Africa-Press – Liberia. Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia at a national transitional justice stakeholders’ meeting. Credit: Anthony Stephens/New Narratives.
The Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court has formally submitted a roadmap for the country’s transitional justice process, including proposed dates for the start of the courts to President Boakai.
The National Anti-Corruption Court and the War and Economic Crimes Court are expected to begin full operations in November 2026 and 2027, respectively.
President Boakai is expected to launch the national outreach program next week.
The Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia has formally submitted a national roadmap for the country’s transitional justice process to President Joseph Boakai, a move experts say is a key step toward long-delayed accountability for war-era atrocities and systemic corruption.
Among the important new information in the 36-page document, which has been anxiously anticipated by war court campaigners, are the proposed start dates for the two courts: the National Anti-Corruption Court, projected to be “fully operational by November 2026,” and the War and Economic Crimes Court, expected to begin operations a year later, in November 2027.
Next week, President Boakai is expected to launch a national outreach strategy – a key element of the roadmap aimed at engaging citizens and stakeholders in the process.
Campaigners have welcomed the roadmap but note that it comes as the Office is still waiting for $2 million in funding promised by the President in May this year. With a big reduction in aid from Liberia’s traditional donor countries like the U.S. and Sweden, there has been increasing pressure on the Liberian government to fund the court itself.
“The roadmap is good,” said Hassan Bility, director of the Global Justice and Research Project, which, together with its Swiss partner Civitas Maxima, has been documenting crimes committed during Liberia’s civil wars. “But the most important thing now is to fund the court. I would like to call on President Joseph Boakai to personally monitor the progress of the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court. This will be one of his legacies.”
This week, with funding from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office is holding a three-day workshop with national anti-graft institutions on Liberia’s anti-corruption processes. The gathering, attended by representatives of the international community, is the first in a series of consultations the Office says are necessary to establish the courts.
Consultations are also underway with key stakeholders, including court advocates, the Liberian National Bar Association, and the United Nations, on the formulation of the draft bill to pass the anti-corruption court into law. Once finalized, the bill will be submitted to President Boakai in September before submitted to the Legislature to begin its passage it into law.
Although a 2024 perception index by Transparency International said Liberia had made “marginal progress” in fighting corruption, it said “impunity for corruption remains high.” Corruption was one of the many reasons for the country’s civil conflict according to Human Rights Watch. While post-war presidents, including Boakai, have suspended, investigated and prosecuted individuals accused of corruption, convictions have been rare.
Liberia does not have a standalone court for corruption. All corruption cases are tried in Criminal Court “C,” which in addition to financial crimes, has jurisdiction over cases involving narcotic drugs, theft of property, burglary, and armed robbery among others. But the court’s crowded docket has affected the fast-tracking of corruption cases, an issue experts say delays accountability and fuels impunity.
The push for a special anti-corruption court has taken a long road. Should it establish such a court, Liberia will be joining other countries including Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, Senegal, Malawi and neighboring Sierra Leone among others, according to U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, a global anti-corruption hub. The Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission is one of many entities pressing the Legislature to pass a bill establishing the court. If the draft bill from the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court is submitted, it would the second bill before lawmakers seeking to create Liberia’s first specialized court for corruption cases. Experts say this underscores the urgency for the court. In a recent exclusive interview with FrontPage Africa, Leymah Gbowee, a leading Liberian peace activist who won a Noble Peace Prize, also echoed that view.
“Impunity has taken a glorious seat in this nation,” she said. A towering figure in Liberia’s advocacy for justice, peace and democracy, Gbowee led a non-violent women movement that helped compel warring factions to sign a peace agreement that ended the country’s second civil war nearly 22 years ago. “Yes, there are people who took guns and killed us, but there are also people using their pens and bank accounts to murder thousands by denying them basic needs. It is a serious matter that people come to government with nothing. In less than a year, they have built mansions for themselves. Everyone sees government as a place to get rich.”
The Special War and Economic Crimes Court will be established and fully operational exactly one year after the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Court, according to the newly submitted roadmap. But the document said both courts will cease hearing trials by 2031. The roadmap indicates that once the war crimes court completes its primary mandate, it will transition “from active court operations to a residual mechanism to address remaining functions.”
“The courts will also adopt, amongst others, a prosecution strategy, a gender strategy and relevant implementation plans,” the document said. “It is envisaged that the Government of Liberia will prioritize this home-grown initiative as a historic step in its overall peace building and sustainability program.”
One element of the roadmap that has drawn criticism is its plan to take Jallah Barbu, executive director of the Office, and his team, to conduct study tours to many countries including The Gambia, Rwanda, and the Central African Republic, in order to draw lessons from other countries with similar ad hoc criminal tribunals or mechanisms.
This has attracted criticism and concern from advocates, given the limited donor funding for Liberia’s transitional justice process. Bility said tours were necessary, but they should be limited. “Because of the current financial situation of the court, a three man-team, led by Barbu, is perfect for such tour. Visits to Sierra Leone will be good because its crimes mirror Liberia’s,” said Bility. “Sierra Leone was one of the countries that suffered the extra-territorial exportation of Liberia’s wars. Their experience can be very useful.”
With dwindling donor funding, as European attention shifts toward supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, experts say international financing for Liberia’s courts will be limited. With the United States cutting nearly all foreign aid and Mark Toner, the retiring Ambassador, telling FrontPage/New Narratives that there would be no immediate U.S. funding for the courts, and shrinking budgets from the European Union and Sweden, it is unlikely there will be much international funding for the courts. Sweden is currently funding the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to support the Office.
Although Boakai reaffirmed his commitment to criminal accountability for wartime atrocities at a recent state-sponsored healing and reconciliation program, Barbu has repeatedly complained about the lack of funds to operate. He said no funding has been made available to the Office since January forcing staff to work without pay. This has raised questions among advocates about Boakai’s sincerity in pursuing the process. Gbowee urged the government to provide its own funding for the courts.
“If let’s say, for example, the budget for the court is $US5 million, let the government put $US3 down,” said Gbowee.
Aaron Weah, another Liberian transitional justice expert, echoed Gbowee’s view.
“International partners are very clear that until we can see the Liberian government making a substantial contribution, we are not going to give our resources,” said Weah in a recent interview before the roadmap was released. “And I think that’s fair.”
Despite ongoing discussions about establishing the courts, experts say successful prosecutions will depend largely on the quality of evidence presented by prosecutors at trial. To address this challenge, the roadmap proposes the creation of an Independent Investigation Unit. According to the document, the Unit would be headed by a Chief Investigator, who would be responsible for investigating and preserving evidence to support future prosecutions of serious human rights violations and war crimes committed in Liberia between 1979 and 2003.
The Chief Investigator would be appointed by the president, based on recommendations from a special panel comprising representatives from the government, ECOWAS, the African Union, the United Nations, the Liberian National Bar Association, Liberian civil society organizations, and international experts. The roadmap notes that representatives of donor organizations may also be considered for inclusion on the panel. The roadmap states that the Unit will be funded through legislative appropriations. And will oversee evidence gathering evidence gathering.
The Office acknowledged that “the existence of very little national capacity represents a critical expertise gap directly impacting Liberia’s ability to fulfill its accountability obligations.” It noted that these challenges are exacerbated by the deterioration of evidence, the deaths of witnesses, and failing memories, all of which hamper investigations and admissibility of evidence in court.
To address this, the roadmap proposes the establishment of a so-called “Pioneer Accountability Program” to assist the Unit. At least 50 investigators would receive training in witness protection, trauma-informed and gender-sensitive strategies, evidence sources from the Liberian conflicts.
The roadmap named Bility’s organization as one of several groups the Office plans to work with for capacity-building in the investigation and prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Other organizations identified include the California-based Center for Justice and Accountability, the Mano River Union, ECOWAS, the African Union, the European Union, and the Liberian National Bar Association.
“We are prepared to assist the Court with our experience and expertise in training future investigators; an expertise that will be beneficial and useful to the investigations that lie ahead,” said Bility by WhatsApp messages. “I’m honored to have been recognized by the Barbu-led Court, because of our expertise, and we do promise to provide the best in this regard. It’s been more than 30 years now since the fire-breathing and jack boot wearing dictators unjustifiably imposed those bush and banditry wars on Liberians for their own selfish and political gains.”
Hassan Bility at a New Narratives’ training for journalists in transitional justice in February in Bong County.
The roadmap states that between June and August, the Office will identify a “Curriculum Design Consultant” and select another group of 20 individuals for an initial consultation on training needs. This group will help establish a competency baseline and assist in designing relevant curriculum items, it said.
By October, training is expected to begin, facilitated by experts from ECOWAS-Interpol, the UN Peacebuilding Fund in The Gambia, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, and the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation.
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