A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

Sensitization and Outreach
1. Outreach and sensitization required more resources than anticipated. Coverage of
the TRC in the diaspora press was minimal before the opening of the public hearings. There
was also confusion about the process based on prior knowledge of how other TRC processes
had worked elsewhere, such as in South Africa where amnesty was an important component
of the process. This created a need for intensive outreach and education about the role of
the TRC. In Minnesota, staff and volunteer resources were available to conduct widespread
outreach and education, but outreach was a challenge in other cities where there was less
capacity to do extensive outreach.
2. Immigration policy, particularly in the United States, imposed an additional need for
outreach and sensitization. Perhaps the largest unforeseen obstacle to the TRC project was
the U.S. government’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Liberians in
October of 2006. Thousands of Liberians who were on TPS faced potential deportation by
October of 2007. Even Liberians with pending asylum claims and legal permanent resident
status were nervous about their status in the United States, and this anxiety had a chilling
effect on participation.
3. Implementation of the TRC process in some communities had important reconciliatory
effects. The TRC diaspora project activities encouraged the participation of Liberians from
all walks of life. As a consequence, major Liberian diaspora communities in the United States
benefited from these non-discriminatory interactions. For example, when the TRC process
began, the Liberian community association of Staten Island, New York was in political
disarray. Contentious community election results were in dispute, with lawsuits threatened
and bitter disagreement on all sides. A similar situation was happening in Providence, Rhode
Island. In these communities, although certain individuals were not on speaking terms, the
Advocates encouraged them all to participate in the TRC process. This message resonated. As
a result, Liberians who would not speak to each other, let alone work together, came together.
During a TRC Rhode Island launching event, a Liberian cleric remarked that he saw many
Liberians together in the same room who had not spoken in a long time. In Staten Island,
previously opposing political groups were able to put their differences aside and work on
outreach projects. These interactions led to the election of new community leadership, with
many former “enemies” serving together on the board or as executive officers.
Statement Taking
1. Modeling the statement taking protocol too closely on the in-country process misses
important components of the diaspora experience. Although certain modifications
were made to the statement taking protocols in the diaspora, little change was made to the
substantive nature of the questions asked of interviewees. It became clear later in the process
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Appendix G