{"id":89592,"date":"2026-04-17T14:11:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court"},"modified":"2026-04-17T14:53:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:53:25","slug":"liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court","title":{"rendered":"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atrocities committed during its civil war, Dr. Cllr. Jallah A. Barbu of the Office for the Establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court (OWECC-L) told a gathering of scholars, human rights advocates, and transitional justice experts.<\/p>\n

Barbu, executive director of OWECC-L, spoke Thursday during events marking the 30th anniversary of South Africa\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He said Liberia is at a decisive moment in its push to establish a War and Economic Crimes Court (WECC). \u201cThe Liberian TRC provided truth, but the WECC must deliver justice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said that although Liberia\u2019s TRC investigated and documented abuses and recommended a war crimes court in its final report, many recommendations have not been implemented\u2014leaving what he described as \u201ctruth without accountability\u201d and reinforcing a culture of impunity.<\/p>\n

Barbu contrasted Liberia\u2019s experience with South Africa\u2019s, saying Liberia\u2019s process did not create a workable amnesty-for-truth framework and left a gap between truth-telling and prosecutions\u2014an issue he said is driving the current push for the WECC.<\/p>\n

He said the proposed court would be a hybrid tribunal, combining domestic and international law, with jurisdiction over both war crimes and economic crimes linked to the conflict.<\/p>\n

Barbu said the WECC would align Liberia with international criminal justice norms, curb elite impunity and help restore public confidence in the rule of law.<\/p>\n

He cited what he called strong political will behind the initiative, including legislative resolutions and executive orders by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai. He said preparatory structures, including OWECC-L, are already in place and that international partners are providing technical support.<\/p>\n

Barbu pointed to Sierra Leone\u2019s hybrid accountability model as a lesson for Liberia, noting it prosecuted senior perpetrators, including former Liberian President Charles Taylor. \u201cNo one is above the law,\u201d he said, arguing that political commitment and international backing are essential.<\/p>\n

He said the effort still faces hurdles, including political resistance from elites who could be implicated, limited resources, weak witness protection and the need to balance public expectations with a realistic prosecutorial scope. \u201cWithout accountability, reconciliation remains incomplete,\u201d Barbu said.<\/p>\n

He urged international partners to support the process. \u201cThe real question is no longer whether Liberia should pursue accountability but whether it can afford not to,\u201d Barbu said.<\/p>\n

Enabling legislation for the WECC is under review and is expected to reach the Legislature soon, he said, calling the moment a \u201chistoric crossroads\u201d for the country.<\/p>\n

If successful, the court would help transform Liberia from a case of delayed accountability into what Barbu called a model of corrective transitional justice for Africa and beyond. -Dispatch<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Liberia. CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atrocities committed during its civil war, Dr. Cllr. Jallah A. Barbu of the Office for the Establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court (OWECC-L) told a gathering of scholars, human rights advocates, and transitional […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-89592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"\nLiberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atroc ...\" \/>\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\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atroc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court\" \/>\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=\"2026-04-17T14:11:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T14:53:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\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\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-17T14:11:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T14:53:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court\"},\"wordCount\":465,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court\",\"name\":\"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court - Liberia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-17T14:11:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T14:53:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atroc ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":467,\"caption\":\"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/\",\"name\":\"Liberia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court - Liberia","description":"CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atroc ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court","og_description":"CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atroc ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court","og_site_name":"Liberia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-17T14:11:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-17T14:53:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court","datePublished":"2026-04-17T14:11:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T14:53:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court"},"wordCount":465,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg","keywords":["Liberia"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court","name":"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court - Liberia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-17T14:11:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T14:53:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 17, 2026 \u2014 Liberia cannot achieve lasting peace without criminal accountability for atroc ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2026\/04\/sm_1776424914.54502.jpg","width":720,"height":467,"caption":"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/liberia-moves-toward-war-economic-crimes-court#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Liberia Moves Toward War Economic Crimes Court"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/","name":"Liberia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89592"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89605,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89592\/revisions\/89605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}