Photo is from: Liberia TRC
Its the first of its kind event: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of LIberia is coming to St. Paul, Minnesota to hear victim testimony from the diaspora community. Starting Tuesday and stretching through Saturday (June 10- June 14) the commission is planning on hearing testimony from victims of the violent civil struggle that Liberia experienced from the 1970s through 2003.
The violence that escalated in the 1990s led to the decimation and displacing of much of the population as well as destroying the economy and polarizing the country forcing the international community to intervene. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia was thus enacted on May 12, 2005 to give a voice to the victims of both sides of this conflict. What is unique about this commission is that, in addition to holding public hearings in Liberia, they are opening up hearings in the US to anyone that lived in Liberia from 1979 to 2003, thus allowing the diaspora community to include their voices in the testimony.
The public hearings are being hosted by the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and will be held at Hamline University. The schedule of events is posted on the Advocates for Human Rights website. Witnesses and victims will be able to testify on the human rights abuses they experienced during the violence in Liberia as well as their experiences as refugees. They can also make recommendations to the TRC which is mandated to make binding recommendations to the government of Liberia. The Advocates for Human Rights say that they are expecting 1,000- 2,000 people to testify.
New Tactics has a number of resources involving truth and reconciliation commissions:
- I'll Walk Beside You: a tactical notebook on victim accompaniment during the South African TRC;
- Public Audiences: a tactical notebook on Peru's TRC; and
- Truth and the Reconciliation Process: an online dialogue about Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
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My Time at the Liberian TRC in Minnesota
To preface this, I have only a cursory knowledge of what a TRC is. I've read some of the testimonies from the Peru TRC, I've watched a documentary on those held in South Africa, and I know a little about the ongoing process in Cambodia and Chilé. My knowledge of Liberia is very limited other than its American inception as a home for freed slaves back in the 1840's. The contemporary usefulness of that can only be overstated, but I came to TRC at Hamline to learn.
My expectations were rather dower. From the other testimonies I'd encountered, this could be a heart wrenching experience that lives with me for weeks. First hand accounts of brutality are often devastating to ones psyche and foundational assumptions about humanity. I was working in the CVT satellite office earlier in the morning and missed the opening events and presentations that morning and instead attended the afternoon event. What surprised me was how light hearted the affair was. Foremost, it was extremely professional and the commission was well conducted; expectations were met there. But the first testimony was not what I expected at all.
Bennie D. Warner, former Vice President of Liberia, who was testifying when I was there, was jovial and amiable. He began by swearing in on the Bible and Quran at the same time. I thought that funny and unusual, but was it contemptuous of the formality? Probably not though, as he is currently a Methodist minister. After giving details such as his name, vocation, when he arrived in America, date of birth, and a few jokes he was given the floor and began. What followed was a very long oral autobiography of his life. He talked about his early childhood, finding God with missionaries, and his time spent studying in America. A coworker mentioned that is was common for people to give an ontology of themselves, to explain themselves starting at the beginning to show how and why what they have become or have done.
He interacted with the audience and the commissioners throughout his speech, making jokes and complimenting the poise and skill of the commissioners and what I interpreted as minor flirting. He then called for a day of remembrance for the "200,000" (in quotations because the exact number is disputed) that have died from the conflict as well as constructing monuments in their honor. He continued with talking about his selection as Vice President and his work on developing the nation. He seemed to have done a lot christenings for new factories or infrastructure that was built, but he settled on the topic of rice and agriculture for about 20 minutes. This led to the rice riot which seems to be one of the beginning points of the coup that took place in 1980. A glance at Wikipedia gave some different facts/interpretations of this part of the testimony, specifically as to whether the president ordered rioters to be shot or not.
Here's where that History degree I earned pops up. On one hand, Mr. Warner is a primary source for this event and described the President's facial features during this time, something I doubt the Wikipedia author could do. At the same time though, he has a vested interest in his image and interpretation of events. This might vary his remembrance of events especially because they occurred almost 30 years ago. Confabulation is a psychological term for when the mind invents a memory, but it is remembered as actually happening. I'm not saying that he spouted a bunch of lies, but at perhaps the most important event culminating this entire time period, it would be disservice to everyone if we weren't analytical. One important policy is to believe the stories of those who choose to share them which is very important. But if two stories conflict, we can't believe both of them.
As I mentioned before, my knowledge of Liberia is very limited so I had to take most of what he said with scrutinized face value. The people sitting in front of me however did not. They smirked and sneered at some assertions and were taking copious amounts of notes throughout his presentation. I was not able to stay for the entire event and had to leave before the committee questioned him so I don't know how that turned out. All I have is the knowledge I have from my History degree. I've done a lot of work with historical memory and oral history so I've developed plenty of filters of interpretation. I'd have to do more research and look into the other hearings for a deeper understanding to draw better conclusions. But for now, it was an interesting look into the process that I recommend for anyone afforded this unique and wonderful opportunity to attend TRC hearings in Minnesota.