Summary:
- Liberian human rights groups, led by the Independent National Human Rights Commission, have introduced a new draft war crimes bill as supporters plan to block an earlier version sponsored by Senator Joseph Jallah and Senate Protemp Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence.
- Experts warn that Liberia lacks the laws and public confidence to prosecute international crimes, and argue that impartiality can only be guaranteed through a hybrid court with Liberian and foreign judges.
- Although President Boaka promised an annual budget of $2 million, the Office of the Military and Economic Crimes Tribunal has received only $300,000, and future budgets have been cut.
Anthony Stephens, New Narratives Senior Legal Correspondent
In a surprise move, a bar association led by the Independent National Human Rights Commission submitted a new war crimes law to the legislature on Tuesday. It came as campaigners stepped up efforts to block an earlier version, which would have barred so-called “international” crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, from prosecution.
The new draft ended up before lawmakers at a time when there is increased uncertainty in the courts. In late October, Senator Joseph Jallah and Senate Protemp Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence for the use of two bills – one on wartime atrocities and the other on economic crimes – that would channel all cases through Liberia’s national courts. Critics say the approach rejects a hybrid international-domestic model widely seen as essential to credible trials of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the recruitment of child soldiers, the killing of civilians and sexual slavery amid countless human rights abuses committed during Liberia’s civil wars. Without an international partner, the court could only try people for crimes that fell under Liberia’s criminal code at the time the crime was committed. Experts say that would rule out almost all of the most egregious crimes in Liberia’s conflict. And that would raise the issue of the statute of limitations — which sets limits on how long a person can bring charges after a crime. War crimes and crimes against humanity have no statute of limitations.
Veteran human rights lawyer Tiawan Gongloe strongly condemned the senators’ proposals, calling it “a deliberate exercise in obstruction of justice. If they knew what impunity has done to this country… They would not have brought this new idea of a purely national court to protect our sovereignty.”
The new bill, although narrower because it does not include financial crimes, is similar to the 2021 Bill of the National Bar Association of Liberia. It would see the court partnered with an international body such as Ecowas or the United Nations to allow the prosecution of international crimes that do not comply with Liberian law.
Both bills have come as a surprise to observers of the process. The Office for the War and Economic Crimes Court, headed by Jallah Barbu, is tasked with writing and presenting bills to the president and legislature. Barbu has promised to have the bill ready by January. Experts say these competing bills reflect an effort to influence the final bill.
While not referring to the agency’s pending legislation, proponents of the new law said in a presentation Tuesday that they are now working to speed up the process. Lawyers had condemned the decision to include an anti-corruption court in the agency’s mandate, which would take priority over the war crimes tribunal. Dempster said any delay in the war crimes tribunal now could lead to a political cloud over the next election.
“The purpose of our interventions is not just prosecution, but prevention — that if we move on from this era, no one will choose war or violence to destabilize our country,” Adama Dempster, executive secretary of the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform, one of the organizations that introduced Tuesday’s bill, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who received the petition. “One way we can sustain the growth of this country is through fairness. It’s not about witch-hunting.”
The previous Jallah-Karnga-Lawrence bills are still stuck. More than three weeks ago, the full Senate referred them to two committees – the Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petitions and the Defense, Security, Intelligence and Veterans Affairs Committee – and ordered a report within two weeks. The deadline expired without any action being taken.
In an interview, Senator Jallah told FrontPage Africa/New Narratives that the Judiciary Committee was still in the process of “a review where more will be heard” including the executive branch. The committee’s chairman, Augustine Chea, said the bills will be discussed more widely with civil society groups, the National Human Rights Commission and international partners.
“We are sure that we are all in the same position when it comes to giving justice to the victims of war,” Chea said. “Let’s be clear. We all agree that it serves as a deterrent to this generation and generations to come, that we don’t have a repeat of what happened in our country. Impunity can cause that.”
Other members of the committee including James Emmanuel Nuquay of Margibi, Simeon Taylor of Grand Cape Mount and Albert Chie of Grand Kru, Emmanuel Nuquay, Simeon Taylor attended Tuesday’s presentation. Nuquay and Chie have been sanctioned by the US government for corruption and may be prosecuted by an anti-corruption court. They deny the allegations.
Chie indicated his preference for the senators’ bills in the meeting, warning against “writing the law in the middle of the game” and saying all prosecutions must be in accordance with the laws in force at the time the crimes were committed. “When the crimes were committed, existing laws, the person will be judged according to those laws.”
Before today’s meeting, advocates said the pause in the Jallah-Karanga-Lawrence bills had given them room to step up lobbying with senators and representatives they believe could block the bills.
“This is the time to stand up for the hundreds of thousands of victims who I believe were unjustly murdered as a result of the two Liberian bush and bandit terror wars,” said Hassan Bility., longtime hybrid war and economic crimes court advocate to lawmakers in a phone interview. “Victims are generally not going to feel comfortable with that system. We believe we need to follow an international system that has been practiced successfully in other countries around the world. That’s why I urge all senators to reconsider introducing this bill and passing it. If it passes like that, we’re dead.”
Under Liberian law, only crimes that were included in the criminal code at the time they were committed can be tried domestically — a fact that legal analysts say would make it nearly impossible to prosecute war crimes or crimes against humanity in local courts without an international component.
Fatou Bensouda, one of the world’s most respected voices on international criminal justice and the only woman ever to serve as chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, warned Liberian lawmakers that establishing a purely domestic war crimes court would jeopardize public trust and credibility from the start.
“Even the notion of outside judges sitting with domestic judges shows objectivity and impartiality,” said Bensouda. exclusive interview With FrontPage Africa/New Narratives on the sidelines of this year’s African Investigative Journalism Conference in Johannesburg. “It can increase the credibility of any hybrid court, because it’s very easy for court watchers and spectators to judge the court before it even starts when it’s domestic… So to ensure impartiality, it’s absolutely essential that you include other judges from outside. It can also be from the sub-region.”
Bensouda warned Liberian lawmakers that establishing a purely domestic war crimes tribunal would jeopardize public trust and credibility from the outset.
He warned that in the absence of a credible court, a “cycle of violence” was likely to repeat itself
was real.
Another obstacle posed by the bill is the Liberian judiciary, which is widely regarded as lacking the credibility and capacity to prosecute international crimes. Several reports by legal organizations, the Liberian media, and the US State Department have documented corruption, disruption, and severe resource constraints in the justice system. In his 2024 Human Rights Book report, The US State Department stated in August that “some judges used bail to solicit bribes”. And few have been involved in the prosecution of international crimes.
“We are a party to international treaties that govern the laws of war. These crimes are crimes against the nations of the world,” Gongloe said. “We are a party to international conventions on the laws of war. These crimes are crimes against the nations of the world. We cannot be exclusive. We need the full confidence of the people of Liberia and the international community. And for the international community to even support the process, it has to be seen as credible.” Gongloe said every successful transitional justice process in Africa – including Sierra Leone and Rwanda – was based on a hybrid model.
The introduction of the laws comes as a lack of funding for efforts to establish a war and economic crimes court casts another shadow over the process. Advocates said they were concerned about the financial signals coming from the Boakai administration. President Boakai was commended earlier this year for several activities including national apology for victims of civil wars and a promise gives the Office of the Military and Economic Crimes Tribunal $2 million annually.
But as the fiscal year ends, only $300,000 — 15 percent of the pledge — has been delivered, Barbu along. Worse, the government budget proposal only $1.3 million is allocated for 2026, and that continues to decrease in 2027 and 2028. Most of the funding is earmarked for salaries. Lawyers say the cuts threaten to push the long-awaited court to the sidelines.
Bility urged President Boakai to resolutely pick up the pace.
“President Joseph Boakai, I urge him to pay more attention to the establishment of this court and make sure it works,” he said. “Take the bull by the horns… This is one of your inherited problems.”
Presidential press secretary Kula Fofana did not respond to FPA/NN’s requests for comment before deadline.
This story is a collaboration New stories as part of the West African Justice Reporting Project. Funding was provided by the Swedish Embassy in Liberia, which had no say in the content of the story.