The recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report has sparked a very controversial debate about its the merits and demerits.
Across the country, some argue that the Commission’s recommendations should be implemented to serve as a “deterrent” to would-be war actors. Others are of the opinion that the recommendations are a “menace” to the peace and security of the country.
Initially, one might be tempted to take a more radical approach based on the victimization that one may have suffered during the war. Considering the two sides of the argument, it seems that this is a “victim vs. perpetrator” debate, where the victim is in favor of the report while the perpetrator is against. Another angle to the report is the assumption that the report was politically motivated. By whom is anyone’s guess.
What is disappointing, however, is the failure by the two sides of the argument to take the “centrist” approach to the report by doing a cost-benefit analysis. The first questions that should come to mind are these:
·In whose interest was the report written?
·What does the report seek to achieve and why?
Critically answering these questions will help us find a way out of the quagmire that the report has put the country in. The report, to say the least, is divisive. But does this say anything to us as a people and nation in search of genuine reconciliation?
A country coming out of war requires genuine healing and reconciliation, which is the main thrust of the commission. Reconciliation has become an important part of post-conflict peace building in the world today. As nearly all conflicts today are intrastate, former enemies, perpetrators and victims must continue living side by side after the war. This has been the case in Liberia and other post-conflict societies. We need to know that attitudes and behaviors do not change at the moment of a declaration of peace because victims and perpetrators still reminisce about the experiences of war while at the same time living together. This indicates to us as a people and nation that coexistence is necessary, and it makes the need for reconciliation very profound.
I had anticipated that the TRC’s report would have struck a balance between documenting the truth and instituting justice that would restore broken relationships brought about by the war. I had not anticipated that it would further divide the people as this report has done. Reconciliation involves finding a way to balance issues such as truth and justice (restorative) so that the slow changing of behaviors, attitudes and emotions between former enemies can take place. It is the pragmatic work of building relationships and confidence that will hold for the sustainability of the peace we enjoy.
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions must contribute to the healing required to mend a traumatized and torn society. There is no magic formula for reconciliation; each reconciliation process needs to be designed according to a specific context. In Liberia, what we need is not a reconciliation process that is achieved through retributive justice as recommended by the TRC’s report; but restorative justice as the people themselves have started implementing through their votes.
It is important to note here that those who support the TRC’s recommendations are doing so for political reasons without weighing the costs of implementing the recommendations. As Liberians, we need to see the greater picture than our parochial interests as the case has been. The pursuit of political interests that brought this country to its knees for decades cannot continue. We need to do a cost-benefit analysis of the TRC’s report and see what Liberia and Liberians stand to gain or lose if those recommendations are implemented. That the people who became victims of the war can decide to elect some of the perpetrators of crimes against them speaks of their desire to restore broken relationships and consolidate the peace for the rebuilding of the country. That there is a lack of consensus on the TRC report indicates that Liberians in general see the report as divisive and as having the propensity to further drive the country to the brink of collapse.
History has chosen us to assume, as we face both the past and the future, this responsibility of reconciling with each other. Let us do so with maturity. Reconciliation can be done by a historically mature people, capable of going beyond old divisions and preventing new ones from rising from the embers of the old. The reconciliation that we now have a duty to perform is a test of our maturity, self-confidence and self-respect. It is a renouncing of the false hope that someone else can reconcile us instead of ourselves or by punishing people for the wrongs of the past. It is a historic necessity and our cultural and patriotic duty to live in harmony with one another. It is an invitation and an essential condition for future co-existence between the “now generation” and future generations. For this reason, let us take this responsibility upon ourselves with full dignity, knowing that posterity will blame us if we allow divisions bordered on hate and political interests to continue.
Man on earth is a tragic being. We cannot change the wrongs we have already done. Our past cannot be rendered different, it cannot be kept silent. It is time for us to stop endlessly and glibly burdening our lives with improving the future. Why should there remain antagonisms amongst us as a family and nation, when the world, of which we too are a part, is becoming ever freer and more connected? Let us reminisce on the myriad storms of the war that raged through this country, making it a necropolis, and, in honor to the dead victims of our divisions, unite and reconcile this country instead of calling for a “payback” as recommended by the TRC.
The obligation has fallen upon us, who regard ourselves as the post-war generation, and upon younger people, who no longer mark time with wars, to work for reconciliation among the living. It is not within the power of the state to command love and reconciliation between people. It is, however, within the power of all citizens, to create such a state which shall be fair to all, irrespective of their views of the world, their political convictions or religious or political identity.
The people of this country developed the foresight that a new spirit of the times was needed, and that there was a need to reconcile themselves to the past, without enmity in their hearts, and allow the happenings of the past to finally become history when they voted.
Let us take up our history, full of light and darkness, and turn towards the common future of our nation and people. The report is too retributive, contrary to what the Liberian people expected. There are too few of us, and we are living through too difficult a time, for us to allow an opinionated report of a few people to keep us apart and backwards while the rest of the world moves on with development.
The implementation of the TRC’s Report will cost this country more than it will benefit it. What we desire and must do as Liberians, deep in our hearts is forgive ourselves for the wrongs of the past and chart a new course through a responsible act of affirmation to live in peace and harmony with one another. The report of the TRC should be seen as an opportunity for the children of this great country, divided and forced against their will into the senseless and apocalyptic whirlwind of war, to unite and make this country greater than what it is. It is up to us to recognize the circumstances, the facts, as well as the individual human acts that hindered and continue to hinder the reconciliation process that we need so urgently, and work toward uniting this country.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ernest M. Vafee is currently the Speaker of the Mano River Union Youth Parliament, a network of youth leaders working for peace and non-violence in the MRU Basin. He is also former coordinator of the YMCA Peace and Civil Education Department. E-mail: movafee@yahoo.com, mruparliamentliberia@yahoo.com; +231-6 570 687
Copyright Liberian Observer - All Rights Reserved. This article cannot be re-published without the expressed, written consent of the Liberian Observer. Please contact us for more information or to request publishing permission.
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Updated: August 9, 2009 - 7:36pm
The recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report has sparked a very controversial debate about its the merits and demerits.
Initially, one might be tempted to take a more radical approach based on the victimization that one may have suffered during the war. Considering the two sides of the argument, it seems that this is a “victim vs. perpetrator” debate, where the victim is in favor of the report while the perpetrator is against. Another angle to the report is the assumption that the report was politically motivated. By whom is anyone’s guess.
What is disappointing, however, is the failure by the two sides of the argument to take the “centrist” approach to the report by doing a cost-benefit analysis. The first questions that should come to mind are these:
A country coming out of war requires genuine healing and reconciliation, which is the main thrust of the commission. Reconciliation has become an important part of post-conflict peace building in the world today. As nearly all conflicts today are intrastate, former enemies, perpetrators and victims must continue living side by side after the war. This has been the case in Liberia and other post-conflict societies. We need to know that attitudes and behaviors do not change at the moment of a declaration of peace because victims and perpetrators still reminisce about the experiences of war while at the same time living together. This indicates to us as a people and nation that coexistence is necessary, and it makes the need for reconciliation very profound.
I had anticipated that the TRC’s report would have struck a balance between documenting the truth and instituting justice that would restore broken relationships brought about by the war. I had not anticipated that it would further divide the people as this report has done. Reconciliation involves finding a way to balance issues such as truth and justice (restorative) so that the slow changing of behaviors, attitudes and emotions between former enemies can take place. It is the pragmatic work of building relationships and confidence that will hold for the sustainability of the peace we enjoy.
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions must contribute to the healing required to mend a traumatized and torn society. There is no magic formula for reconciliation; each reconciliation process needs to be designed according to a specific context. In Liberia, what we need is not a reconciliation process that is achieved through retributive justice as recommended by the TRC’s report; but restorative justice as the people themselves have started implementing through their votes.
It is important to note here that those who support the TRC’s recommendations are doing so for political reasons without weighing the costs of implementing the recommendations. As Liberians, we need to see the greater picture than our parochial interests as the case has been. The pursuit of political interests that brought this country to its knees for decades cannot continue. We need to do a cost-benefit analysis of the TRC’s report and see what Liberia and Liberians stand to gain or lose if those recommendations are implemented.
That the people who became victims of the war can decide to elect some of the perpetrators of crimes against them speaks of their desire to restore broken relationships and consolidate the peace for the rebuilding of the country. That there is a lack of consensus on the TRC report indicates that Liberians in general see the report as divisive and as having the propensity to further drive the country to the brink of collapse.
History has chosen us to assume, as we face both the past and the future, this responsibility of reconciling with each other. Let us do so with maturity. Reconciliation can be done by a historically mature people, capable of going beyond old divisions and preventing new ones from rising from the embers of the old. The reconciliation that we now have a duty to perform is a test of our maturity, self-confidence and self-respect. It is a renouncing of the false hope that someone else can reconcile us instead of ourselves or by punishing people for the wrongs of the past. It is a historic necessity and our cultural and patriotic duty to live in harmony with one another. It is an invitation and an essential condition for future co-existence between the “now generation” and future generations. For this reason, let us take this responsibility upon ourselves with full dignity, knowing that posterity will blame us if we allow divisions bordered on hate and political interests to continue.
Man on earth is a tragic being. We cannot change the wrongs we have already done. Our past cannot be rendered different, it cannot be kept silent. It is time for us to stop endlessly and glibly burdening our lives with improving the future. Why should there remain antagonisms amongst us as a family and nation, when the world, of which we too are a part, is becoming ever freer and more connected? Let us reminisce on the myriad storms of the war that raged through this country, making it a necropolis, and, in honor to the dead victims of our divisions, unite and reconcile this country instead of calling for a “payback” as recommended by the TRC.
The obligation has fallen upon us, who regard ourselves as the post-war generation, and upon younger people, who no longer mark time with wars, to work for reconciliation among the living. It is not within the power of the state to command love and reconciliation between people. It is, however, within the power of all citizens, to create such a state which shall be fair to all, irrespective of their views of the world, their political convictions or religious or political identity.
The people of this country developed the foresight that a new spirit of the times was needed, and that there was a need to reconcile themselves to the past, without enmity in their hearts, and allow the happenings of the past to finally become history when they voted.
Let us take up our history, full of light and darkness, and turn towards the common future of our nation and people. The report is too retributive, contrary to what the Liberian people expected. There are too few of us, and we are living through too difficult a time, for us to allow an opinionated report of a few people to keep us apart and backwards while the rest of the world moves on with development.
The implementation of the TRC’s Report will cost this country more than it will benefit it. What we desire and must do as Liberians, deep in our hearts is forgive ourselves for the wrongs of the past and chart a new course through a responsible act of affirmation to live in peace and harmony with one another. The report of the TRC should be seen as an opportunity for the children of this great country, divided and forced against their will into the senseless and apocalyptic whirlwind of war, to unite and make this country greater than what it is. It is up to us to recognize the circumstances, the facts, as well as the individual human acts that hindered and continue to hinder the reconciliation process that we need so urgently, and work toward uniting this country.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ernest M. Vafee is currently the Speaker of the Mano River Union Youth Parliament, a network of youth leaders working for peace and non-violence in the MRU Basin. He is also former coordinator of the YMCA Peace and Civil Education Department. E-mail: movafee@yahoo.com, mruparliamentliberia@yahoo.com; +231-6 570 687
Copyright Liberian Observer - All Rights Reserved. This article cannot be re-published without the expressed, written consent of the Liberian Observer. Please contact us for more information or to request publishing permission.