SUMMARY
During the nonstate conflict with NPFL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia), LPC (Liberia Peace Council) also made use of one-sided violence against civilians. Two primary motives behind such use of force against civilians have been noted; the first being of an ethnic nature and the second an economic one.
LPC was mainly composed of ethnic Krahns, and opposed NPFL which was in turn constructed mainly along Gio and Mano ethnic lines. At the start of 1993 NPFL controlled most of the south-eastern province of Grand Geddeh which housed considerable numbers of Krahns. LPC at an early stage stated that the group was formed to protect these people, which it said the ULIMO (United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia) were not willing to do. As LPC then began to battle NPFL in these areas to ‘liberate’ them they made use of one-sided violence against civilians they deemed to be supportive of NPFL. This oftentimes simply meant targeting people of Gio and Mano ethnicity, but also other groups that were not Krahn.
Analysts have also pointed to a profit motive. Grand Geddeh (and surrounding counties) was rich in timber resources and rubber plantations, goods that could be illicitly smuggled or sold to accrue financial resources. Making use of one-sided violence against civilians was an effective way of scaring civilians away from these valuable areas in order to secure them for the organization. Profits could also be made through looting and stealing the property of civilians, which sometimes involved killing the rightful owners.
Other motives for violence against civilians can be found on the individual level. Some analysts view violence against civilians in the Liberian civil conflict also as a way of settling personal grudges with perceived enemies or wrong-doers, or the simple pursuit of personal power, in an anarchical environment of opportunity.
LPC first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1993, when one-sided violence during the year resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached by the end of December that year when attacks by the group had resulted in 53 deaths.
