Calls for
the establishment of a war crimes court here seems to be gaining momentum with
the submission of a bill before the House of Representatives, requesting for
the formation of such court to prosecute ex-warlords and others who played
major role during the country’s crisis period.
Grand Bassa County Representative Byron Brown presented a draft bill to the
House of Representatives Tuesday through plenary, calling for the establishment
of a war crimes court for Liberia.
Brown, who got elected on the ticket of the
opposition Liberty Party during the 2011 elections, said the ultimate purpose
of the bill is to sustain the peace, achieving genuine national reconciliation
and moving ahead with the national developmental agenda, unhindered.
“This has
become the most prudent thing for us to do, my colleagues. It is said that
giving aggressors an inch of the way does trigger in [them] false sense of
greatness, thereby propelling such aggressors to an unending series of
aggressions against the vulnerable of society”, he stressed.
Brown
noted that the Liberian Civil Conflict produced many aggressors, both within
and outside the nation’s frontiers, who committed some of the worst crimes
against humanity.
“Some of them planned, financed, supervised and executed the
wanton destruction of our country and its human resource.
Today, they seem to be clinging to the mistaken belief that their actions
against the nation and its people were justified. Even the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that was suggested, as a bridge to the future
has been trampled upon, as its recommendations are being thrown into the dust
bin, where than do we go for justice,?” the Grand Bassa lawmaker told plenary
Tuesday in a determined tune.
He said as a
result, Liberians are kept in perpetual poverty, while the alleged perpetrators
and their reported conies mellow in the resources of the state with
demonstrated arrogance.
“It rests upon our shoulders as representatives of the
people, to move to avert the potential re-occurrence of our national nightmare
by taking practical steps to restrain the aggressors.
One way to do
this is by unwaveringly enacting a law that specifically deals with the issue
of war crimes committed in Liberia. This will be sufficient deterrence for
re-entrance into the theater of conflict with disproportionate consequence”, he
concluded.
The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended
prosecution of ex-warlords and generals, who allegedly committed heinous crimes
during the 14-year civil crisis, but the TRC recommendations, are being
politicized. Meanwhile, the bill has been sent to the Judiciary, and Ways,
Means and Finance committees to report to plenary in the shortest possible time.
Calls
for the establishment of a war crimes court have been repeated time to time,
beginning with lead campaigner Mulbah Morlu, who paraded caskets in the streets
of Monrovia during a visit here by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Morlu however seems to have abandoned his campaign after he publicly lied that
he met with President Obama in Ghana on the matter.
Liberian human rights
lawyer Dempster Brown recently announced that he’s submitting a bill to the
Liberian Legislature for the creation of a war crimes court.
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
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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