Chapter One. Executive Summary Al
Page 21 and 22: also spoken. Liberia was partly sha
Page 23 and 24: The concentration of state power am
Page 25 and 26: factions as they emerged to contest
Page 27 and 28: thirteen years old. They dragged he
Page 29 and 30: or guiding children and others who
Page 31 and 32: are extremely high, but the realiti
Page 33 and 34: Addressing the legacy of conflict t
Page 35: Notes 1 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec.
Page 39 and 40: Priority Recommendations at a Glanc
Page 41 and 42: (UNHCR) should ensure that any repa
Page 43 and 44: individuals personally responsible
Page 45 and 46: eflect its history and people. Such
Page 47: 31 Chapter Two
Page 51 and 52: hiStory and goalS Chapter Three. Di
Page 53 and 54: Commissioner Massa Washington, who
Page 55 and 56: 39 Chapter Three Many national trut
Page 57 and 58: 41 Chapter Three The TRC Diaspora P
Page 59 and 60: The majority of TRC statements from
Page 61 and 62: 45 Chapter Three The report authors
Page 63: taking and is available for viewing
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geography and peopleS 1 Liberia is
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key featureS of liBerian culture Li
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Liberian settler politics from 1883
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President Tolbert. 76 Tolbert was a
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peace, security, unity and reconcil
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practices as superior to practices
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would have to make concessions to i
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statement giver reported how his ne
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targeted. For example, people with
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chickens, food, animals, and things
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televangelist Pat Robertson’s Fre
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33 The palava hut is a traditional
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Special Court for Sierra Leone, htt
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Press Secretary to Samuel K. Doe, i
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see also Herman J. Cohen, Assistant
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81 Chapter Five Human Rights Abuses
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military to shoot the mostly indige
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Human rights violations reported du
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around, all derisively gazing at th
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soldiers reportedly engaged in loot
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eleased. 63 Checkpoints and Curfews
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In 1984, this statement giver himse
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dorms and raped for several days be
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Ethnic Targeting Doe’s revenge ag
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and stripping billboards of Doe. 14
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government were another step on Lib
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34 The statement giver’s father d
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108 Adewale Maja-Pearce, The Press
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108
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110
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all groups committed human rights v
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faction for companionship and prote
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Statement givers noted the rewards
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We were on the road and some rebels
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Combatants used other methods to co
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BBC was careful not to broadcast di
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42 See TRC Diaspora Statement Recs.
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126
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128
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methods condoned, encouraged, or ev
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“Starvation of civilians as a met
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where there was “a wall running w
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were Kru, Sarpo, Lorma, or Bassa du
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plastic and my sister’s fingers w
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If you are a man and wear a red T-s
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Those responsible for the detention
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We didn’t want to leave Monrovia.
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The terroristic impact of the killi
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his bare hand and because of that,
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okered peace accords, 195 disarmame
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the woman was from. She replied tha
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Doe’s body for political reasons.
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Another statement giver stated that
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iSe of other factionS The years bet
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Statements and secondary sources re
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One day some men from the LPC came
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epresentatives selected by the vari
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families, 409 killing, 410 and seek
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Statements revealed that ECO-MOG pl
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Notes 1 stePHen ellis, tHe mAsk of
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96 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 1354
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Every Car Or Moving Object Gone: Th
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Page 194 and 195:
Report.aspx?ReportId=57838 (last vi
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180
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182
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Liberian treasury and had plenty of
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group supported by Guinea and forme
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homes and in public. A statement gi
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of being beaten while in detention.
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an informant, but was never brought
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Acts, such as murder, extermination
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publisher. After that, the reporter
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97 Children and Armed Conflict, sup
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200
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202
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Estimates of the number of child so
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ex-combatants interviewed by Human
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of the conflict, but in 1996, lost
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Use of Child Soldiers National Patr
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that they were never paid and relie
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He thought the commanders provided
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Some former child soldiers acknowle
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Another statement giver credited a
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21 Promises of Peace, supra note 7
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224
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226
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The statute creating the TRC also r
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Legal Systems The division of Liber
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of regulated labor. According to th
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the young woman that “trading sex
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context, but rather is a violation
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In addition to inflicting torture o
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One statement giver described an at
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A public hearing witness also testi
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The rebel who raped me was named An
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I was befriended by an elderly woma
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through the destruction of familial
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community displacement, as well as
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eceive adequate treatment following
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Notes 1 U.N. Div. for the Advanceme
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University (Sept. 23, 2008) (noting
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(transcript on file with the author
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204 Id. 205 See U.N. Country Team,
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262
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264
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egime, Libyans had also established
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Taylor. Côte d’Ivoire’s combin
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Endemic corruption during the civil
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A final complicating factor in the
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Liberia was the largest producer of
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at 4 (Nov. 2003), http://www.issafr
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certificates of origin from Liberia
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119 Liberia - UNOMIL Background, Au
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282
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284
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national seal with the motto “The
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government, the U.S. Navy sent two
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Nevertheless, diplomatic officials
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and shootings that resulted in deat
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intervene and that we didn’t do i
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$525,000 on June 21, 2000 and the s
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87 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec. 707.
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300
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302
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families fled to avoid attack when
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homes. One statement giver describe
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Everyone Scattered When the rebels
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abies and ran to the bush as fast a
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helped me and paid for everything.
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Liberians engaged in an array of ta
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compound was later forced to go to
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Physically crossing the border was
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One statement giver who escaped Lib
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Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, and r
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statement givers as the reason they
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were rounded up and held in “conc
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change left many who arrived in Bud
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This leads [him] and others to use
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[A], you’re still living. We will
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here with my children and step-chil
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families are now leaders in governm
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Refugees entering the United States
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Some asylum seekers have been unabl
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life after reSettlement The length
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plane tickets, which we would later
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“Even your younger brother will t
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in a university. We are looked at a
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given rise to problems within the h
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y learning the material. 413 Additi
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Liberians also reported concerns ab
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For example, foreign medical profes
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association websites in the United
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matter, for-profit businesses), cer
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yet typical, trauma by the time the
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actually moved out of state. I know
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inter-tribal mixing occurs than eve
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A researcher interviewing Liberians
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Several statement givers and interv
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Alliance of Liberia (PAL), and the
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After the establishment of peace in
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Notes 1 See Steven Vertovec, The Po
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ehind the back, tied at the elbow s
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Refugee Registration, UNHCR news st
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had arrived after 2003 were allowed
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266 Id. 267 Id. 268 Id. 269 TRC Dia
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Liberians “(1)who are ineligible
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Women’s Association (MAWA), Minne
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Kingdom (Sept. 29, 2008) (describin
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Anner, Sept. 4, 2008, http://www.ba
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552 See, e.g., Assoc. Press, Liberi
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614 See Nina Glick Schiller, Long-D
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398
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400
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liBeria’S international legal oBl
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• Protocol on the Statute of the
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include suggestions for making the
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• Given the extent of the Liberia
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While such programs are important f
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• The Government of Liberia shoul
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on the Rights and Welfare of the Ch
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young persons, without discriminati
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education, such as adult literacy c
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person’s choice, the government s
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are accessible to vulnerable popula
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Potential Implementation Strategy:
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the victims concerned where the con
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identified by the Liberia Refugee R
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Personal Integrity & Dignity: The R
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Personal Integrity & Dignity: Prohi
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treatment appropriate to their stat
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Security Sector Potential Implement
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Security Sector: Combating Extra-Le
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investigation will be initiated. In
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• Continuous training in the prov
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• Ensuring that the government do
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o incorporates capacity building of
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ut also retain the benefits to the
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emoved. Civil Claims • The Govern
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Section vi. economic, Social, and c
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or injury. 308 • The Government o
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field of education and, in particul
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Healthcare the personal and cultura
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society to mental health issues and
Page 482 and 483:
Page 484 and 485:
Page 486 and 487:
situations of armed conflicts or of
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encourage research on the causes, n
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ecognition. 393 • The Government
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men; • The Government of Liberia
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of national institutions for protec
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Page 498 and 499:
Recommendations to the Internationa
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financing of reasonable buffer stoc
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Section ix. recommendationS related
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the United States Government take t
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Asylee-Refugee Parity Liberian refu
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• The United States Government sh
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to ensure that Liberians are able t
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concluSion The Liberia TRC Diaspora
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Notes 1 An Act to Establish the Tru
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66 Convention on the Rights of the
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156 Id. Principle 15.2. 157 Convent
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231 by the Minnesota Lawyers Intern
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Principle 24(b). 287 Id. Principle
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nl/~mtrapman/xgasten/nizw/WHODeclar
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Commissions 31-32 (2006); U.N. Prin
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512
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514
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Bachelor of Arts in political scien
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518
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520
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II. Sources of International Law Ar
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Bill of Rights.” 27 In turn, this
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• to the highest attainable stand
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iv. Specific Application of Interna
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iii. The Convention against Torture
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D. Regional Human Rights Instrument
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(i.e., complaints) may also be sent
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due to the national emergency. In s
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Conventions I-IV that apply only in
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treaties include the Convention on
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• International Convention on the
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U.N.T.S. 171 [hereinafter ICCPR]; I
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114 Id. art. 25, 26. 115 Human Righ
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201 The date following the treaty o
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550
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552
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The Organization of African Unity (
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d. Asylum from Persecution The poli
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origin, fortune, birth or other sta
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Notes 1 u.s. Committee for refugees
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48 Id. art. 26. 49 1951 UN Refugee
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564
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566
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Standing Mediation Committee to bri
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May 2001 - U.N. Security Council re
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572
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574
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1. Background to the TRC 2. Designa
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Advisory Committee resources, Minne
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as stated herein, consistent with t
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C. Recommendations, if appropriate,
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584
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586
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588
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590
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that rich information about the dia
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governmental organizations, law fir
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596
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598
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Table 3. Participation of Statement
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602
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604
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Photo Legend Chapter One Page 1: TR
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Page 266: Ghana’s Atlantic coast.
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610
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