| Abstract: | On 8 January 2008, public hearings of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) began in Monrovia. The TRC had been established by an Act of the Legislature in 2005, and prior to the public hearings had collected 16,000 statements from victims as well as alleged perpetrators of the country's nearly fifteen years of civil war, 1989-2003. The TRC process has been wobbly and controversial, and its many critics say that it will neither create 'a clear picture of the past' nor 'facilitate genuine healing and reconciliation' (its core mandate). The hearings, however, have been partially redeemed by a number of clarifying disclosures which have firmly put Charles Taylor at the centre of most of the murderous violations. The author argues that, given the overtly religious perspective of most Liberians on their country's problems, it might be that true reconciliation and closure should most appropriately be sought, at least in part, from religion, and that the church ought to play a more important role. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
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