A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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Liberia was the largest producer of natural rubber in the world; yet the profit from the country’s resources were being stolen instead of reinvested in development, infrastructure and education…[W]ith a small population of 5.1 or 5.2 million, Liberia’s vast natural resources should be more than enough to support a small population and provide well for them. The way multi-national companies treated Liberia made it into a sort of “American colony.” 131 274
Notes 1 Herman J. Cohen, Former U.S. Asst. Sec’y of State for African Affairs, Testimony at the Diaspora Public Hearings of the Truth & Reconciliation Comm’n of Liberia 7 (June 12, 2008, St. Paul, Minn., U.S.A.) (transcript on file with the author). 2 Int’l Campaign to Ban Landmines, Landmine Monitor Report 2004, at (2004) (citing interview with Maj. Robert A. B. Kesseley, Chief of Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Armed Forces of Liberia, Monrovia, on Jan. 21 2004), http://www.icbl.org/ lm/2004/liberia.html#fn3788. 3 stePHen ellis, tHe mAsk of AnArCHy: tHe destruCtion of liberiA And tHe religious dimensions of An AfriCAn Civil wAr 71, 75- 78 (1999); Liberia – First Civil War – 1989-1996, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/ liberia-1989.htm (last visited March 20, 2008). 4 Philip Sherwell, Liberia Chief Fuels ‘Diamond War’, tHe dAily telegrAPH (United Kingdom), May 28, 2000, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent. jhtml?html=/archive/2000/05/28/wdiam28.html (last visited March 21, 2008). 5 See Global Witness, The Usual Suspects: Liberia’s Weapons and Mercenaries in Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone (2003) [hereinafter Usual Suspects]; Int’l Crisis Group, Liberia: The Key to Ending Regional Instability, (2002) [hereinafter Ending Regional Instability] http://www. crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=1533; For examples see also Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, The International Dimensions of Internal Conflict: The Case of Liberia and West Africa 12 (Danish Inst. for Int’l Stud., Working Paper 97.4 (Jun. 1997), http://www.diis. dk/graphics/CDR_Publications/cdr_publications/ working_papers/wp-97-4.htm . While there are a variety of spellings of Qadhafi, including Qadhafi, Kaddafi, Gaddafi, and Ghaddafi, this report relies on the U.S. Department of State’s spelling of Qadhafi throughout the narrative for consistency. 6 Liberia – First Civil War, supra note 3. For examples, see Aning, supra note 5, at 12. 7 Kenneth Noble, The United States, Libya, and the Liberian Civil War, 18 AliCiA PAterson found. reP. 4 (1998), http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1804/ Noble/Noble.html. 8 mArk HubAnd, tHe liberiAn Civil wAr 104 (1998). 275 Chapter Eleven 9 Noble, supra note 7, at 4. 10 Nicolas Cook, Cong. Research Serv. Liberia: 1989- 1997 Civil War, Post-War Developments, and U.S. Relations, at 20 (Dec. 31, 2003). 11 Id. 12 Id.; Noble, supra note 7, at 4. 13 The Prosecutor of the Special Court v. Charles Ghankay Taylor, Case No. SCSL-2003-01-T, Transcript of Record at 9802-03, 9840-41 (May 14, 2008) http://www.sc-sl.org/LinkClick.aspx?filetick et=gq9q0ASLSw0=&tabid=160. 14 Noble, supra note 7, at 4. ellis, supra note 3, at 70. Throughout the conflict, “Libya may have used the Liberian civil war to undermine US influence in Liberia, since the CIA had reportedly used Liberia as a base to attempt the overthrow of Gadaffi’s regime.” Liberia – First Civil War, supra note 3. 15 Noble, supra note 7, at 4. 16 Willem Tijssen, Mano River War, tHe liberiAn Post 25 (1998), http://liberian.tripod.com/Post25.html (last visited March 21, 2008); President Charles Ghankay Taylor, Liberia: Past and Present of Africa’s Oldest Republic, http://www.liberiapastandpresent. org/charles_taylor.htm (last visited March 21, 2008); A tortuous roAd to PeACe: tHe dynAmiCs of regionAl, un And internAtionAl HumAnitAriAn interventions in liberiA 54 (Festus Aboagye & Alhaji M.S. Bah eds., May 2005), http://www. issafrica.org/pubs/Books/TortuousRoad/Contents. htm; Ending Regional Instability, supra note 5. 17 Tijssen, supra note 16, at 24. 18 Noble, supra note 7, at 4. 19 ellis, supra note 3, at 69. 20 Id. 21 Libya Helped Taylor to Launch War in Liberia, Says Moses Blah, May 15, 2008, http://runningafrica.com/news- 05152008Libya-Helped.html; Noble, supra note 7, at 4. 22 ellis, supra note 3, at 160. 23 Karl Vick, Taylor Brought Weapons From Quick Trip to Libya: Nigerian Peacekeepers Seize Second Plane Loaded with Arms, s.f. CHron., Aug. 8, 2003 at A10, http://www. sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/08/ MN193873.DTL&hw=Liberia&sn=007&sc=693., 24 Nicole Itano, Institute for Security Studies, Liberating Liberia: Charles Taylor and the Rebels who Unseated Him,
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A House with Two Rooms Final Report
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This report is dedicated to the peo
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The Advocates for Human Rights The
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Table of contents Acknowledgments x
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The Return 374 Chapter Fourteen. Re
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Lindquist & Vennum LLP Maslon Edelm
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Finally, The Advocates thanks our i
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Table of Acronyms ACANA African Cul
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3 Chapter One. Executive Summary Al
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also spoken. Liberia was partly sha
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The concentration of state power am
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factions as they emerged to contest
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thirteen years old. They dragged he
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or guiding children and others who
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are extremely high, but the realiti
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Addressing the legacy of conflict t
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Notes 1 TRC Diaspora Statement Rec.
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Priority Recommendations at a Glanc
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(UNHCR) should ensure that any repa
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individuals personally responsible
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eflect its history and people. Such
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31 Chapter Two
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hiStory and goalS Chapter Three. Di
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Commissioner Massa Washington, who
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39 Chapter Three Many national trut
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41 Chapter Three The TRC Diaspora P
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The majority of TRC statements from
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45 Chapter Three The report authors
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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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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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Page 244 and 245: The statute creating the TRC also r
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Page 254 and 255: In addition to inflicting torture o
Page 256 and 257: One statement giver described an at
Page 258 and 259: A public hearing witness also testi
Page 260 and 261: The rebel who raped me was named An
Page 262 and 263: I was befriended by an elderly woma
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Page 268 and 269: eceive adequate treatment following
Page 270 and 271: Notes 1 U.N. Div. for the Advanceme
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Page 276 and 277: 204 Id. 205 See U.N. Country Team,
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Page 288 and 289: A final complicating factor in the
Page 292 and 293: at 4 (Nov. 2003), http://www.issafr
Page 294 and 295: certificates of origin from Liberia
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Page 302 and 303: national seal with the motto “The
Page 304 and 305: government, the U.S. Navy sent two
Page 306 and 307: Nevertheless, diplomatic officials
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Page 312 and 313: $525,000 on June 21, 2000 and the s
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Page 320 and 321: families fled to avoid attack when
Page 322 and 323: homes. One statement giver describe
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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
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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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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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