A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

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Photo Legend Chapter One Page 1: TRC billboard in Monrovia. Page 4: A wooden sign depicting hope for Liberia. Page 7: Ministry of Information billboard in Monrovia. Page 13: Fishermen off the Liberian coast. Page 15: A billboard urging Liberians to vote in elections. Page 16: Monrovia cityscape in 2006. Chapter Two Page 21: Liberian boy looks over Liberia’s Atlantic coast. Page 27: Member of the Liberian community in Minnesota asks a question during Diaspora Public Hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia in St. Paul, Minnesota. Page 29: TRC Diaspora Project volunteer greets Liberian man in Monrovia. Chapter Three Page 33: Signing of the Robertsport Accord, the Memorandum of Understanding between the TRC of Liberia and The Advocates for Human Rights. Page 35: Volunteers at a statement taker training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Page 38: TRC Diaspora Project volunteer speaks with Commissioner Coleman in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Page 41: Liberian Minnesota resident speaks with Commissioner Washington at a statement taker training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Page 43: Commissioners Brown Bull and Konneh confer during the Diaspora Public Hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia in St. Paul, Minnesota. Chapter Four Page 49: Traditional chief in Gweatamue, Bong County, Liberia. Page 54: Beach in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia. Page 57: HIV/AIDS billboard in Monrovia. Page 60: Chairman Verdier and The Advocates’ staffperson during the Diaspora Public Hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia in St. Paul, Minnesota. Page 64: Village hut in Gbarpolu County, Liberia. Page 67: Ghana’s Atlantic coastline. Chapter Five Page 81: Woman and young boy in Monrovia. 606
Page 89: Commissioner Stewart during the Diaspora Public Hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. Page 92: Woman walking along Liberia’s coast. Chapter Six Page 109: Young girl carrying a baby through the streets of Monrovia. Page 113: Village hut in Bong County, Liberia. Page 117: United Nations Development Programme t-shirt. Page 119: Petty vendors along a street in Accra, Ghana. Chapter Seven Page 127: Performer at a TRC event in Monrovia. Page 133: Partially constructed buildings in Monrovia. Page 145: Petty traders in Monrovia. Page 160: Beach in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia. Page 163: Beach in Robertsport, Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia. Chapter Eight Page 181: Liberian cemetery. Page 188: TRC Diaspora Project staff and volunteers with TRC commissioners and staff in Liberia in 2006. Chapter Nine Page 201: A banner for the Veteran Child Soldiers Association of Liberia (VECSAOL) in Buduburam Refugee Settlement in Ghana. Page 205: A U.N. vehicle in Liberia. Page 209: Village scene in Gbarpolu County, Liberia. Chapter Ten Page 225: Dancers at a TRC event in Monrovia. Page 227: Commissioners Washington and Sylla during the Diaspora Public Hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia in St. Paul, Minnesota. Page 243: Palava hut in Gbarpolu County, Liberia. Page 246: A billboard to combat violence against women. Page 249: A Liberian mother and baby. Page 251: Classroom building used by community-based women’s empowerment and training group in Buduburam Refugee Settlement. Chapter Eleven Page 263: Street in front of a mosque in Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia. 607
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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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226
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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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284
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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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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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Page 584 and 585: Standing Mediation Committee to bri
Page 586 and 587: May 2001 - U.N. Security Council re
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Page 592 and 593: 1. Background to the TRC 2. Designa
Page 594 and 595: Advisory Committee resources, Minne
Page 596 and 597: as stated herein, consistent with t
Page 598 and 599: C. Recommendations, if appropriate,
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Page 602 and 603: 586
Page 604 and 605: 588
Page 606 and 607: 590
Page 608 and 609: that rich information about the dia
Page 610 and 611: governmental organizations, law fir
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Page 614 and 615: 598
Page 616 and 617: Table 3. Participation of Statement
Page 618 and 619: 602
Page 620 and 621: 604
Page 624 and 625: Page 266: Ghana’s Atlantic coast.
Page 626: 610
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