November 26, 2007
When in April 2003 Liberians from all levels of society, including
Government, belligerent forces and civil society assembled in the Capital City
of the Republic of Ghana, Accra, along with friends and partners from around
the world including ECOWAS, the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN)
to adopt a comprehensive and sustainable peace plan for Liberia, The Accra
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (ACPA) of 18th August 2003 was adopted as the
foundation of the peace building processes in Liberia. All actors agreed to
work towards a sustainable peace in Liberia.
They pledged to remain engaged with the process and thus adopting the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as the way forward for lasting peace,
reconciliation and unity in Liberia.
The TRC Act of 2005 established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
of the Republic of Liberia
as an integral part of the peace process set out by the ACPA. The TRC is
entrusted with the mandate to examine the root causes of the Liberian Civil War
as well as to undertake a nationwide public dialogue process that will lead to
truth-telling of events related to the civil war, so that reconciliation,
justice and national healing can take place. Since its inauguration in June
2006, the Commission has vigorously pursued its mandate, surmounted formidable
challenges, recorded a number of successes and is today renewing its call for
the full participation of all the people of Liberia and her partners in the TRC
process towards establishing truth, justice and reconciliation for sustainable
peace and security of the nation.
The TRC announces that over the last six months, most of its public-related
activities were suspended due to the request of the International Contact Group
on Liberia (ICGL) to assess the TRC as a basis for future funding and also due
to lack of funding. This request, which was accepted by the TRC, led to the
establishment of the TRC Working Group (WG) as that mechanism through which
international partners and donor communities are directly engaged with the TRC
on a weekly basis. The TRC Working Group has been operational, since March 2007,
and its role has been to review the work of the TRC, provide technical
assistance and capacity to address the concerns of donors and enhance its
funding position to enable the TRC accomplish its mandate in an efficient, legitimate,
accountable, transparent, quality and timely fashion.
The ICGL, as both moral and political guarantors of the peace process in Liberia,
is a key partner of the TRC, and its members form the TRC/ICGL Working Group.
The ICGL is co-chaired by His Excellency, The Head of Delegation of the
European Union and His Excellency, The Ambassador of Nigeria. The TRC/ICGL
Working Group is co-chaired by the TRC and UNMIL. The Secretariat of the
Working Group is at ECOWAS.
Since March 2007, the TRC has received technical support from the WG in several
areas including:
Policy guidance and advice: To date, the ICGL/TRC Working Group has contributed
to the revision of the TRC comprehensive work plan and the development of a
forward-looking comprehensive 16-month (June 2007 to September 2008) Work Program
with a corresponding US$8m budget. In addition, the TRC legal policies, rules
and procedures, administrative structures, personnel policy were all reviewed.
At the moment a national wide TRC Security Assessment Report is nearing
completion by the government of Liberia
and UNMIL.
Organizational Support: ICGL members, including the EU, UNDP,
UK, USA,
AU, Nigeria,
UNMIL, Sweden
and ECOWAS, have provided technical support to the TRC Program and
Administrative Teams. UNDP has also provided the remaining US$200,000 out of
the Danish Government funding support of US 600,000 for the implementation of
the TRC Emergency Program. UNMIL has continued to provide logistical and
technical support to the TRC county offices and outreach endeavors now and
whenever necessary. The UNOHCHR and ECOWAS are both committed to filling the
three International Technical Assistance Committee (ITAC) member slots in the
Commission who,according to the TRC Act, are legally required to provide
on-going technical assistance to the Commission.
In July 2007, the training of TRC staff on Research, Human Rights, Humanitarian
Law, Gender and Management was undertaken. In this regard, the TRC wishes to
present its appreciation to the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and UNMIL for
their training experts that saw this process through.
Co-ordination: The institution of the ICGL/TRC Working Group has facilitated
the enhancement of a coherent information sharing mechanism, maximization of
expertise available and also facilitated inclusive participation on TRC process
by all actors. To this end, much progress has been made on the sustainable
inclusion of civil society in the TRC process country-wide. It is foreseen that
a TRC strategy for the wider inclusion of transitional justice groups, child
protection agencies and agencies specialized in psychosocial assistance will be
finalized in the coming weeks.
Reporting: All policy, program and administrative processes, actions and
decisions made within the framework of the ICGL/TRC Working Group are
documented and shared in a transparent manner by both the TRC and the ICGL/TRC
Working Group Secretariat at ECOWAS. This has also enhanced information sharing
and transparency. Further on transparency, the TRC has begun publishing its
quarterly financial statement in local dailies pursuant to Sec 37 of the TRC
Act and quarterly programmatic reports are always available for public
consumption upon request and on the TRC website. (www.trcofliberia.org.)
Monitoring and Evaluation: The monitoring and evaluation of TRC process and
outcomes require further work by the ICGL/TRC Working Group as well as by civil
society. The TRC is requesting all partners, especially civil society to get
involved in its work, critically assess its work, regularly monitor and make
contributions and participate in all TRC processes as the leading peace-building
institution in Liberia
for now.
With the dedicated participation and support of all, the TRC has continued to
record marked progress and is pleased to note that significant positive
outcomes have been realized that have enabled the continuation of the TRC
process to date.
The TRC presents its appreciation to all ICGL
Member States
and institutions for their dedicated effort to support the TRC as part of the
peace process of Liberia.
The TRC also renews its calls on ICGL members to complement their technical
assistance, support and interest with providing substantial funding that the
TRC needs to execute its mandate. To date, the Governments of Liberia, the
Kingdom of Denmark, UNDP and the European Union remain the most consistent
contributors or donors to the TRC together accounting for more than 85% of all
resources contributed to or utilized by the TRC along with Open Society
Initiative For West Africa (OSIWA) as the only non-governmental organization
providing direct funding to the TRC.
The TRC has received funding support from the UNDP and OSIWA for the
implementation of TRC program activities while government of Liberia
has continued to fund the administrative costs of the TRC. The TRC wishes to
specifically express appreciation to UNDP and OSIWA for this funding support.
Public awareness activities on the TRC process have been revitalized and are
ongoing on both radio and television in communities around the country. The TRC
undertook promotional activities during the commemoration of Liberia's
160th Independence Anniversary that was held in Buchanan, Grand
Bassa County
and the August 24th Flag Day celebration in Monrovia.
A complementary public awareness campaign has been undertaken throughout the
Republic with support from UNDP and OSIWA to coincide with the resumption of
the statement taking process which is well in progress and recording remarkable
results.
To reach communities countrywide, the TRC has also established County Coordinating
Committees (CCC) and 15 County Offices
in each county with a minimum staff and county-based volunteers drawn from
government, civil society, local religious, traditional and opinion leaders and
partner organizations. These county offices are centers for continued public
awareness activities and dialogue on all TRC issues as well as for the taking
of statements from victims/survivors and witnesses, as well as the facilitation
of TRC public hearings in each county.
The TRC is also currently implementing an extensive inquiry process that
examines the historical roots of the Liberian civil crisis. This inquiry is
looking into all political, social, economic and cultural aspects of Liberian
history and society that may have contributed to or impacted the civil war.
More specifically, the inquiry process is examining i) the root causes of the
conflict, ii) the military and political history of the conflict, iii) the
unique nature of the Liberian conflict and its impact on women, children,
youth, etc., iv) the experiences of particular individuals and institutions and
v) peace-building and national reconciliation, including a review of Liberia's
history to identify historical antecedents to the conflict, clarify myths and
falsehoods. Information generated from this inquiry process will complement
statement taking and the hearings as integral components of the inquiry process
which will inform the TRC findings, recommendations and final report for
subsequent actions.
Public hearings are central to the TRC process of promoting national healing
and reconciliation. The TRC will shortly inform the people of Liberia
on the schedule dates for the commencement of hearings throughout Liberia
as soon as logistics and other planning processes are finalized in the coming
week. The Hearings will focus on individual, thematic and institutional issues,
civil war events and outcomes. The TRC wishes to inform the general public that
its mandated commitment to reconciliation and national healing includes
promoting truth-telling, reconciliation, justice and recommending actions
against impunity.
With technical assistance from Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation,
preparatory work on national reconciliation has been initiated with training
and dialogue on reconciliation undertaken within the TRC, members of the
Transitional Justice Working Groups, the Liberian Council of Churches and the
Legislature. It is foreseen that continued engagement of the public on
reconciliation will be expanded into all counties as the TRC process unfolds.
With assistance from a nongovernmental Organization, Benetech, and funding from
the US government,
the TRC has established a customized database for its documentation,
information storage, retrieval and analysis purposes. A coding team is in place
to code and process huge volumes of information flowing from diverse sources to
the TRC including an estimated 24,000 statements from statement givers around
the country and in the diaspora.
Diaspora work in the USA
and West Africa is ongoing. In the USA,
an independent group of human rights promoters, the Minnesota Advocates for
Human Rights, is undertaking statement taking exercises in five US States,
including Minnesota itself. So
far, statements have been collected from Liberians living in the USA
and the Buduburam refugee camp in the Republic
of Ghana. TRC teams have visited
both Nigeria and Sierra Leone and have carried out dialogue with Liberian
refugees living in these countries.
Pursuant to developing sound administrative and financial policies consistent
with the TRC Act of 2005, two financial audits were commissioned by the TRC and
undertaken by both the government of Liberia
and donor partners. Under facilitation of USAID, the second financial audit was
conducted in June 2007 and all audit recommendations have been implemented. We
are satisfied that all funding to the TRC was utilized for the intended
purposes as certified by the audit findings. In addition, the recommendations
from the EU Institutional Assessment Report that called for TRC organizational re-organization
and streamlining of its programs have been implemented. Since April 2007, the
implementation of TRC programs and administrative processes are now fully
managed by a secretariat headed the TRC Executive Secretary. He is supported by
the Director of Programs, Director of Media and Public Awareness, consultants,
Director of Inquiry and a host of program staff both in Monrovia
and in all 15 counties. Urgent recruitment of additional technical staff
including ITAC Advisors, Gender Policy Advisor, Child Protection Advisor, the
Special Magistrate, etc. are on-going and very much needed to provide adequate
TRC in-house technical capacity. TRC Commissioners continue to undertake their
oversight functions in support of the technical TRC Secretariat staff. Commissioners
are undertaking various mandate related activities including raising awareness,
advancing the TRC Children's Agenda, working with the civil society organizations
on the TRC Women's Agenda as well as providing on-going support to the statement
taking process that is currently ongoing in all the 15 counties.
Having overcome many challenges in the past, the TRC of Liberia is currently
fast-tracking its process in its programming and administration so that all its
mandated activities can be achieved before the end date of September 2008.
Therefore, any further delays in accessing the TRC financing support for its
program operations will only delay the work of the Commission much further and
negatively impact its 2008 datelines.
Conclusively, the TRC requests further understanding and support from the government
of Liberia, all
national and international partners regarding this matter in the event that an
extension of the TRC mandate beyond September 2008 becomes necessary for the
Commission to conclude its work comprehensively.
Cllr. Jerome Verdier
Chairman of the TRC
Government of the Republic of Liberia
