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The Role of Civil Society in National Reconciliation and Peacebuilding in Liberia

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The Role of Civil Society in National Reconciliation and Peacebuilding in Liberia International Peace Academy The Role of Civil Society in National Reconciliation and Peacebuilding in Liberia by Augustine Toure APRIL 2002 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The International Peace Academy wishes to acknowledge the support provided by the Government of the Netherlands which made the research and publication of this study possible. ABOUT IPA’S CIVIL SOCIETY PROGRAM This report forms part of IPA’s Civil Society Project which, between 1998 and 1999, involved case studies on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau. IPA held a seminar, in partnership with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), in Cape Town in 1996 on “Civil Society and Conflict Management in Africa” consisting largely of civil society actors from all parts of Africa. An IPA seminar organized in partnership with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) in Senegal in December 1999 on “War, Peace and Reconciliation in Africa” prominently featured civil society actors from all of Africa’s sub-regions. In the current phase of its work, IPA Africa Program’s Peacebuilding in Africa project is centered around the UN community and involves individuals from civil society, policy, academic and media circles in New York. The project explores ways of strengthening the capacity of African actors with a particular focus on civil society, to contribute to peacemaking and peacebuilding in countries dealing with or emerging from conflicts. In implementing this project, IPA organizes a series of policy fora and Civil Society Dialogues. In 2001, IPA initiated the Ruth Forbes Young fellowship to bring one civil society representative from Africa to spend a year in New York. IPA provides research facilities to allow the fellow to conduct and publish policy-relevant research, benefit from interaction with the UN and NGO community, as well as from the library facilities in New York. The Civil Society fellow is expected to contribute to IPA’s Civil Society Dialogue series and its seminars on Security Mechanisms in Africa. He/she would then be expected to share his or her experiences with local communities on returning home. As part of the project on Developing Regional and Sub-Regional Security Mechanisms in Africa, IPA’s seminar in Botswana in December 2000 focused on Southern African security issues while its seminar in Nigeria, held in partnership with ECOWAS in September 2001, examined security issues in West Africa. Both seminars featured strong civil society representation from all of Africa’s sub-regions. Specific papers focused on the role of civil society actors in managing conflicts in Africa. Civil society representatives are also expected to feature prominently in IPA’s third seminar in East Africa which will address security issues on the Horn of Africa and is scheduled for December 2002. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Augustine Toure was co-founder and Deputy Executive Director of Liberia Democracy Watch, Monrovia, from 1995-2001. He is currently the Ruth Forbes Young Civil Society Fellow for 2001-2002 at the International Peace Academy, New York. “THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND PEACEBUILDING IN LIBERIA” Table of contents Executive summary . 1 Introduction. 4 Some General Observations About Civil Society . 6 Background to the Liberian Civil War . 7 US/Liberia Relations and the Civil War . 8 The Emergence of Civil Society . 9 Civil Society During Liberia’s Civil War . 10 The July 1997 Elections and Charles Taylor’s Victory. 12 Civil Society in the Post-1997 Period . 12 Government-Created Institutions . 17 The Role of the International Community . 18 The Post War Security Sector. 20 Restructuring the National Security Apparatus . 20 Reintegrating Ex-combatants . 22 Protecting the Rights of Women and Children . 24 Elections and Peacebuilding. 24 Threats to Peacebuilding and National Reconciliation. 25 Strategies for Peacebuilding and Reconciliation . 26 Conclusion . 28 Contents “THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND PEACEBUILDING IN LIBERIA” Executive summary between the parties to the conflict in 1990, and its proposals were adopted and articulated as the Economic Community of West African States he holding of democratic elections in July 1997 (ECOWAS) peace plan for Liberia. Tmarked the end of Liberia’s brutal seven-year civil war. The end of the war, it was thought, had settled • The civil war also witnessed the birth of a number Liberia’s leadership question and it was hoped that of human rights organizations and women’s groups cessation of hostilities would usher in a new era of notable among which were the Catholic Justice and democratic order, political stability, and economic Peace Commission (JPC), the Center for Law and development. This post-war peace dividend however Human Rights Education (CLHRE) and the Liberia proved to be a mirage. Liberia continues to suffer from Women Initiative (LWI). During the civil war, the political repression even as the socio-economic JPC and CLHRE documented and exposed the situation worsens, threatening hopes for democratiza- human rights abuses and widespread atrocities tion in Liberia. Rebels calling themselves Liberians committed by all the warring factions during the United For Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) civil war. With the installation of the Interim continue to control parts of the country. The end of the Government of National Unity (IGNU) in November Liberian civil war has not brought peace to the 1990, and with the gradual restoration of relative c o u n t r y. Civil society groups in Liberia have normalcy to Monrovia under the protection of the courageously championed peacebuilding, reconcilia- EC O WAS Cease-fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), tion and democratization, but have experienced many these organizations expanded their activities to difficulties operating under a repressive environment. include human rights education and the provision This report examines the role of Liberia’s civil society of legal services to victims of human rights abuses. groups in this struggle. Some of the main observations Through their active involvement in the Liberian in the report include the following: peace process, women’s groups succeeded in placing women and children’s issues on the agenda. Civil Society in Liberia (1990-1997) • In the humanitarian field, groups like SUSUKUU, an • Civil society in Liberia has been a critical force in offshoot of the Movement for Justice in Africa the movement for democratization and has the (MOJA) and the Special Emergency Life Food potential to play a crucial role in national reconcil- Program (SELF) provided humanitarian relief and iation and peacebuilding. During the civil war, assistance to war-affected populations. SUSUKUU’s civil society groups collaborated on common main activities were geared toward establishing issues such as disarmament and elections, threat- cooperatives and providing technical support ening to withdraw cooperation from and reject any services to farmers. SELF organized communities faction that came to power through bullets rather into blocs for the purpose of food distribution and than ballots. Though sometimes marginalized by other relief items. Almost every action which warlords during the peace process, civil society’s required social mobilization was patterned after ultimate endorsement of the transition from war to the bloc (mapping) system put in place by SELF. peace in Liberia was critical to ending the war in 1997. • The period of the civil war (1990-1996) witnessed the growth of a robust, though fractious, media in • The earliest responses by civil society to the Liberia. There was the Monrovia media establish- Liberian civil war can be found in the activities of ment comprising newspapers like the Plain Talk, the Inter-faith Mediation Committee (IFMC) an the Liberia Age, the Inquirer and the Foto Vision. amalgamation of the Liberia Council of Churches These newspapers articulated concerns about the (LCC) and the National Muslim Council of Liberia unfolding peace process, reflecting anti-warring (NMCL). The IFMC held the first consultations faction sentiments. The ‘Greater Liberia’ media Executive Summary 1 “THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND PEACEBUILDING IN LIBERIA” establishment, represented by the private media Women’s Organizations network of Charles Taylor known as the Liberia The campaign by women’s groups for reform of Communication Network (LCN), functioned chiefly customary law on inheritance, spearheaded by as the propaganda arm of Taylor’s National the Association of Female Lawyers in Liberia Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) faction. (AFFEL), has resulted in a proposed bill, which was sent to Liberia’s National Legislature and is Civil Society in the Post-1997 Period still pending passage. The women’s lobby has also helped pass a law creating a Ministry of • The three main tasks faced by civil society Gender Development. Women’s groups such as included: supporting the process of peacebuilding, the LWI and the Liberian Women Pe a c e national reconciliation and democratization. Network have also participated in peace missions, joining their counterparts from Guinea and Sierra Leone as part of the Mano • Despite Liberia’s notorious history of government River Women’s Peace Network to promote repression, the country’s civil war provided some peace in the Mano River basin. useful lessons about the power of advocacy and collective action. Civil society was prepared, with Religious Community the end of the war in 1996, to seize the opportu- One of the oldest, most consistently influential nity to expand its democratic space in peacetime. civil society voices in Liberia is the religious There are now over a dozen human rights organi- community – comprising both Christian and zations, pro-democracy and women’s groups, and Islamic faiths. Liberia’s religious community development-oriented NGOs in Liberia: These has been at the vanguard in the struggle for organizations include human rights, media, peace and social justice. Liberia’s religious women’s, religious and student groups whose community attracts a huge following swelled activities are briefly summarized below.
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