Amidst growing calls for the establishment of a war and economic crimes court in Liberia, CONDO Reconciliation Group, a US-based peace advocacy group, has warned all parties against politicizing the issue and called on everyone to prioritize what the country and its people stand to benefit from, regardless of what that genuinely is.
For sometimes now, Liberians, including politicians, have intensified their calls for the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Liberian civil war.
In a press release issued in Monrovia on Friday, June 11, 2021 and signed by the organization’s Executive Director (ED), Kabah Morris Trawally, Condo said advancing perspectives and positions should be void of sentiment or argument driven by external policies, personal vendetta and lack of real touch with social norms and national collective responsibility to secure everlasting national social harmony and prosperous future for the coming generation.
“Condo is of the belief that stopping impunity does not require a wait for external mandate or funding. It is part and parcel of the social contract the people of Liberia have with their government and, as such, it should have started with the coming in of the first post-war government to the present. Unfortunately, both administrations and citizens have failed to stop the wheel of impunity that ravaged the country, thereby opening new wounds and social rift on a daily basis,” the US-based peace advocacy group asserted.
“It is about time that we stop singing people’s songs and make our own songs, characterized by the culture, traditions and norms that work for us, and stop looking at things from the spectacle of external actors and begin to call for what is right for the progress and future of this country. 173 years is a long and unprecedented wait,” Condo pointed out.
“Have we taken into consideration the impact of the acrimonious process of prosecution on our progress for normal life after two decades of natural healing efforts? Have we stood up to our responsibilities as a state to victims of the civil war that are yet to benefit from any reparation as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)? Have we both as government and people resolved to stop once-and-for-all the perpetuation of free murders and free corruption basking in the sun of impunity?” Condo questioned.
Meanwhile, Condo said it believes that answering these questions is the reflection “we need to enable us set our priorities right for the establishment of a war and economic crimes court”.