International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
The Role of the International Criminal Court in Liberia’s Peace and Stability
Prof. Thomas Kaydor, Jr.
Department of Government and European Studies, New University, Slovenia
Abstract: This essay addresses the role of the International Criminal Court in Liberia’s peace and stability. This essay argues that corruption is the main cause of the Liberian Civil War and remains the present and future security risk to Liberia. It further argues that the intervention of the ICC was timely and helped to remove former President Charles Taylor from power on 11 August 2003 thereby ending the fourteen years civil conflict in the country; however, that Mr. Taylor got prosecuted and convicted for war crimes committed only in Sierra Leone rather than those in Liberia leaves the peace and stability of Liberia fragile. The essay reviews the history of corruption in Liberia, causes and effects of weak anti-corruption system, it discusses the challenges militating against the speedy and successful prosecution of corruption cases in Liberia. This research is important because the researcher argues that corruption was the cause of the Liberian Civil Crises. Hence, the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) was established to curb the endemic corruption in both the Liberian public and private sectors. However, this anti-graft agency has not done much to curb the menace. In view of this, the international community, including the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), United Nations and the ICC intervened in the Liberia Civil Crisis to help the country transition towards peace and stability. Nevertheless, corruption in Liberia persists and hampers sustainable socio-political progress and retards economic growth and development. Therefore, it constitutes the outstanding main current and future security risk to Liberia. Therefore, corruption is Liberia’s binding constraint to national development, which if not addressed could remain a wicked problem for the state and its future generations. This could hold back the country from attaining sustainable economic growth and development.
I.HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF LIBERIA
The Republic of Liberia is the oldest African Republic (Guannu, 2005; Kaydor, 2014). The Country got its independence on 26 July 1847 (Guannu, 2000) and has three equal and coordinate branches of government (Constitution of Liberia, 1986). The 1986 Constitution replaced that of the First Republic that ended after the military overthrow on 12 April 1980 by the Armed Forces of Liberia led by Master Sargent Samuel Kanyon Doe (Kaydor, 2014). One of the key reasons provided by the military for the overthrow of the government was rampant corruption embedded in bad governance. The military government ruled Liberia for five years and later turned itself into a civilian government by holding General and Presidential Elections in October 1985 the same time a Constitutional referendum was held. This engendered the Second Republic in 1986 (Guannu, 2005).
Subsequently, on 24 December 1989, “President Samuel Kanyon Doe’s government was attacked by ‘the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) under the leadership of Mr. Charles Taylor as the rebel leader” (Kaydor, 2014, p.32). Like Samuel Doe’s led military coup, Mr. Taylor’s led rebel group