MONROVIA: The Office of the much-heralded War and Economic Crimes Court (WECC) for Liberia is said to be faced with serious blockade due to acute lack of operational funds and other necessary technical support.
This paper has gathered that the Government of Liberia is yet to provide any funds for the smooth and uninterrupted operations of the Office.
Initially, the Office the WECC budgeted US$500,000 in the recast National Budget during the administration of Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi as Chairmanship.
Despite the nation-wide acceptance of the establishment of the WECC for Liberia, the government appears to be treating the full establishment of the Court as a ‘lips service’ and/ or ‘with cosmetic approach.’
If established, the Court would enable those accused of bearing the greatest responsibilities for the country’s decade-long armed conflict during which an estimated 250,000 persons, predominately women, children and the elderly were killed to account for their war deeds.
More than a million other Liberians were internally and externally displaced, while the country’s economy which was abysmally destroyed during the back-to-back conflict is yet to regain its prewar state.
Interestingly, since the nomination of Cllr. Jallah Barbu, Dean of the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law of the University of Liberia as the WECC Office Executive Director, the process for the establishment of the Court has become almost dormant due to lack of funds to operate.
It is not clear whether the initial US$500,000 budgeted by the erstwhile Massaquoi administration of the Office was utilized.
More than that, in June, Dr. Alan White, the former chief investigator of the United Nations- backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, has been lobbying with international partners who believed in Justice and accountability aimed at seeking funding for the Liberian Court.
Dr. White pleaded with the United States Congress to play a critical role in sourcing funding for the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia.
Dr. White and five other witnesses including three Liberian Human Rights Activists, speaking June 13, 2024, at the Rayburn House Office Building, stressed that it is important that the court, when established, has an annual budget, particularly supported by the United States Government.
Other witnesses at the hearing then were Yahsyndi Martin-Kpeyei, executive director of the Movement for Justice for Liberia, Alvin Smith, Chief Investigator for the International Justice Group, Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute, Adama Kiatamba Dempster, National Secretary General, Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia and Elizabeth Evenson, Director, International Justice Program, Human Rights Watch, respectively.
During his testimony, Mr. Dempster notes that President Boakai must now take a step further in ensuring that the Office of War Crimes Court is operationalized.
The hearing was hosted by Congressman Chris Smith and Congressman James P. McGovern.
Behind the scenes, the international donors who will be called upon to fund the courts – European countries, the United States and the UN – are sending the strong message that they will not be providing hundreds of millions of dollars for the Liberian Courts, particularly when so much government and donor funding is going into corrupt officials’ pockets.
In a recent meeting at the U.N., Beth Van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice, pointed to so-called “hybrid” courts in the Central African Republic and the Extraordinary African Chambers that tried former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré in Senegal as “right-sized” models for Liberia. Each cost under US$15 million a year to operate.
But while experts agree that a limited budget will be available, they say the challenges faced by Liberia’s courts will be immense.
They will likely have to deal with more complex cases than other courts. With a mandate extending from the end of the wars in 2003 back as far as the rice riots in 1979, evidence will likely be more difficult to come by and cases against the worst perpetrators could cover periods of many years.
“Because of its complexity, if we’re talking about a court that deals with these issues from the past to a large extent, it could certainly extend its work over 10 or 20 years, to be frank,” said Ambassador Stephen Rapp, a former Chief Prosecutor for the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.
“But I think certainly it would be very difficult for it to be done for, say, less than US$60 million,” he stressed.
The funding will also impose limitations on who and how many will be tried. The country’s 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report recommended 116 alleged “most notorious perpetrators” and eight faction leaders be tried for gross human rights violations and war crimes.
Another 58 were recommended to face domestic courts for lesser crimes. The TRC also recommended 40 people and companies to face trial for economic crimes and another 54 be investigated.
Mr. Hassan Bility, Director of the Global Justice and Research Project, which has worked with Werner’s Civitas Maxima to prosecute individuals overseas for war-related crimes in Liberia, said the government must stump up a sizeable amount of money now.
“I do not believe that the West is going to want to start providing fundings if they do not see concrete actions taken by the government,” said Mr. Bility.
The Liberian government should be the first to set the example for other countries to follow. Come out with US$5 million. Come out with US$2.5 million. Come out with US$1 million, come out with US$800,000. The government needs to set the pace by taking more concrete actions,” Bility stressed.
At the same time, Bility has previously proposed another way to find the funding would by reducing the salaries of sitting lawmakers and senior public officials who have been accused of war crimes.
However, it is gathered that efforts at aimed at undermining the Office for the establishment of WECC is being encouraged by keys officials who are avoiding accountability of their war deals.
On May 2, 2024, President Boakai signed Executive Order#131, establishing the Office of a War and Economic Crimes Court – a major, long-awaited step toward redressing the wounds of the country’s civil wars.
According to the Executive Order, the Office is empowered to “investigate, design, and prescribe the methodology, mechanisms, and the processes for establishing a Special War Crimes Court,” as well as a National Anti-Corruption Court.
But as the country experiences serious political standoff at the House of Representatives, the nation’s economy is stalled, the Office for the War and Economic Crimes Court remains practically ‘stranded or dormant.’
