The origins of the Liberian civil war date to the 1820s, when freed American and Caribbean slaves resettled in Liberia and enslaved indigenous Liberians, leading to Americo-Liberian domination of the government for the next century. In 1989, Americo-Liberian Charles Taylor led the rebel group the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) into the Liberian capital...
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (2005-2009) was tasked with investigating whether the gross human rights violations and international human rights violations that occurred from January 1979 to October 2003 were isolated incidents or part of a larger, systemic issue. The commission’s mandate was to provide a forum for all parties to share their...
In the June 2003 ceasefire Agreement, the Parties agreed to provide security guarantees for safe and unhindered access by humanitarian agencies to vulnerable groups, free movement of persons and goods, as well as for the return and resettlement of refugees and IDPs. The Parties further agreed on engagement of the Government, LURD and MODEL with...
The Parties to the 1990 Joint Statement agreed to form an Interim Government and organise an All Liberia Conference within 60 days, and to seek assistance to repatriate and resettle Liberians before the Conference. The Parties agreed that the Interim Government would take steps to disarm the warring parties. In the Lomé Agreement, the Parties...
The Parties to the Yamoussoukro III Agreement agreed to implement the disarmament of troops. The Parties further agreed to set up a five-member Elections Commission for the organisation and supervision of the elections to be held in Liberia, as well as a five-member Ad Hoc Supreme Court to adjudicated disputes arising from the electoral process.
The Parties to the Cotonou Agreement agreed not to import any weapons and war-like materials by any means into Liberia and agreed that incitement to hostilities would constitute a breach of the ceasefire agreement. The Parties further agreed on the modalities for the disarmament and encampment of troops, as transit point for further education, training...
The Akosombo Agreement supplements and amends the Cotonou Agreement. The Parties agreed on another ceasefire and extended the actions that would be considered to breach the ceasefire. The Parties agreed to disarm and encamp in accordance with a new schedule and mandated the Liberia National Transitional Government to begin the formation of appropriate national security...
The Accra Clarification supplements the Akosombo Agreement and is acceded to by parties previously not party to the agreement. The Parties agreed that in the re-organisation of the Armed Forces of Liberia, the police, immigration and other security agencies, the combatants and non-combatants who satisfy conditions for recruitment would be considered for inclusion, to be...
Abdul Tejan-Cole is Executive Director of the African Studies Association. A noted human rights lawyer and activist, he was the Commissioner of Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission between 2007 and 2010. He served as Deputy Director at the International Center for Transitional Justice’s Cape Town Office, and worked as an Adviser and Component Manager for Law...
Lury Taiwo Nkouessom is the Team Leader of the Access to Justice Component of the USAID Mali Justice Project (MJP). Prior to joining MJP, he served as the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) Deputy Country Director for Programme in the DRC, managing a multimillion portfolio. Prior to that, he served as...
T. Debey Sayndee is a Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation, University of Liberia. He has experience working for many years on complex nexuses of the conflicts in West Africa, particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone. He has served as a consultant for the United Nations, University...
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