Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Liberia)

The Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is a Parliament-enacted organization created in May 2005 under the Transitional Government. The Commission worked throughout the first mandate of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf after she was elected President of Liberia in November 2005. The Liberian TRC came to a conclusion in 2010, filing a final report and recommending relevant actions by national authorities to ensure responsibility and reparations.[1]

The Liberian TRC has garnered much criticism for its inability to address Charles Taylor and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The Special Court for Sierra Leone indicted Charles Taylor, the leader of the rebel group the National Patriotic Front of Liberia to which many of the crimes against humanity are attributed. This indictment prevented the Liberian TRC from hearing any testimony from Taylor. Sirleaf, on the other hand, was placed on a list of persons that should be barred from public office, a ruling which was later overturned by the Liberian Supreme Court.