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| Martina Johnson’s Liberian war crimes trial is a milestone in quest for justice | Martina Johnson’s Liberian war crimes trial is a milestone in quest for justice |
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| Plied with drugs and guns that many had been trained to use overnight, waves of child soldiers were sent into Monrovia as cannon fodder, forcing horrified west African peacekeepers to mow them down as one of the most brutal chapters of Liberia’s civil war began on 15 October 1992 when rebels attempted to seize the capital. | Plied with drugs and guns that many had been trained to use overnight, waves of child soldiers were sent into Monrovia as cannon fodder, forcing horrified west African peacekeepers to mow them down as one of the most brutal chapters of Liberia’s civil war began on 15 October 1992 when rebels attempted to seize the capital. |
| Overseeing Operation Octopus was a female commander called Martina Johnson. As part of the operation, a heavy artillery unit shelled residential areas throughout the four-month offensive, and allegations of torture were made that stood out even in a war characterised by mutilations and mass rapes. | Overseeing Operation Octopus was a female commander called Martina Johnson. As part of the operation, a heavy artillery unit shelled residential areas throughout the four-month offensive, and allegations of torture were made that stood out even in a war characterised by mutilations and mass rapes. |
| This September she was called to account for her actions for the first time at a court in Belgium’s riverside city of Ghent. She is currently under house arrest with an electronic bracelet awaiting a court date. Johnson denies all of the accusations which have been brought against her, according to press reports. | This September she was called to account for her actions for the first time at a court in Belgium’s riverside city of Ghent. She is currently under house arrest with an electronic bracelet awaiting a court date. Johnson denies all of the accusations which have been brought against her, according to press reports. |
| The landmark case, coming after years of dogged work by campaigners, is a milestone in the quest for international justice, which has so often failed to bring to book the perpetrators of some of the most vicious wars in modern Africa. It shows, too, how rather than international courts such as the international criminal court (ICC), the long arm of justice may have a further reach with national courts that allow “universal jurisdiction”. | The landmark case, coming after years of dogged work by campaigners, is a milestone in the quest for international justice, which has so often failed to bring to book the perpetrators of some of the most vicious wars in modern Africa. It shows, too, how rather than international courts such as the international criminal court (ICC), the long arm of justice may have a further reach with national courts that allow “universal jurisdiction”. |
| Thirteen countries have enacted the law that allows individuals to be pursued for serious human rights abuses regardless of where they were committed and the nationality of those involved. Johnson’s case came after three of her victims living in Liberia filed a complaint that focused heavily on Operation Octopus. She is only the second person to be charged for crimes relating to the country’s two civil wars that spanned 14 years. | |
| “What is important to understand with Liberia is that, 11 years after the last war, there has been no justice. There were two very, very vicious civil wars, hundreds of thousands killed, but no convictions,” says Alain Werner, director of Civitas Maxima, the Geneva-based organisation that collects documentation surrounding the allegations. | |
| Liberia’s first war lasted from 1989 to 1996. A second war, entwined with one raging in neighbouring Sierra Leone, ended in 2003. Some estimates put the number of casualties as high as 250,000 among a combined population of less than 10 million. The ripple effects of those conflicts in part explain why Liberia has borne the brunt of an Ebola outbreak ravaging three west African countries. Devastated infrastructure and deep mistrust of the authorities has fuelled almost 2,000 deaths there. | Liberia’s first war lasted from 1989 to 1996. A second war, entwined with one raging in neighbouring Sierra Leone, ended in 2003. Some estimates put the number of casualties as high as 250,000 among a combined population of less than 10 million. The ripple effects of those conflicts in part explain why Liberia has borne the brunt of an Ebola outbreak ravaging three west African countries. Devastated infrastructure and deep mistrust of the authorities has fuelled almost 2,000 deaths there. |
| Charles Taylor, the former president and key architect for both countries’ wars, has never been tried for crimes in Liberia. A conviction for crimes against humanity, including supporting rebels who carried out atrocities in Sierra Leone in return for “blood diamonds”, came from a UN-backed war tribunal in Sierra Leone. | Charles Taylor, the former president and key architect for both countries’ wars, has never been tried for crimes in Liberia. A conviction for crimes against humanity, including supporting rebels who carried out atrocities in Sierra Leone in return for “blood diamonds”, came from a UN-backed war tribunal in Sierra Leone. |
| Two years ago, Werner began working with Hassan Bility, a Liberian journalist tortured and imprisoned by Taylor’s rebels during the country’s second war. Bility was documenting war atrocities for the global justice research project. “When we started, we didn’t have an individual or jurisdiction in mind, we just thought it was important to document as much as possible of what happened during the war.” | Two years ago, Werner began working with Hassan Bility, a Liberian journalist tortured and imprisoned by Taylor’s rebels during the country’s second war. Bility was documenting war atrocities for the global justice research project. “When we started, we didn’t have an individual or jurisdiction in mind, we just thought it was important to document as much as possible of what happened during the war.” |
| Johnson was allegedly involved in the case of five American nuns whose murder and mutilation by Taylor’s rebels focused the international spotlight on the war. “The stories of her victims are horrible. Anyone who lived here during that time will definitely tell you that she was a very, very dangerous character,” says Bility. | Johnson was allegedly involved in the case of five American nuns whose murder and mutilation by Taylor’s rebels focused the international spotlight on the war. “The stories of her victims are horrible. Anyone who lived here during that time will definitely tell you that she was a very, very dangerous character,” says Bility. |
| Yet, the case against Johnson almost never got off the ground. “When we started it was just incredibly difficult because nobody trusted anybody in terms of making something happen,” Bility says. | Yet, the case against Johnson almost never got off the ground. “When we started it was just incredibly difficult because nobody trusted anybody in terms of making something happen,” Bility says. |
| In 2009, Liberia’s truth and reconciliation commission recommended that a special court should be set up to prosecute those accused of war crimes committed during the first civil war. Only one recommendation has since been implemented by the administration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who enjoys strong western backing despite recommendations from the commission that she be barred from office for 30 years for initially supporting Taylor. | In 2009, Liberia’s truth and reconciliation commission recommended that a special court should be set up to prosecute those accused of war crimes committed during the first civil war. Only one recommendation has since been implemented by the administration of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who enjoys strong western backing despite recommendations from the commission that she be barred from office for 30 years for initially supporting Taylor. |
| The key to persuading witnesses that something could come out of reliving their traumatic memories was the idea of justice being pursued outside Liberia. The organisation struck gold with progressive laws in Belgium, where Johnson had fled after the war. | The key to persuading witnesses that something could come out of reliving their traumatic memories was the idea of justice being pursued outside Liberia. The organisation struck gold with progressive laws in Belgium, where Johnson had fled after the war. |
| But African nations have a troubled relationship with international justice. Those accused by foreign prosecutors label charges against them as racist or an attempt to undermine national sovereignty. Thomas Woeiwiyou, a defence minister during the war, says war crimes charges he faces from US prosecutors are an attempt to stoke ethnic conflict. “The indictment by the US government … is not intended to bring justice, peace and closure to the Liberian people. Instead, it is intended to put us back into a quandary,” he wrote in an open letter. | But African nations have a troubled relationship with international justice. Those accused by foreign prosecutors label charges against them as racist or an attempt to undermine national sovereignty. Thomas Woeiwiyou, a defence minister during the war, says war crimes charges he faces from US prosecutors are an attempt to stoke ethnic conflict. “The indictment by the US government … is not intended to bring justice, peace and closure to the Liberian people. Instead, it is intended to put us back into a quandary,” he wrote in an open letter. |
| All eight people indicted by the ICC have been African. Its chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, from the Gambia, faced renewed accusations of bias when prosecutors – as opposed to governments or the UN – initiated their first case, against the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his deputy, William Ruto, for post-electoral violence. Kenyatta agreed this week to attend a summons by the court. | All eight people indicted by the ICC have been African. Its chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, from the Gambia, faced renewed accusations of bias when prosecutors – as opposed to governments or the UN – initiated their first case, against the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and his deputy, William Ruto, for post-electoral violence. Kenyatta agreed this week to attend a summons by the court. |
| African leaders have responded by setting up their own court, which they recently barred from prosecuting sitting leaders. | African leaders have responded by setting up their own court, which they recently barred from prosecuting sitting leaders. |
| “My experience in the African context is denial,” says Werner, whose 15-year career has included working on UN-backed special courts for Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge dictatorship and the prosecution team during Taylor’s trial. “Charles Taylor denied everything, the Sierra Leone rebels denied everything, former Chad dictator Hissene Habré is still denying.” Habré has been indicted by courts in Belgium, Chad and Senegal. He has denied the charges against him. | “My experience in the African context is denial,” says Werner, whose 15-year career has included working on UN-backed special courts for Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge dictatorship and the prosecution team during Taylor’s trial. “Charles Taylor denied everything, the Sierra Leone rebels denied everything, former Chad dictator Hissene Habré is still denying.” Habré has been indicted by courts in Belgium, Chad and Senegal. He has denied the charges against him. |
| Independent lawyers may have an advantage in successfully raising cases that don’t become mired in politics and allowing victims on both sides to pursue cases, says Werner, who pointed out Johnson’s case came only because of pressure from the alleged victims. “Some people say let bygones be bygones for fear prosecutions might ignite another war. But every day I see people who did terrible things,” said a Monrovia resident arrested by rebels during the war, who worried giving his name would endanger him. “This is a case that could not and probably should not happen in Liberia, but for me you should account for what you did so that next time another person won’t behave that way.” | Independent lawyers may have an advantage in successfully raising cases that don’t become mired in politics and allowing victims on both sides to pursue cases, says Werner, who pointed out Johnson’s case came only because of pressure from the alleged victims. “Some people say let bygones be bygones for fear prosecutions might ignite another war. But every day I see people who did terrible things,” said a Monrovia resident arrested by rebels during the war, who worried giving his name would endanger him. “This is a case that could not and probably should not happen in Liberia, but for me you should account for what you did so that next time another person won’t behave that way.” |
| Civitas Maxima says it plans to pursue cases in other jurisdictions even as the organisation has been forced to tighten security for witnesses in the Johnson case. “Judging from the number of calls and emails we’ve got with people calling to say, ‘I have this information that might help’, it’s generated a sense of relief but there’s also recognition the job is not done yet,” says Bility. | Civitas Maxima says it plans to pursue cases in other jurisdictions even as the organisation has been forced to tighten security for witnesses in the Johnson case. “Judging from the number of calls and emails we’ve got with people calling to say, ‘I have this information that might help’, it’s generated a sense of relief but there’s also recognition the job is not done yet,” says Bility. |
| • This article was amended on 7 October 2014 to clarify that Civitas Maxima does not legally represent victims of alleged war crimes. The original also stated that the people who filed the complaint against Johnson live in Belgium; they live in Liberia. |