https://reliefweb.int/report/liberia/liberias-trc-presents-final-report

It has been three decades since the end of the fourteen-years of Civil conflicts in Liberia, citizens still await Justice for the lives of over 250,000 women, girls, children and men. Liberia has been relatively peaceful with the silence of guns but the scrabs of the war are visible on the faces of many Liberians who suffered hostilities, especially, women and children who were mostly affected during the heat of the conflict according to TRC Report 2008.

One of the problems of Liberia’s civil wars was the weaponization of sexual violence which is still an issue in today’s society and impunity has not been treated with much attention  at all level (traditional and official levels). The TRC determined that all sides of the conflicts in Liberia were involved in the commission as heinous crimes including rape, sexual assault, trafficking of women and children, torture and forced conscription of women and girls as well as the use of women as sex slaves. These crimes were used as tools during Liberia’s civil conflicts to subdue and gain control of women.  Some effects of the war which continue to plague Liberia today includes, but not limited to, malnutrition, economic deprivation, illiteracy and poor health.

Women and children were disproportionately affected by the wars in Liberia, although women experienced less causalities as compared to men during the civil conflicts (according to the TRC Report), they (women) experienced serious inhumane and degrading treatment largely due to societal assigned gender roles they play such as homecare, and the limited participation in economic and political decision-making processes at both local and national levels. The limited responsiveness to gender-based violence after the war and its manifestation in the current environment is but a mockery of things! In addition, a great number of affected populations are under the influence of drug and substance abuse, and are susceptible to committing crime and violence mostly against women and girls. While the increased of rape, lack of political will and laissez-fair- approaches in adherence to the promises made to holding those who committed heinous crimes during the civil war still remains as a challenge for the government.  The increased of violence, ritualistic killings, the entrenched structural problem, skills disparities and harmful practices that have kept gender inequality unacceptably high for Liberian women remain pervasive.

The origin of the conflict can be traced to two broad factors; firstly, significant portion of the society were systematically excluded and marginalized from institutions and of political governance while access to key economic assets and livelihood were serious shortcomings. As of today’s, these issues are still pervasive in our society including economic mismanagement/ corruption etc. The lack of accountability and injustices remain the heart of discussion in every nook and cranny of the Liberian society.     

The lack of political will for the government of Liberia to implement the TRC recommendations remains fragile, though it is with the mandate to adopt specific mechanisms to promote national peace, unity and reconciliation to facilitate genuine healing for victims and survivors of the civil war. The recommendation listed 207 recommendations which includes the establishment of an Extraordinary Criminal Tribunal (the proposed War Crimes Court), prosecution, national healing through truth-telling, reparation and memorialization for strong democratic justice and the rule of law to be enforced by institutions and the government.

With the above mention, the Women NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL), a national umbrella of 150 women Civil Society Organizations and Community Based Organizations in the 15 Counties together with seven (7) women-led CSOs are increasing women’s voices and representation for meaningful participation in the ongoing advocacy prioritizing the full implementation of the TRC recommendations, specifically, the establishment of a War Crimes Court in Liberia.  

This petition serves to secure public buy-in by soliciting national voices to back this meaningful advocacy through generating 500,000 signatures to demand political will from the Government of Liberia for progressive change to end the culture of impunity for conflict-related crimes. While in the same vein, for lawmakers to accelerate efforts to establish the judicial committee as a concrete action identified for accountability, and to reinforce discussion of the 2019 Resolution on the War Crimes Court in the Liberian Legislature.

Join us in this fight by signing this petition#JusticeForVictims! We are grateful for the support from the Women Peace Humanitarian Funds through Reconciliation Resource to empower CSOs/CBOs, especially women to participate in the ongoing advocacy.