originally published by Human Rights Watch (Monrovia) – Liberian President Joseph Boakai should follow through on his commitment to justice and human rights by renewing an executive order key to establishing a war crimes court to address accountability for civil war-era crimes in the country, six human rights groups said today. The order, signed on May 2, 2024, is set to expire on May 1, 2025.  The groups, Liberian and international nongovernmental organizations, are Advocates for Human Rights, Civitas Maxima, Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia, Global Justice Center, Global Justice and Research Project, and Human Rights Watch.  “Liberia’s quest to bring closure for victims of civil war atrocities, and ensure their access to justice, remains a major priority,” said Adama Dempster, secretary-general of the Civil Society Human Rights Platform of Liberia. “We call for government and international support to ensure the establishment of the court.”  Widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law characterized Liberia’s two brutal armed conflicts, which took place between 1989 and 2003. They included summary executions, massacres, rape and other forms of sexual violence, mutilation and torture, and forced conscription and use of child combatants. Nobody has faced criminal investigation or prosecution in Liberia for serious crimes committed during the civil wars. The only steps toward justice for serious crimes have been cases prosecuted abroad.  The country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in its final 2009 report, recommended the creation of an extraordinary criminal court, a hybrid court composed of Liberian and international judges, prosecutors, and other staff with a mandate to try those allegedly responsible for committing serious crimes. As the groups highlighted in a recent submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council in the context of Liberia’s upcoming November 2025 Universal Periodic Review, 16 years later, Liberia has yet to implement this critical recommendation. The May 2024 executive order established an office to “investigate, design, and prescribe the methodology, mechanisms, and the process” for the establishment of a war crimes court and a national anti-corruption court (Office for the Establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia). “President Boakai promised Liberians accountability for wartime atrocities, but for this to become a reality, he needs to renew the executive order,” said Michelle Reyes Milk, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch. “President Boakai should also work with the legislature to replace the executive order with legislation so the office can work sustainably to develop the framework for establishing the war and economic crimes court.” Over the course of 2024, the Boakai administration took further steps toward setting up the office. President Boakai made a public commitment to advance the process during a speech to the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2024. Additional steps included the withdrawal of the appointment of the first executive director for the office following strong reservations voiced by victim and civil society groups and the more consultative process involved in the second appointment, resulting in the selection of Jallah Barbu as the new executive director. President Boakai also wrote to the UN secretary-general requesting assistance in establishing a court. However, progress remains limited. In January 2025, the groups wrote to President Boakai calling on the government to take necessary measures towards the establishment of the court. The organizations highlighted the need to ensure the office has requisite staffing and budgetary support and called on the office to adopt an action plan, or “roadmap,” to advance preparation for the court’s establishment.  The plan should address the model on which the war crimes court will be designed; the composition of the court; a clear procedure for the election and appointment of its officials; a proposed budget; and efforts needed for the adoption of a statute, among other issues, and have clear action points and intended outcomes.  Despite the challenges in the process, prospects for a war crimes court continue to offer thousands of victims a promise of justice that has long evaded them, the groups said. President Boakai should renew the executive order and ensure sufficient funding is in place so that the necessary work to establish the court can accelerate.  “A comprehensive roadmap that can ensure the office has both the resources and mandate to fulfill its key mission—establishing a sustainable war crimes court—is therefore vital and urgent,” said Hassan Bility, executive director of the Global Justice and Research Project. “We urge the office to move swiftly in the adoption and implementation of such a plan of action.”

Resolution Sets Time-Bound Process for Adopting World’s First Stand-alone Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity The United Nations Sixth Committee today adopted by consensus a resolution to advance a draft treaty on crimes against humanity to negotiations. Once adopted by the General Assembly next month, states will negotiate the first stand-alone treaty that explicitly addresses state responsibility to prevent and punish crimes against humanity. Today’s resolution calls for a concrete and time-bound process consisting of preparatory sessions in 2026 and 2027, and three-week negotiations in 2028 and 2029, where a treaty will be finalized. “Today’s resolution is a historic breakthrough toward a crimes against humanity treaty,” said Kelly Adams, legal advisor at the Global Justice Center. “Despite the proliferation of crimes against humanity around the world, negotiations on this treaty have been delayed time and again. But today’s decision paves the way for a treaty, which will offer crucial tools to prevent and punish these most extreme rights violations.” The current draft treaty was developed over six years by the International Law Commission, a UN expert body charged with developing and codifying international law. For more information on the draft treaty, visit cahtreatynow.org. Although crimes against humanity are defined under various treaties, including the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court, there is currently no treaty which expressly addresses states’ responsibilities to prevent or punish these crimes. This gap distinguishes crimes against humanity from war crimes and genocide, each of which has its own dedicated treaty (the Geneva Conventions and the Genocide Convention, respectively). Negotiations for a new treaty present a unique opportunity to better advance justice for gender-based crimes, among other issues. In October 2023, a collection of human rights organizations and international law experts published a letter and several briefs that proposed changes to the draft treaty that focused on incorporating crimes like forced marriage, reproductive violence, and gender apartheid. A growing number of UN member states have expressed support for the inclusion of these crimes in a future treaty. “At present, treaty provisions have yet to catch up to the lived experiences of victims of sexual and gender-based crimes and judicial findings that acknowledge this fuller scope of harms,” said Adams. “A strong, progressive, and survivor-centric treaty will ensure international and domestic systems are better equipped to prevent, punish, and ensure redress for systematic or widespread attacks on civilians involving sexual and gender-based violence.” The General Assembly is expected to make a decision on the draft resolution in early December 2024.

Donald Trump was elected president of the United States for a second term on Tuesday. Human rights experts have issued grave warnings about the potential for extreme rights abuses under his new administration. The Global Justice Center (GJC) mounted several challenges to President Trump during his first term. It sued the Trump administration in 2020 over its unlawful creation of a commission tasked with redefining human rights to reflect a narrow, singular religious tradition that excluded marginalized communities. GJC also opposed the Trump administration’s expansion of restrictions on US funding of reproductive healthcare abroad, as well as his administration’s sanctions on the International Criminal Court. Elise Keppler, executive director of the Global Justice Center, issued the following statement: “The Global Justice Center joins its friends, partners, and supporters today in recognizing the severe threat a second Trump administration poses to human rights everywhere. Our movement’s vision for a gender-equal world free from violence is in direct opposition to President-elect Trump’s plans for renewed attacks on abortion care, women’s rights, LGBTQ equality, and essential international institutions. There is no doubt that today’s election makes it much harder to build the world we want. “Despite these immense challenges, we must also acknowledge yesterday’s historic victories. At a time when the country is gripped by a human rights crisis around abortion access and non-discriminatory access to healthcare broadly, several US states passed ballot initiatives that either advanced abortion rights or solidified existing protections for abortion care. In New York, for example, Proposition 1 enshrined both gender equality and abortion rights. This progress should be applauded and nurtured. “We are in for the fight of our lives. Still, we know that the human rights and feminist movements were born from struggle. Today, we double down on our commitment to global gender equality, no matter what forces stand in our way.”