{"id":21986,"date":"2022-08-23T15:50:13","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T15:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre"},"modified":"2022-08-23T16:21:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T16:21:02","slug":"us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre","title":{"rendered":"US Federal Court Awards Damages to Liberian Victims of Lutheran Church Massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>On August 16, a federal court in the US State of Pennsylvania issued a historic damages award totaling US$84 million to four victims of the Lutheran Church Massacre, one of the deadliest attacks on civilians during the Liberian Civil Wars. In determining this award, the magistrate judge made clear the egregiousness and brutality of the Massacre.<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s ruling on damages follows a September 2021 decision holding Col. Moses Thomas responsible for the war crimes, crimes against humanity, extrajudicial killing, attempted extrajudicial killing, and torture that took place during the Massacre. Thomas, formerly a resident of Pennsylvania, has now returned to Liberia.<\/p>\n

\u201cA U.S. court has made clear Thomas\u2019s responsibility, yet he continues to live freely in Liberia,\u201d says Ela Matthews, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA). \u201cLiberia has an opportunity to see that he is prosecuted for his crimes. Liberia must act and ensure the Defendant is fully brought to justice for his actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The case was brought in 2018 by four survivors of the massacre \u2013 Jane W, John X, John Y, and John Z \u2013 against Moses Thomas, a former commander of the Armed Forces of Liberia. The survivors, represented by CJA and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP with support from the Global Justice and Research Project, submitted nearly 2,000 pages of evidence arguing that Thomas commanded an elite special forces unit in the massacre of 600 civilians in a Red Cross shelter at St. Peter\u2019s Lutheran Church in Monrovia, Liberia during the country\u2019s first civil war in July 1990.<\/p>\n

On September 15, 2021, in a detailed 51-page decision, the court found Col. Moses Thomas responsible for the massacre \u2013 the first time any member of the Armed Forces of Liberia had ever been held accountable for abuses committed during the Liberian Civil Wars. Wednesday\u2019s decision ordered Thomas to pay each survivor US$6 million in compensatory damages and US$15 million in punitive damages.<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision emphasized the importance of ensuring that the United States is not a safe haven for torturers and death squad leaders \u2013 pointing out that Thomas had lived freely in the U.S. for approximately 19 years before fleeing back to Liberia less than two years after this case was brought. The decision also expressly recognizes that even though this was one of the worst single episodes of the Liberian Civil Wars, Thomas has never been criminally prosecuted for leading the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis judgment by a US court is an important milestone in our clients\u2019 quest for accountability, but it is important to remember that it is not enough. Liberia has an obligation under international law to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the Lutheran Church Massacre,\u201d said Catherine Amirfar, partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. \u201cDespite recommendations from Liberia\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission over a decade ago calling for an investigation, Liberia has taken no steps to hold a single perpetrator of the Massacre accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The survivors\u2019 statements in the case emphasize the importance of accountability and how Liberia has failed them. John Y \u2013 who, like all the plaintiffs in this case, filed under pseudonym \u2013 said: \u201cEach time I recall these events or see the Lutheran Church, I have bad memories. I can\u2019t escape the trauma. No one was held accountable, even though they devastated our lives.\u201d Ongoing impunity for the Massacre has meant that they live in fear of violent retribution for seeking accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very difficult for me to remember and speak about these events, because it makes me feel terrible,\u201d said John Z. \u201cBut I joined this case and am speaking out now because I know that what Moses Thomas did was wrong, and I want to bring him to justice. I want him to be held accountable for what he did to me and so many others at the Lutheran Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Liberia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. On August 16, a federal court in the US State of Pennsylvania issued a historic damages award totaling US$84 million to four victims of the Lutheran Church Massacre, one of the deadliest attacks on civilians during the Liberian Civil Wars. In determining this award, the magistrate judge made clear the egregiousness and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":21985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-21986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-liberia","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"\nUS Federal Court Awards Damages to Liberian Victims of Lutheran Church Massacre - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On August 16, a federal court in the US State of Pennsylvania issued a historic damages award totaling US$84 million to ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Federal Court Awards Damages to Liberian Victims of Lutheran Church Massacre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On August 16, a federal court in the US State of Pennsylvania issued a historic damages award totaling US$84 million to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Liberia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-23T15:50:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-23T16:21:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_4-6304fe55eed06.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"US Federal Court Awards Damages to Liberian Victims of Lutheran Church Massacre\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-23T15:50:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-23T16:21:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre\"},\"wordCount\":659,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_4-6304fe55eed06.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Liberia\",\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-federal-court-awards-damages-to-liberian-victims-of-lutheran-church-massacre\",\"name\":\"US Federal Court Awards Damages to Liberian Victims of Lutheran Church Massacre - 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