A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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Councillor Jerome J. Verdier, Sr., Chair Councillor Jerome J. Verdier, Sr. is a practicing attorney, credited for rendering pro bono legal services to indigents, civil society activists and journalists, while also leading civil society adversarial legal teams in several successful lawsuits against the government of Liberia. He holds a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) from the University of Liberia and a Bachelors of Laws Degree (LLB) from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law. Apart from working in the private and public sectors as a senior accountant, comptroller, and executive director, he has been instrumental in strengthening civil society advocacy. Cllr. Verdier served as executive director of Liberia Democracy Watch (LDW), as chairman of the board of directors of The National Human Rights Center of Liberia (NHRCL), as board chairperson of the Foundation For International Dignity (FIND), as senior staff attorney for the Association of Environmental Lawyers (Green Advocates), and as the first research and program officer of the Catholic Justice & Peace Commission (JPC). Dede Dolopei, Vice Chair Dede Dolopei is an administrator, manager, social worker and peace activist. She is a graduate of the University of Liberia, holding a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) in accounting. She served as a member of the board of directors for NAWOCOL and the Christian Foundation for Children and the Aging. Commissioner Dolopei has been instrumental to the promotion and protection of women rights in Liberia. She is well known for her efforts and expertise in peace building, conflict resolution, and psychosocial counseling. Oumu K. Syllah, Treasurer Oumu K. Syllah is a registered nurse, HIV/AIDS counselor, and social worker. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Cuttington University College, Bong County, Liberia, and a certificate in nursing as a state registered nurse (SRN) from the National School of Nursing in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Commissioner Syllah has worked as a professional nurse and social worker at Cannaught Hospital in Freetown and St. Joseph Catholic Hospital in Monrovia. She has also acted as a trainer/ facilitator and participant in numerous workshops in the field of social work. Sheikh Kafumba F. Konneh, Member Sheikh Kafumba F. Konneh is a leader in the Liberian Muslim community who has a long record of conflict resolution and peace building efforts. In addition to his theological (Al-Islamic) achievement, Commissioner Konneh studied secular law through apprenticeship. He held several positions in the Liberian civil service, including Justice of the Peace, Associate Stipendiary Magistrate, and County Commissioner. He has also served as Secretary General and Managing Director of the Liberian Muslim Union, as well as Secretary General and National Chairman of the National Muslim Council of Liberia. Commissioner Konneh was born in Nimba County. Councillor Pearl Brown Bull, Member Councillor Pearl Brown Bull has been a lawyer and Liberian politician since the late 1970s. She has a 515 Appendix A
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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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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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Potential Implementation Strategy:
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ut also retain the benefits to the
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emoved. Civil Claims • The Govern
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• The Government of Liberia shoul
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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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Page 482 and 483: • The Government of Liberia shoul
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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 502 and 503: Section ix. recommendationS related
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Page 514 and 515: Notes 1 An Act to Establish the Tru
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Page 522 and 523: Principle 24(b). 287 Id. Principle
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Page 526 and 527: Commissions 31-32 (2006); U.N. Prin
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Page 532 and 533: Bachelor of Arts in political scien
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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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Page 554 and 555: Conventions I-IV that apply only in
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Page 560 and 561: U.N.T.S. 171 [hereinafter ICCPR]; I
Page 562 and 563: 114 Id. art. 25, 26. 115 Human Righ
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Page 570 and 571: The Organization of African Unity (
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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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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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602
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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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