Monday, February 6, 2012

Operation We Care for Liberia welcomes George Boley Sr. deportation to Liberia


We welcome the decision of the United States Immigration to deport Mr. George Boley Sr. to Liberia.

We at this time  call upon  the Liberian Government through its justice department to bring Mr. Boley and others to justice for crimes they committed during the course of Liberia's Civil War.

Our call to action stems from the fact that crimes committed by Mr. Boley and other Warlords in Liberia are severe.  They (Mr. Boley and other Warlords)  have committed international crimes to include crimes against humanity, and war crimes. 

Liberia must deliver justice to its war victims. Transitional justice must be served in order for human rights to be protected, and democracy to be respected. Addressing past human rights violations in Liberia must be swift. As such, we demand Investigations and trials of former warlords and their financiers who have committed crimes and caused mass political or military atrocities in Liberia.  Prosecution of warlords and their financiers would play a key role in restoring dignity to victims of Liberia's 14 years war. This would also restore trusting relationships between citizens  and  the Justice department of Liberia.

Let those who caused the deaths of over 200,000 innocent people not be allowed to walk freely.

Bernard Gbayee Goah
President, Operation We Care For Liberia
Email: goahbg@gmail.com
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News on George Boley
Source: DemocratandChronicle.com


An immigration judge today ruled that George Boley — a longtime Clarkson resident accused of war crimes during Liberia’s bloody civil wars — will be deported from the United States.
The judge ruled that Boley was involved in killings during the civil wars and that he also recruited child soldiers. Boley and his family have adamantly denied the allegations. They can appeal     the judge’s decision.
Liberia, a country in northwest Africa, was riven by two civil wars between 1989 and 2003 — brutal confrontations between warring factions that left more than 200,000 dead. Boley, now 62, led a ragtag group called the Liberia Peace Council, or LPC, according to immigration officials here and activists in Liberia.
The LPC committed atrocities, murdering civilians indiscriminately, some Liberian activists have claimed. Boley recruited children for the LPC and its battles, the immigration judge today ruled.
“Boley’s case represents the first removal order obtained by ICE under the authorities of the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008, which added the recruitment and use of child soldiers as a ground of inadmissibility to and deportability from the United States,” ICE officials said in a statement.
“This historic immigration judge’s ruling is the culmination of extensive efforts by Homeland Security Investigations special agents and ICE attorneys to bring George Boley to justice for his crimes,” ICE Director John Morton said in the statement. “The United States has always been a place of refuge and freedom from oppression for millions. We must ensure that those who come here seeking freedom and the rule of law do not have to fear that their persecutor may become their neighbor.”
"The 1995 United States Department of State report on Human Rights Practices in Liberia documented credible reports that Boley authorized the extrajudicial executions of seven of his soldiers on Nov. 14, 1995. According to witnesses who testified before Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1994, the LPC burned dozens of captives and village inhabitants accused of witchcraft activities in a Liberian village. Other TRC witnesses also testified that in 1995, the LPC massacred 27 inhabitants in an attack on a village - ordering them to lie down before they slit their throats with cutlasses and raping the women before they killed them," the ICE statement reads.
Boley originally came to the U.S. almost four decades ago for college and made a home here. He traveled to and from his home country as the political situation there worsened. He once ran for president of Liberia, but was thoroughly drubbed in the election.
His wife and children still live in the United States.

News Headline

Inside Liberia with Bernard Gbayee Goah

Everyone is a genius

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. – A Einstein

Drawing the line in Liberia

Crimes sponsored, committed, or masterminded by handful of individuals cannot be blamed upon an entire nationality. In this case, Liberians! The need for post-war justice is a step toward lasting peace, stability and prosperity for Liberia. Liberia needs a war crimes tribunal or some credible legal forum that is capable of dealing with atrocities perpetrated against defenseless men, women and children during the country's brutal war. Without justice, peace shall remain elusive and investment in Liberia will not produce the intended results. - Bernard Gbayee Goah



Men with unhealthy characters should not champion any noble cause

They pretend to advocate the cause of the people when their deeds in the dark mirror nothing else but EVIL!!
When evil and corrupt men try to champion a cause that is so noble … such cause, how noble it may be, becomes meaningless in the eyes of the people - Bernard Gbayee Goah.

If Liberia must move forward ...

If Liberia must move forward in order to claim its place as a civilized nation amongst world community of nations, come 2017 elections, Liberians must critically review the events of the past with honesty and objectivity. They must make a new commitment to seek lasting solutions. The track records of those who are presenting themselves as candidates for the position of "President of the Republic of Liberia" must be well examined. Liberians must be fair to themselves because results from the 2011 elections will determine the future of Liberia’s unborn generations to come - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's greatest problem!

While it is true that an individual may be held responsible for corruption and mismanagement of funds in government, the lack of proper system to work with may as well impede the process of ethical, managerial, and financial accountability - Bernard Gbayee Goah

What do I think should be done?

The situation in Liberia is Compound Complex and cannot be fixed unless the entire system of government is reinvented.
Liberia needs a workable but uncompromising system that will make the country an asylum free from abuse, and other forms of corruption.
Any attempt to institute the system mentioned above in the absence of rule of law is meaningless, and more detrimental to Liberia as a whole - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia's Natural Resources
Besides land water and few other resources, most of Liberia’s dependable natural resources are not infinite, they are finite and therefore can be depleted.
Liberia’s gold, diamond, and other natural resources will not always be an available source of revenue generation for its people and its government. The need to invent a system in government that focuses on an alternative income generation method cannot be over emphasized at this point - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Liberia needs a proper system
If Liberians refuse to erect a proper system in place that promotes the minimization of corruption and mismanagement of public funds by government institutions, and individuals, there will come a time when the value of the entire country will be seen as a large valueless land suited on the west coast of Africa with some polluted bodies of waters and nothing else. To have no system in place in any country is to have no respect for rule of law. To have no respect for rule of law is to believe in lawlessness. And where there is lawlessness, there is always corruption - Bernard Gbayee Goah

Solving problems in the absence of war talks

As political instability continues to increase in Africa, it has become abundantly clear that military intervention as a primary remedy to peace is not a durable solution. Such intervention only increases insecurity and massive economic hardship. An existing example which could be a valuable lesson for Liberia is Great Britain, and the US war on terror for the purpose of global security. The use of arms whether in peace keeping, occupation, or invasion as a primary means of solving problem has yield only little results. Military intervention by any country as the only solution to problem solving will result into massive military spending, economic hardship, more fear, and animosity as well as increase insecurity. The alternative is learning how to solve problems in the absence of war talks. The objective of such alternative must be to provide real sustainable human security which cannot be achieved through military arm intervention, or aggression. In order to achieve results that will make the peaceful coexistence of all mankind possible, there must be a common ground for the stories of all sides to be heard. I believe there are always three sides to every story: Their side of the story, Our side of the story, and The truth – Bernard Gbayee Goah

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