Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai has initiated a landmark national reconciliation effort, marked by memorial services for two assassinated former presidents and a formal apology to victims of the country’s brutal civil wars. The initiative, described by the presidency as unprecedented, aims to confront the legacies of violence that have haunted the West African nation for decades.
The solemn ceremonies come more than 20 years after the end of Liberia’s devastating civil conflicts, which claimed approximately 200,000 lives and were marred by egregious human rights abuses, including massacres, sexual violence, and the widespread conscription of child soldiers.
Despite an executive order issued last year to establish a war crimes court, domestic prosecutions for atrocities committed during the wars have yet to begin—prompting renewed calls from rights groups for concrete action.
President Boakai delivered the government’s first public apology to war victims during an event in Monrovia on Saturday. He also declared July 5 an annual day of remembrance.
“To every victim of our civil conflict, to every family broken, to every dream shattered, we say: ‘We are sorry,’” he stated.
Leading up to the commemoration, Boakai attended a service in honor of President Samuel Doe, who seized power in a 1980 coup and was killed in 1990 by fighters loyal to warlord Prince Johnson—less than a year after civil war erupted. Johnson, who died last year, later became a senator and a political power broker, which critics cite as a symbol of Liberia’s enduring culture of impunity.
Boakai also participated in a recent reburial ceremony for President William Tolbert, who was overthrown and executed during the same 1980 coup. Thirteen of Tolbert’s cabinet members were publicly executed on a beach in Monrovia shortly afterward.
“It still hurts,” said Charlotte Stewart, whose father, former budget director Frank J. Stewart, was among those executed. “I really do believe that it will bring some closure.”
Calls for Justice
Although Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended prosecutions in a 2009 report—including the establishment of a special war crimes tribunal—no such trials have been held domestically.
President Boakai signed an executive order last year to set up a war crimes court, renewing the directive in April after its initial expiration.
Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima—a Geneva-based organization that has helped secure convictions of Liberian war criminals in international courts—welcomed Boakai’s apology but urged swifter action.
“It is great he is apologizing. Others before him did not do that and it is important for the victims and survivors,” Werner said. “But he should also ensure the office for the war crimes court gets the money it needs to function as soon as possible for the work to start in earnest, finally.”
Yvette Chesson Wureh, daughter of former Justice Minister Joseph Chesson who was killed during the 1980 coup, emphasized the need for Liberia to reckon with its past.
“Justice was denied. And with it, the principles of fairness and humanity that should define us as a people,” she said.
