By Lincoln G. Peters
The Liberia Council of Churches (LCC) says the sanctioning of Liberian government officials by the international community is a wake-up call for Liberians to do their homework by determining between the establishment of a War and Economic Crimes court and the government’s proposed Transitional Justice Tribunal to end impunity here.
Speaking recently in Monrovia, LCC President Bishop Kortu Brown said, it’s time that Liberia addresses the hard questions to ensure that what happened during the country’s civil war never re-occur.
“We do not rejoice when anyone Liberian is sanctioned by the international community but the reality is that it’s for the greater good of the country. What will keep this country stable is our concern. What can we do to address these war crimes is what we have to deal with and those sanctioning needs to be taken seriously against our public officials because it is a wake-up call”, Bishop Brown added.
He said the quest of some Liberians desiring the establishment of War and Economic Crimes court and the government’s proposed Transitional Justice Tribunal are issues that should be addressed this year so that the country can resolve where it wants to go to addressing her homework.
Bishop Brown, who pastors the New Water in the Desert Pentecostal Ministry, explained that if Liberians are not willing to address those unresolved questions, “our foreign friends or international community has shown to us that they are willing to help us do it.”
He said going forward, it’s important that Liberians know what they want and find a solution to last year’s discussion of the government’s proposed Transitional Justice Tribunal and calls for the establishment of the war crimes court that most citizens see as a means of accounting for the past.
Bishop Brown: “All those things are about doing our homework because Liberia cannot run away from her past therefore, we need to make a decision as to where we go from here as a country and people.”
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He said those public officials sanctioned for crimes against humanity and corruption, are something that needs to be addressed seriously because these are the sources of war.
He named lack of adequate distribution of natural resources or wealth, corruption, amongst others as things that should be addressed in order to prevent a re-occurrence of the past, adding that since the war ended, Liberia has not been able to take the necessary actions to end the many arguments and quests to end impunity.
“The issues of War and Economic Crimes court, how do we call into question the actors of the civil war so that it serves as a precedent against us going back to civil war. We have to make sure we do that home works for our destiny as a country.”
The Pentecostal Bishop further indicated that due to Liberia’s inability to address the wrong and answer the many questions, “we are walking in the day as if it’s night on these questions because we have homework to do that we are running away from.”
He also stressed a need to address corruption, wage abuse and war crimes because these are serious concerns, saying “those sanctioning our people are suggesting that if we are not able to sanction our own people, they will sanction them for us.”https://thenewdawnliberia.com/wongosol-wants-war-crimes-court-for-liberia/ Editing by Jonathan Browne
