Liberia’s president, Joseph Boakai, issued a formal state apology to the victims of the country’s two civil wars between 1989 and 2003 on Saturday, during an official ceremony.
“To every victim of our civil wars, to every broken family, to every shattered dream, we say: we are sorry”, he said. “The State could have done more”, the president added.
An estimated 250 000 people died during the two conflicts, with many more wounded or psychologically broken by rape, massacres, or because they were mutilated or forced to be child soldiers.
While the apology is a step in the direction of reconciliation, Liberia’s leadership has long been criticised for failing to prosecute the perpetrators of potential war crimes.
Prosecutions have taken place in foreign tribunals, notably in Switzerland, France, Sweden and the United States, but none in Liberia.
In 2024, Liberia’s government, however, endorsed a vote to set up a long-awaited tribunal of its own. The main challenge in the process is the funding required for the court, which has been estimated at 100 million dollars.
The decision to set up the tribunal has been welcomed internationally, with both individual countries and the United Nations encouraging the political will in Liberia to prosecute war criminals.
