I hope you have a happy holiday, and hey, be safe out there….watch your steps, I am sure there are still patches of ice on the sidewalks and streets….

Happy Holidays to you and yours, Tracey.

You have thrown out a challenge, I think, to other readers to try to think of solutions in the process of reconstruction. I will be interested to hear what others say also.

Bnker – enjoy your time in Dakar. I liked your description of the church groups singing in the street. You did miss the snow here on the east coast in the US — on Saturday night in New York the city was literally blanketed with fresh snow. Horridly cold during the storm — but it was still beautiful.

Best,
Tracey

Frankly, there many Liberians both at home and abroad who are trained in various disciplines, some of which have already returned home from the “Diaspora”. Others are still on the fence, waiting and watching and still not convinced that Liberia is safe for them and their families. While they are contemplating the move, others are concerned family safety, educational system for their children, health facilities and life insurance. Yet, others are faced with the dilemma of leaving their families and working in Liberia, a thought that is unbearable for some. Still, others are willing to contribute through the private sectors, and some education. I former schoolmate who is a coastal and environmental engineer with the US Navy volunteered his service to Liberia. I personally have donated over 100 thesauruses to two universities (just in case others are wondering if they were donated books, no I purchased and shipped them to Liberia). We (Liberians), as I mentioned in one of my threads have a moral responsibility to this nation. There are many Liberians who refuse to become US citizens because they still believe in a better Liberia. I know a gentleman who has been in the US for over 30 years and refuses to change allegiance.

We have people who are willing, but the environment is still not considered stable (the troublemakers many of which still walk freely and are called, “honorable”. I remembered on my first trip to Liberia after many years, it was depressing. We made no progress, we literally digressed. I was offered a position and refused. I spoke to my wife who was in the States and she asked, how I liked being back, I told her I wanted to leave and never return. Thank goodness, I had a change of heart. On each of my trips I studied and researched, and learned new things and opportunities about Liberia; I love her more as the days expire. Some might think I am delusional. I have stated that I am a private sector advocate, and I have done researches on the Liberian banking sector and completing another on private sector investment. Further, I have done proposal for inventory management system of this government. However, I also believe in transferring knowledge to others. That’s how we move forward.

These are bnker’s approach, however there are many avenues that have been explored and needs more consideration. I support any effort. We are a nation of talented, gifted people. I am of the opinion, that unless nurtured and cultivated, the full potential will never be released and the gifts will eventually die. We cannot afford that. There needs to be a marriage btw those who are more exposed and experience to discover talents and invest it and those hungry and thirst of knowledge and expertise in all facets of Liberia’s national advancement.

While we stress on Liberians involvement, we cannot ignore government’s role in securing our future. I listed some of the concerns for that Liberians have and in other threads mentioned some of the concern that investors have. Ironically, they are the exactly or close to the same concern that Liberians have, security, the law and opportunities. There are millions of dollars in Liberia for the rise of the private sector, some are loans, and others are grants. One of the problems with the lending system rates are still high (14.2% down from 18%, source CBL), terms are unreasonable and many times borrowers do not have the collateral; consequently, the rise and expansion of the private sector is crippled, thus employment. Further, Liberia’s unemployment is at 85% (Index mundi). Research shows a strong correlation between high unemployment, poverty and strife (well, we’ve seen all of that in our little country). Our foreign investments thus far have not yielded jobs (promised) or released stresses of the unemployment figures (partly due to the current global crisis). I am also of the conviction that because of our dire state for investments, proper review of financial strength (ratio analysis) of some investors could have been better scrutinized. The private sector will provide jobs; this is a long term project not immediate. Currently, Eighty percent of all businesses in Liberia are informal and the formalized businesses are male dominated; this is not fair to women entrepreneurial. Most don’t realize that defaults on loans are much lower for women than men. The disproportionate ratio could signal discrimination in our banking sector. Without going to far, my research provides solutions. But, it is government’s and it’s business partners role to provide the atmosphere and institutions to encourage people to return home and participate in nation building, albeit in the private or public sectors or education. Thus far, this government has failed to fully engage these aspects.

We all have a moral responsibility to our country. I hear people complain and bash, yet, they offer no solutions. Finding problems with a system is good, but providing solution is better.

Though, I am a fan of this govt, where there are lapses, its only fair to make them known.

It prompts me to ask, perhaps as an extension of the question that you asked a few days ago that Jose rightly referred to as “brilliant” — though we usually think of reconstruction efforts as a project of governments and donor states, can we reframe our points of reference? That is, are there ways that individuals in the Liberian diaspora (and/or others, including non-Liberians) can help promote reconstruction in Liberia, including through this kind of effort that you have outlined in your comment (eg scholarships or other forms of opportunities or assistance for Liberian law students or young legal professionals, for instance, or for those who are in or want to go into the financial industry/private sector like yourself)? I am sure people in this forum would have many great ideas about how this can/whether this should happen (and indeed, can shed light on efforts that are already happening at the individual level in Liberia on this front). It also seems the TRC discussions actually provide a good jumping-off point for discussions of this sort to be taking place informally in forums such as this, even as the formal recommendations are being discussed by the parliament in the new year?

In any case, thanks for sparking this conversation, Bnker, and creating space for us to approach this issue and these ideas of reconstruction, including the domestic criminal justice sphere, from different angles.

Best,
Tracey

As you rightfully included the views of those who think that resources for the war crime courts in Liberia would be expensive and funding could be redirected to national development. Today in the development arena, monies for projects are exclusively for those purpose. For example, you have the war crime court of Sierra Leone, financial resouces for this court comes from donor nations or mostly from donor nations and not the SL government, am I correct? Therefore, donor and other institutions will have funds only for those purpose and not to be redirected for other projects. At times some of the resouces have come in form of experts. For example the American Bar Association (ABA) have legal experts in Liberia provding technical assistance for the legal profession. They are not to be used for other purposes. During one of my research, I emailed a member of the ABA in Liberia about some legal issue with business in Liberia. While the individual directed me to the proper resource, the person clearly stated that my question was not within their scope of responsibility. My point is this, resource for a court, say for to prosecute war crimes in Liberia will not be funneled or redirected. I am not saying I have full confidence in the GOL, but the donors will ensure that their tax dollars go toward the allocated venture.

Further, I don’t believe in a nation of handouts, Liberia is a wealthy nation, but we lack proper resource manangement and financial oversight. We shouldn’t be living off handouts, they eventually expire. There is a Ghanian saying, “give me a fish and you feed me for the day; show me to fish and you feed me for life”. Rather than financial resources, we need technical assistance, scholarships. For example, I have a cousin who works for BHP. He was recently granted a scholarship by the Australian govt, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These are the assistance that Liberia need…that’s thinking long term.

I however agree with the premise that we need to strengthen our legal system for all crimes. Though I support this govt (Ellen Johnson’s), I am also in full support of prosecuting those who hands were caught in the “cookie jar”. Unchecked corruption gave rise to the war. Unless the “nip it in the bud”, we might be heading down a slippery slope. We would show the world that we’ve learned nothing. Then those innocent 250,000 civilians would have died FOR NOTHING! One would think that I lost my family from my strong advocacy stance, no! Those who lost their lives are no less important than my father or mother (who are both very much alive and well).

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your analysis on this with us. It seems even just from an economic perspective, there are potentially significant benefits to pursuing prosecutions.

In terms of pitfalls, I have heard one economic and technical argument against the creation of hybrid courts in other countries — that is, a fear exists that the investment of money into a hybrid court (which is expensive) may take away money and resources from the national courts which are in dire need of money, attention and resources, particularly in the aftermath of war. I agree that is a valid fear. However, I also think that is one that can be addressed, at least partially, if the concept of legacy (that is, crudely put, the idea that the national legal system should tangibly benefit in the short and long-term from the existence of a hybrid court in the country – but in the process, also benefits the hybrid court itself) is effectively factored in to the planning and ongoing operation of any hybrid court. The Special Court for Sierra Leone, for example, made a number of legacy-related efforts during its lifespan, but this was an unknown and unchartered concept when the Special Court started — much more could be done if the notion of legacy is integrated into the planning and operations of a new hybrid court from the start. This includes efforts such as requiring hybrid court staff to give trainings in international laws and procedures for national system lawyers (and as was the case in the Special Court, training for other court staff too, such as translators in techniques such as simultaneous translations which met international standards; or training for people from the registries of the national courts in international standards of file and case management techniques; or prison guards from the national prisons who, like at the Special Court, rotated through the Special Court’s detention facility to be trained in international standards of detaining indictees and ensuring their rights as accused or convicted persons are respected); ensuring that Liberian prosecutors and defense attorneys who work on criminal matters domestically have the opportunity to also work at the hybrid court, so that at the end of their tenure, they can return to the national system with a different set of skills and knowledge from working on international criminal law trials (while also bringing domestic knowledge of laws, procedures and context to benefit the hybrid court); and that the staff and judges at the hybrid court both (1) teach classes in international criminal law and procedure to national university law students and (2) regularly exchanged ideas and practices, as well as regularly discussed legal issues with the national bar association and judges, so both the hybrid court and the national system could benefit from the mutual exchange of ideas and respective expertise. These are just a few examples, and indeed there are many things to factor in when thinking through potential legacy efforts, including implementation and lasting impact. One issue is the need to think through ways to create meaningful (economic and possibly other) incentives for national staff at hybrid tribunals to go back to benefit the national system after they have finished work at the hybrid court — in the case of the Special Court, for example, a number of Sierra Leonean translators told me that they wanted to go and work for international NGOs or the UN when they finished at the Special Court because they now had the skills and experience to meet international standards, and the salaries were much better with the UN or international NGOs than in the national legal system in Sierra Leone. If this happens, then the hybrid court will have unintentionally operated to direct well trained national staff away from the national system, not just for the years that they worked at the hybrid court, but potentially for the years afterwards (though perhaps these staff may eventually return to the national system years down the track). Finding ways to make a return to the national legal system as attractive as possible should also be part of the planning and implementation of a legacy program at a hybrid court. In any case, this is an issue that is clearly very challenging for any court planners to think through, and will require a lot of effort to be done really well. But that should not deter anyone from trying…….

Best,
Tracey