The West African Nation of Liberia is the first to create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to enable expatriates to capture memories of war and hopes for the nation's future.

Newark, NJ - Liberians living in the Newark area will gather on Saturday, October 28, to launch a historic event - the first time a truth commission or similar transitional justice body has attempted to involve a diaspora community in its proceedings. The town-hall meeting will provide all Liberians in the Newark area with an opportunity to speak with Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Massa A. Washington, who is visiting the U.S.      

At the request of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights is coordinating a project to collect statements from thousands of Liberians throughout the United States. Minnesota Advocates has appointed Bassina Farbenblum of the Center for Social Justice at Seton Hall Law to direct the project in Newark, NJ.  Working closely with the large Liberian community in northern New Jersey, law school volunteers in Newark will be mirroring the TRC process underway in Liberia.

"Our volunteers are Seton Hall Law students who have been trained not only in human rights, but also in many aspects of Liberian history and culture, and in working with survivors of torture and trauma," said Farbenblum.

"We all view this as a profound opportunity to advance justice and human rights in our world community," added Kaitlin Kennedy, a Seton Hall Law student helping to coordinate the project.

Saturday's event marks the launch of this groundbreaking project in Newark. The TRC project will give Liberians in the U.S. a voice in the promotion of international justice and human rights, as well as enable them to be part of the truth, justice, accountability and reconciliation processes in Liberia. The opportunity is especially important because the recommendations of the TRC will bind the government of Liberia.   

A journalist, Commissioner Washington, 42, was granted asylum in the United States to escape the war in her homeland. Having experienced several significant tragedies in her own past, she now sits on the panel that will make recommendations for prosecutions and amnesty, which will be binding on the government of Liberia.   

The town-hall meeting will take place at Christ Assembly Lutheran Church, 664 Broadway, Newark, beginning at 4:30 pm.


BACKGROUND
From 1979 to 2003, the Liberian people suffered extreme violence from armed conflict, mass displacement, and severe human rights abuses perpetrated by a wide range of actors during the nation's civil war. On August 18, 2003, a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was adopted in Accra, Ghana, formally ending the prolonged civil strife. One aspect of the agreement was the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission.

Following a period of transitional governance and extensive national dialogue, on May 12, 2005, the Act to Establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia was passed by the National Transitional Legislative Assembly and the TRC was tasked with investigating the truth about the human rights violations that had occurred during the nation's civil war. In late 2005, following a widespread consultative process and public nominations, nine national Commissioners were selected to make up the TRC panel. 

At the request of the TRC, the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Project was launched by Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights on June 22, 2006. The Project is designed to enable Liberians living in the U.S. to participate in the truth and reconciliation process in Liberia. The Project will also raise awareness of transitional justice mechanisms and the Liberian process here in the United States. 

Working in collaboration with Minnesota Advocates, Seton Hall Law School will take statements from those Liberians in the Newark area who voluntarily come forward to tell their stories to the TRC. Individuals who give statements will have access to counselors, and social service and immigration referrals. The statements will be entered into the TRC's database and will form part of the record analyzed and preserved by the TRC.

Bassina Farbenblum, a human rights attorney currently serving as practitioner in residence in the International Human Rights/ Rule of Law Project at Seton Hall Law School is coordinating the TRC Project in Newark.  She has worked closely with the local Liberian community, and has trained over 20 Seton Hall Law students to be statement-takers on behalf of the TRC. Statement-taking begins this month and will be concluded in December 2007. The project was piloted in Minnesota and is being extended to other parts of the U.S.

Additional information is available at: http://liberiatrc.mnadvocates.org/newark.

The only private law school in New Jersey, Seton Hall University School of Law was founded in 1951, and is located in the city of Newark. Seton Hall Law School offers both day and evening programs leading to the Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Master of Science in Jurisprudence (M.S.J.) degrees. For more information on Seton Hall Law School, visit law.shu.edu.