Liberia's Post-War Recovery: Key Issues and Developments
Publication Date: February 2009
Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Author(s):
Research Area: Government
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Abstract:
This long report covers recent developments in Liberia, a small, poor West African country. It held elections in October 2005, with a presidential run-off vote in November -- a key step in a post-conflict transition and peace-building process that began following its second civil war in a decade. The latter war began in 1999, escalated in 2000, and ended in 2003. It pitted the forces of Charles Taylor, elected president in 1997 after Liberia's first civil war (1989-1997), against two armed anti-Taylor rebel groups. It also affected neighboring states, which accepted Liberian refugees and, in some cases, hosted anti-Taylor forces and became targets of armed aggression by the Taylor regime. This report will be updated as events warrant.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, an economist, won the presidential election with 59.4% of votes. Inaugurated on January 16, 2005, she became the first female president of an African country. Her run-off opponent was George Weah, a former soccer player whose star status and rags-to riches history make him a hero to Liberian youth. Weah contested the election, but most election observers characterized the process as orderly, generally well-administered, and free and fair. The election fulfilled a key goal of an August 2003 peace accord, which ended the second civil war, leading to an on-going, U.S.-aided post-war transition process, which is bolstered by the multifaceted U.N. Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). It carries out diverse peacekeeping, civilian policing, and socio-economic assistance functions. UNMIL was preceded by the U.S.-assisted deployment in August 2003 of an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) military intervention force. Liberia's security situation is stable but subject to periodic volatility. Humanitarian conditions are improving. Progress in governance under the interim government was mixed; widespread corruption within it was widely reported. Liberia's economy and state structures remain devastated by war. A legal case against former president Charles Taylor, a war crimes indictee of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) who lives in exile in Nigeria, remains unresolved. The United States is providing extensive post-war reconstruction aid and support for security sector restructuring, which will include the training of a newly recruited and vetted 2,000-person military.
In addition to providing substantial support for Liberia's rebuilding and peace building processes, Congress has shown considerable interest in the status of Charles Taylor. It passed laws (P.L. 108-199 and P.L. 108-106) urging that SCSL indictees, like Taylor, be transferred to the court. In May 2005, the House and Senate passed H.Con.Res. 127 (Royce) urging the same outcome. P.L. 109-102, the FY2006 foreign operations appropriations act, provides $13 million for the SCSL. H.Amdt. 480 (Watson) to H.R. 2601, the FY2006-FY2007 foreign relations authorization act, would require that the United States seek the expeditious transfer of Taylor to the SCSL for trial. Congressional interest in Liberia also focuses on immigration and debt issues. Bills related to these ends include H.R. 257 (Jackson-Lee), H.R. 2092 (Jackson-Lee), H.R. 3450 (Patrick Kennedy), S. 656 (Reed); S.Amdt. 452 (Reed); H.R. 1268 (Jerry Lewis); and H.R. 1130 (Waters). H.Con.Res. 327 (Eddie Bernice Johnson) and H.Con.Res. 313 (Payne) would commend Liberia for successfully holding elections and congratulate Sirleaf for her electoral victory.