This dyad belongs to the conflict Liberia: Government
Summary of conflict Liberia: Government
The conflict in Liberia originates from a past marked by inequalities between the indigenous majority and the ruling elite, toppled 1980 in a bloody coup. 1989 saw the eruption of the first of two main periods of conflict, made notorious for brutalities against civilians, widespread destruction, and the exploitation of Liberia's vast natural resources.
Elite domination and the origins of the conflict
In 1821, representatives of the American Colonisation Society (ACS) arrived on the West African coast looking to acquire land for the repatriation of former slaves that had been given their freedom. With support from the US, black settlers from the Americas were given the opportunity to return to Africa in a newly formed colony. An estimated 19 000 people of African origin chose to repatriate through the ACS in the few years that followed.
Liberia declared its independence in 1847, thus becoming the first republic of the African continent. It was also one of only a few African countries which have never been dominated by a foreign colonial power. The country nevertheless maintained a special relationship with the US and based the country's new constitution and its system of governance on the American model. Progressive influences from the US and Europe contributed to Liberia early on, developing a strong educational system, a tradition of free media, and several civil liberties. This early development was particularly unique in comparison with many of Liberia 's neighboring countries, which would continue to be controlled by European colonial powers for some time.
These freedoms and civil rights were not, however, evenly distributed among all those who lived in Liberia. The territory on which Liberia was created was already populated by indigenous peoples, and the arrival of the settlers brought significant changes to their way of life. As a whole, the settlers did not integrate into the African society, instead, they brought with them traditions and values that reflected the lifestyle in North America at the time, illustrated, for example, by the influx of Christian missionaries. Because of the former slaves' mixed heritage, they came to be called "Americo-Liberians," and could often be discerned from the indigenous populations through the slightly lighter color of their skin. In spite of only representing around 5% of Liberia 's total population, the minority elite governed Liberia from its founding, and the country more or less became a one-party state under the True Whig Party.
The indigenous populations were largely marginalized and excluded from all important aspects of the running of the state. There were even instances of enslavement reported. Significant inequalities have shaped Liberian society since and have contributed to tension between various groups. This came to be an important dimension in the later emergence of armed conflict in Liberia.
Samuel Doe and the 1980 military coup
Economic difficulties in the 1970s brought tension between Liberian population groups to the surface. The elite-dominated government was based on a system of patronage, with leaders dispensing favors and positions to relatives and friends. Leaders amassed great fortunes by extracting the wealth of Liberia 's natural resources such as rubber, iron ore, and diamonds, whilst the general population lived in poverty. The ruling True Whig Party and the president at the time, William Tolbert, faced unprecedented political opposition.
The developments that led to a shift of power in Liberia are said to have been set in motion by the riots of April 1979. A political proposal to significantly raise the cost of rice, Liberia 's staple food, caused violent demonstrations in Monrovia. The riots led to a number of deaths, as well as causing significant property damage, and triggered a period of unprecedented political activity in Liberia. In December 1979, the Tolbert administration legalized opposition parties, ending the monopoly of power held by the True Whig Party since the country's founding. But political progress was slow, and the discontentment with the sitting government continued to grow.
On the early morning of 12 April 1980, a group of 17 non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) staged an attack against the executive mansion, Liberia's presidential residence. They murdered President Tolbert and, following fighting around the mansion as well as in various other parts of Monrovia, seized power. The coup-leader, Master-Sergeant Samuel Doe, assumed the presidency and announced the formation of a civil-military cabinet. Doe claimed to have carried out the coup in order to liberate the masses from poverty and corruption and dubbed his junta, the Peoples Redemption Council. Doe's new government was the first in Liberia's history to be led by a member of an indigenous group, and among the population hopes for the future were high.
The circumstances for Liberians did not, however, improve during Doe's reign. Shortly after assuming power Doe banned all political parties, suspended the constitution, and instituted harsh military rule. As Doe was himself weary of being ousted in a military coup, he invested heavily in creating a military establishment patronized by his leadership and responded harshly to real or potential rivals in order to consolidate his power. He filled the ranks of the military and security establishment will members of his own Krahn tribe, and continued the tradition of extracting economic resources for the benefit of the elite. Dissidents and those considered political rivals frequently became the targets of harassment, and incidents of torture, disappearances, and even executions were reported to have taken place.
In the mid-1980s, under pressure from his main ally the US, Doe made certain moves to re-institute democracy. Doe's firm grip on power, however, severely compromised the political and electoral processes. When he lost the 1985 presidential election, for example, he simply hand-picked a new electoral committee, recounted the ballots and declared victory. In the late 1980s, the Liberian elite, mainly composed of Krahn and Americo-Liberians, were rich and powerful, whilst the rest of the population continued to live in poverty and an ever-shrinking economy. The harsh reign of the Krahn-dominated military and security forces also created resentment among Liberia's other tribes. Tribal tensions were further stoked when Doe, in retaliation for an attempted military coup by a Gio officer, massacred hundreds of members of the Gio and Mano tribes in Nimba County and Monrovia in late 1985.
The First Liberian Civil War
Not considering the violence connected with the 1980 coup, the conflict over government power in Liberia can be divided into two main phases. The first phase is the armed conflict between the (government of Liberia](/#/actor/79) and the NPFL and the INPFL faction, from 1989 to 1995, following which NPFL leader Charles Taylor became president. The second phase, from 2000 to 2003, saw Liberian President Charles Taylor fight against LURD and MODEL. The latter period was, in many ways, a continuation of the first phase of the conflict but fought under new group denominations.
On Christmas Eve of 1989, 100-200 rebels crossed the border from Côte d'Ivoire into Liberia's Nimba County. The National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) – composed mainly of members of the Gio and Mano tribes but led by Americo-Liberian Charles Taylor – claimed to represent a new opposition movement set on ousting Doe and re-instituting democracy. Taylor's conflict with Doe was also of a personal character. Having previously held a position in Doe's government, Taylor had been forced to flee the country following allegations that he had embezzled funds. During his time spent away from Liberia, Taylor had received training in Libya, whose leader Khaddafi sought to counter US objectives in West Africa. In the initial attack on Liberia, Taylor had the assistance of the government of Burkina Faso and the Ivorian President Félix Houphouet-Boigny, who also held a personal grudge against Doe ever since his daughter's husband had been murdered by Doe's men.
The NPFL offensive in Nimba County was met by unrestrained levels of violence by Doe's men, who murdered and raped civilians from the Gio and Mano tribes with impunity. As a consequence of these brutalities, many members of the affected groups opted to join or otherwise support NPFL forces, expanding the group's fighting-power significantly. Many children were also forcibly recruited into the NPFL. Recruits were given only rudimentary training and were frequently forced or motivated to fight with the help of alcohol and drugs. Before long, the NPFL 's forces were responding in kind, attacking and murdering civilians of the Krahn and Mandingo tribes (the Mandingo being branded as Krahn collaborators) throughout the country. Civilians made up a significant portion of those killed in the first phase of the Liberian civil war.
The rebel advance in the first half of 1990 was swift. Facing stiff resistance, the Liberian army (commonly referred to as the AFL; the Armed Forces of Liberia) soon degenerated into an organization of armed bandits, with only portions of the army remaining loyal to Doe. Members of the AFL began to split to create new armed factions, frequently on the basis of ethnic affiliation. Taylor's NPFL also suffered a split, resulting in the formation of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), led by Prince Johnson. By June 1990, Monrovia was under siege, but Doe refused to relinquish power. In September, Doe was apprehended, tortured, and subsequently killed by members of the INPFL.
In an attempt to halt the chaos, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) launched a regional peacekeeping mission in August 1990, named ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group). Composed of troops from neighboring countries and led by Nigeria, ECOMOG's main task quickly became to support the newly conceived interim government, which entailed engaging the NPFL and the INPFL in combat. As a result, the mission was accused of bias. The abbreviation for the deeply unpopular ECOMOG took on a new meaning in Liberian word of mouth - Every Car Or Moveable Object Gone – indicating the widespread perception that the troops were heavily involved in looting and theft.
ECOMOG nevertheless succeeded in preventing the NPFL from seizing Monrovia. Taylor instead established a "state" of his own in the territory he controlled, which was named "Greater Liberia." At one point making up around 90% of Liberia's total territory, "Greater Liberia" became the center of an enormous war-economy empire, from where Taylor sold and smuggled timber, iron ore, and diamonds. In 1991 Taylor expanded his empire into Sierra Leone 's diamond-rich territory, where he assisted Foday Sankoh in launching the Revolutionary United Fronts (RUF attack on the government of Sierra Leone.
Negotiations between the NPFL, the INPFL, ECOWAS and the Liberian interim government began as early as in 1990, and a number of peace agreements were signed in the period spanning from 1990 to 1992. The INPFL decided to enter into the peace process in relatively good faith, and disbanded in 1991. The NPFL was not as forthcoming; although the group engaged in the peace process and signed the agreements, it refused to implement them and join the broad-based transitional government as stipulated. Amongst other things, Taylor objected to the clause that heads of the warring factions would not be allowed to lead the interim government, at the time headed by Amos Sawyer. Taylor maintained a great degree of power and appeared to be unwilling to relinquish any part of his "Greater Liberia." This first peace process collapsed when Taylor launched "Operation Octopus" in October 1992, attempting yet again to seize Monrovia.
The disintegration of the Liberian army and the Doe government soon began to spawn new armed factions, opposed to Charles Taylor and his NPFL. The United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO ) – composed of Krahn and Mandingo politicians, soldiers and civilians – joined the ECOMOG and interim government alliance against the NPFL in mid-1991, attacking Taylor's territories from Guinea. Launched in response to the heavy onslaught, Taylor's military operation to gain control of Monrovia failed, but not before the heavy bombardment of the capital had caused widespread destruction and compelled ECOMOG to send in reinforcements. Facing continuous attacks on his "Greater Liberia" territory by ECOMOG and opposing faction forces, Taylor again opted for negotiations, which resumed in 1993.
The years during which negotiations took place were plagued by continuous fighting, increasing factionalism, and atrocities against civilians by the armed groups. In 1993 ULIMO, having become a very influential force since its 1991 inception, split into two factions; the ULIMO - J (Johnson faction) and the ULIMO - K (Kromah faction). The split was along ethnic lines, with the Johnson faction dominated by the Krahn and the Kromah faction representing mainly Mandingo.
Other armed factions also roamed the country, such as George Boley's Liberian Peace Council (LPC) and the Lofa Defence Force (LDF). All factions in Liberia used the war for economic gain, extracting iron ore, rubber, diamonds, and timber from the territory they seized. Looting, burning, rape, and murder were rampant, exacerbated by shifting alliances and changing territorial control. One of the Liberian conflicts more bizarre traits was the widespread belief in black magic, which made many combatants wear wigs, women's clothing, amulets, and trinkets for protection. Ritual cannibalism, with the objective of attaining the victims' strengths, was reported and corroborated.
A first breakthrough in the negotiations came with the Cotonou agreement, signed in July 1993, with the government, ULIMO and NPFL agreeing on a joint power-sharing government to rule until elections could be held. However, the NPFL 's refusal to disarm rendered the agreement a failure. The UN posted an observer mission to the country, the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), to assist in the peace process in 1993, and negotiations between the parties continued throughout 1994. The Akosombo agreement was signed in September 1994, in essence reaffirming the Cotonou accord but for some amendments. The Akosombo agreement also failed, and on the ground, the warring parties continued their scramble for power and control of the lucrative war economy. A corner was turned with the Abuja agreement in August 1995, signed by all the major Liberian warlords. A new Council of State was inaugurated in September 1995, composed of representatives of the most powerful factions.
Between 1993 and 1995, the period that negotiations had taken place, Taylor had again managed to strengthen his position. In anticipation of a successful peace process, ECOMOG had since late 1994 begun to scale down its presence in the country. In April 1996, Taylor launched an attack against its strongest opponent at the time, ULIMO – J, in Monrovia. Although ULIMO - J was not decisively beaten, Taylor was able to return to the negotiating table in a position of strength. Following years of negotiation efforts and failed agreements, the international community was losing patience with the warring parties. Under pressure, the warlords again assembled in Abuja in 1996, where a second agreement was signed. This agreement appeared to hold, and arrangements were made for national elections.
Taylor's presidency and the Second Liberian Civil War
In accordance with the Abuja agreement, elections were held in July 1997. Taylor had converted his NPFL into the National Patriotic Party (NPP) and swept to victory in both the parliamentary and presidential elections, brandishing the slogan "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him". The elections were deemed to be free and fair, but most observers have agreed that a majority of the votes for Taylor could be attributed to the common fear of a return to war if he lost. The election of the former warlord brought large-scale conflict to an end, but small-scale fighting soon resumed in several parts of the country.
In response to President Taylor's continued involvement in the affairs of neighboring states – such as by supporting Guinean rebels who sought to oust Guinean President Lansana Conté – the UN-imposed on Liberia an arms embargo and trade sanctions, as well as personal travel bans. Guinean President Conté, in turn, supported the establishment of an anti-Taylor faction on Guinean soil, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). LURD was in essence a reconstitution of the ULIMO - K, the Mandingo-dominated faction of ULIMO that opposed Taylors forces between 1991 and 1996. The dissidents were led by Sekou Conneh and had the stated goal of ousting Taylor. LURD attacked Lofa County in 1999, and the fighting escalated into an armed conflict in 2000. Taylor refused to negotiate with the rebels, and fighting raged from 2000 to 2002.
In 2003 the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) group joined the fray, also with the goal of ousting Taylor from the presidency. MODEL emerged as a splinter group from LURD, led first by Thomas Nimely and later by Benjamin Taylor. Just as in the earlier phase of Liberia's conflict over government power, the actors involved made use of child soldiers and carried out atrocities against civilians, oftentimes fuelled by drugs and alcohol. The rebels made rapid advances throughout 2003, with LURD approaching Monrovia and MODEL seizing Grand Geddeh in the southeast and pushing south. Monrovia soon came under siege by the rebel forces.
Negotiations began in 2003 under the auspices of ECOWAS and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia. Under military and diplomatic pressure, Charles Taylor stepped down as President of Liberia on 11 August, thus meeting one of the rebels' key demands. Taylor handed governmental power over to his Vice-President Moses Blah before leaving for exile in Nigeria. Under Moses Blah, a peace agreement with LURD and MODEL was signed one week later, stipulating a broad-based transitional government, new elections, and the restructuring of the armed forces. The parties also agreed to request the deployment to Liberia of a multinational peacekeeping force to preserve the peace.
The National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) was inaugurated on 14 October 2003 under President Gyude Bryant. Around the same time, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was deployed, with an initial authorized force of up to 15 000 military personnel. UNMIL's mandated tasks included assisting in the implementation of the ceasefire and peace agreements and providing support for security sector reform processes, such as in the restructuring of the Liberian police and armed forces. UNMIL also led the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Reintegration, and Rehabilitation (DDRR) process, in which more than 101 000 combatants registered for disarmament, and around 27 000 weapons were collected. An internal leadership struggle within LURD and riots on several occasions posed threats to the peace process. However, the 2003 peace agreement held and is considered the terminating point of the Liberian conflict.
Post-Conflict Liberia
As stipulated in the 2003 Accra peace agreement, elections were held in October 2005. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, "the Iron-Lady", defeated George Weah and became the first elected female head of state in Africa. Johnson-Sirleaf was inaugurated in January 2006, replacing the National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) in line with the provisions of the peace agreement that terminated the conflict. The needs in Liberia were undeniably great; many years of conflict had led to stalled development, and Liberia was considered one of the poorest countries in the world. During her first years in office, Johnson-Sirleaf was widely perceived to have brought about improvements for the country, for example, through taking a tough stance against corruption. President Johnson-Sirleaf also enjoyed a good reputation internationally, pleading successfully for monetary support and debt relief.
The controversial findings of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), have been a challenge for President Johnson-Sirleaf. The TRC findings became, after significant delays, operational in January 2008. Mandated to investigate gross human rights abuses and war crimes committed in Liberia between January 1979 and October 2003, the TRC conducted public hearings where victims and perpetrators gave testimony. These testimonies subsequently informed a series of recommendations for national reconciliation on behalf of the TRC. While it did not itself have the authority to prosecute suspected perpetrators, the TRC had the power to investigate and recommend cases for prosecution. More importantly, according to TRC officials, it was intended to serve as a forum to facilitate reconciliation and healing.
The TRC findings were submitted in a final report to parliament on 1 July 2009. Among the recommendations, the report suggested the prosecution of 200 people and provided a list of 52 individuals that, in their view, should be barred from all public offices for a period of 30 years. For her alleged failure to show remorse for supporting Charles Taylor in the past, President Johnson-Sirleaf was included on the latter list, supposed to be implemented at the end of her first presidential term in 2011, something which also has been delayed. While she later issued an official apology for her support for Taylor, the president's treatment of the situation was heavily criticized. Johnson-Sirleaf was awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize just four days before Presidential elections in the country. Elections that she won. New elections were held on 10 October 2017, no candidate received an absolute majority after the first round, leading to a presidential run-off between the two front-runners, Senator George Weah of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) and Joseph Boakai, Vice-President of Liberia and a member of the ruling Unity Party. The run-off was held on 26 December 2017, and three days later, George Manneh Weah was declared the winner. On 22 January 2018, the presidential power was transferred peacefully from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to George Manneh Weah.
While it is still too soon to definitively gauge the impact of the TRC report and its recommendations, reactions thus far have, generally speaking, been mixed. There is also said to be frustration at the lack of progress being made to implement the TRC's findings. The focus on the potential prosecution of well-known Liberian actors is said to have overshadowed other recommendations, such as the issue of reparations for victims of war crimes or the creation of a human rights commission.
Another important event in post-conflict Liberia was the trial against former Liberian president Charles Taylor. In March 2006, Taylor was arrested on the border between Cameroon and Nigeria, and extradited to The Hague to stand trial for his involvement in the Sierra Leone conflict, which took place between 1991 and 2000. Charges against Taylor included crimes against humanity, such as murder, rape and the recruitment of child soldiers, and war crimes, including massacres, extra-judicial killings, sexual violence, and economic crimes. The trial was within the auspices of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), but the case was transferred to the Hague due to security considerations. Taylor himself has denied the charges and claimed that he tried to mediate a peaceful settlement in the Sierra Leone conflict. July 2009 marked the start of Taylor's defense. He was found guilty in April 2012 of all eleven charges, including terror, murder, and rape. In May of 2012, Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) continued to retain a significant and stabilizing presence. While still deployed throughout Liberia, a process of phased mission drawdown and withdrawal of UNMIL troops was finalized on 30 March 2018.
