A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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concluSion The Liberia TRC Diaspora Project was a historic first attempt to systematically engage a diaspora population in all aspects of a post-conflict truth seeking process. Diaspora Liberians played a role in the process at every stage, from membership on an advisory committee, to assisting with outreach, to giving statements, to testifying at public hearings held in the United States. The Liberia TRC Diaspora Project used hundreds of volunteers to take statements and provide other support for its work. Ultimately, more than 600 individual volunteers were trained as statement takers and many more were involved in outreach and support for the U.S. public hearings. The project documented the stories of hundreds of refugees, asylees, and other diaspora Liberians on three continents. The voices of diaspora communities present an important piece of the post-conflict puzzle in Liberia. For example, many individuals fled Liberia before the conflict and were living in the diaspora. These people held key information about the early years of the TRC mandate, such as the Tolbert administration and 1980 coup d’etat, that could help fill information gaps for the TRC. The experiences of Liberian refugees in Ghana highlight the regional implications of post-conflict transitional justice. Systematic documentation of the experiences of refugees highlighted the breakdowns in the system of international protection for refugees fleeing conflict. In Liberia and elsewhere, refugees must be considered part of the post-conflict transitional justice equation. Documenting their experiences provides important information about human rights violations that take place during flight and in refuge, and offer direction as to what actions must occur in order to secure a stable future in Liberia and the West African sub-region. As this report demonstrates, many diaspora Liberians outside of the sub-region see themselves as transnationals, living in “a house with two rooms.” Liberians in the United States and the U.K. have deep connections to both their country of origin and their country of residence. They struggle with the legacy of conflict on an individual, family, and community level. While dealing with the ongoing impact of physical and psychological trauma, they struggle to keep families together and endure the bureaucracy of immigration systems. Liberian youth, many of whom have grown up outside of Liberia, face a set of unique challenges in trying to define their identity and navigate between cultures. All the while, at the community level, the Liberian civil crisis drags on as community politics, social gatherings, and the internet become new fields to play out old battles. Powerful threads run from Liberia, through the refugee settlements in the sub-region, out into the United States and Europe, and back again to Liberia. For the most part, statement givers expressed their strong desire to return to Liberia and, at a minimum, to assist the nation’s development from afar. Many described the actions they are taking to do so. The desire to see Liberia thrive again is reflected in diaspora recommendations focusing on development, education, justice, and a new Liberia that provides equal opportunity to all. Equally clear from statements, however, is the view that 496
Liberia cannot rebuild without assistance. The international community, and the United States in particular, share responsibility for Liberia’s traumatic past and, accordingly, for its future. The mass displacement caused by the international community’s failure to stem the bloodshed in Liberia means that nations across the globe have an even greater stake in Liberia’s peaceful and prosperous development. Liberians are members of communities in West Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other countries around the world. Because of improved communications—particularly the internet—what happens in Liberia affects those in diaspora communities more quickly and widely. What happens to an individual has an effect on the whole community, even when that community is thousands of miles from the shores of Liberia. Apart from being a historic effort to fully engage a diaspora in a truth commission, the Liberia TRC Diaspora Project has been a powerful opportunity for Liberians in Liberia, West Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom to strengthen and build new networks that will support diaspora communities and Liberia as a whole. It has also been an important opportunity for non-Liberian volunteers to develop ties to their Liberian neighbors. As the TRC process comes to a close, the work to weave these many threaded connections into a more peaceful future is just beginning. 497 Chapter Fourteen
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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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224
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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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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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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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Page 466 and 467: ut also retain the benefits to the
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Page 488 and 489: encourage research on the causes, n
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Page 492 and 493: men; • The Government of Liberia
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Page 498 and 499: Recommendations to the Internationa
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Page 538 and 539: II. Sources of International Law Ar
Page 540 and 541: Bill of Rights.” 27 In turn, this
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Page 544 and 545: iv. Specific Application of Interna
Page 546 and 547: iii. The Convention against Torture
Page 548 and 549: D. Regional Human Rights Instrument
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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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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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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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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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that rich information about the dia
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governmental organizations, law fir
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Table 3. Participation of Statement
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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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A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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