A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Alliance of Liberia (PAL), and the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA). 599 ULAA called on the
Liberian authorities to implement fundamental changes in the social, political, and economic systems
of the country. 600
One month before the coup in which President Tolbert was killed, ULAA representatives were in
Monrovia to meet with Tolbert at the Executive Mansion. The delegation included Charles Taylor. 601
Then-president of ULAA, Bai Gbala, presented Tolbert with a statement that is instructive about
the way in which members of the diaspora saw themselves interacting with the political situation in
Liberia.
[C]an it not be argued, and persuasively so, that those Liberians such
as we are, who have traveled and lived abroad, and who have had the
opportunity to observe and experience the mechanics and dynamics of
other social, economic, and political systems…have a clear and inescapable
responsibility…to deal with and speak out unequivocally on the multiple
problems that now grip our common country and people? 602
The statement outlined three major concerns, including “Freedom of Speech and Press,” “Suffrage,”
and the treatment of Liberians by U.S. immigration authorities. 603 The document also described
several other meetings that had taken place between ULAA representatives and Liberian government
officials in the United States and proposed a constitutional amendment to address some of ULAA’s
concerns about voting rights in Liberia. 604 At public hearings in St. Paul, Minnesota, a ULAA board
member told the TRC that “ULAA has a history of being in the vanguard of changing the political
landscape. They consistently advocated for social justice…ensuring that there was a political change
in Liberia that reflected the aspirations of the majority of the Liberian people.” 605
A public hearing witness, the President of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota, testified that
the diaspora has had a major impact on events in Liberia, both positive and negative:
People in the diaspora have been a part of this. What we have to understand
is that diaspora Liberians beginning from the seventies have been at the
forefront of advocating for human rights in Liberia speaking out against the
ills of the society throughout. Then we have the component in the diaspora
who felt like dialogue was not the answer, military action is the answer…I
know that as the result of the atrocities against the people of Nimba, the
Nimba organization in this country did raise money to give to the NPFL.
After the fall of Doe, the Krahn and Mandingo organizations raised
money…to fund LPC and LURD and MODEL. But that’s one component,
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