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Healing the wounds of war

Liberia’s Palava Hut hearings on wartime crimes aim to build lasting peace

November 1^st, 2022

Last July in Saryah town in Liberia's Rivercess County, Taly stood up and spoke of the deep trauma he had experienced around 20 years ago during the civil war. In front of the gathered crowd, he described how rebel fighters had rounded up local villagers and forced them into the attic of a rice granary before setting fire to the building. He recounted how one assailant, named James, cut off Taly’s right ear and forced him to eat it.

“The man and his friends lied that I was an LPC fighter,” said Taly, referring to an armed faction known as the Liberian Peace Council, which has been fighting in the 90s. “Some of us died from the beating and smoke.”

Listening to this account of violence was James, who was Taly’s neighbour: “What he said is true,” he said. “Taly and I are friends. We drink liquor together. I thought he forgot about what happened because he never talked about it before.” James pleaded for - and received - Taly’s forgiveness.

Such scenes have been happening in Liberia over the past six years as the country attempts to confront the extreme violence that characterised its two civil wars between 1989-1997 and 1999-2003.

According to the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Liberia suffered “every conceivable category of gross human rights and serious humanitarian law violation” during this period in which over 250,000 people were killed, more than one million were internally displaced, and hundreds of thousands fled the country.

Coming to terms with violence

There are ongoing discussions as to whether Liberia should establish a war crimes court or transitional justice commission to account for the most egregious atrocities, but in the meantime, the country has been holding so-called Palava Hut hearings, based on traditional restorative justice and accountability mechanisms.

Facilitated by the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) with support from UNDP Liberia, Palava Huts have been put in place in 2016 in different parts of the country to address violations of “lesser magnitude”, from looting and destruction of property to certain acts of torture and humiliation, forced labour and displacement.

They provide safe public spaces where victims meet face-to-face with perpetrators of alleged violations and air their grievances before a trained council of elders. The accused typically admit guilt and, consistent with the traditional conflict resolution practices of the Bassa people, demonstrate penitence by squatting before their victims when asking for forgiveness.

The Palava Hut Committee then scolds the perpetrator and consoles the victim. Once forgiven, the victim and perpetrator share a drink of blessed water to symbolize “heart-cleansing”, a consummation of a moral and spiritual vow to let go of the past and embrace a future of reconciliation and peaceful coexistence.

Accused as perpetrators yet victims in their own right

“I did not do it! This man is out to tarnish my name,” says an infuriated man accused of stealing a battery pack because the cover had been found outside his house. This is one of a handful of cases where perpetrators denied accusations brought against them.

Others were found out by their lies, and after assurance that the hearings were only after the truth and reconciliation, they reluctantly confessed their crimes.

Most of the defendants were accused of dispossessing their victims of food – rice harvests, palm oil and livestock – primary livelihood assets. They also forced them to carry the food and other loads for long distances to rebel hide-outs, with brutal beatings, and even setting them and their property on fire.

They were often afraid of the hearings because they think they will be arrested and prosecuted in the formal criminal justice system.

Perpetrators also struggle to accept their own wrongs. While it was easier to empathize with and prepare victims for the hearings, they know exactly how savage they had been.

“Some of us were victims or have close family or friends who suffered in the hands of the perpetrators,” said Joseph K. Henah of the Liberia Association of Psychosocial Services (LAPS). “It is hard to counsel perpetrators because we feel the pain for what they did.”

Having counselled hundreds of perpetrators, he has come to realize that they were also victims of the war, most of them having been forcefully recruited by rebels, many as child soldiers.

“My sister was raped for trying to hide me to prevent me from joining the rebels,” said one perpetrator. “I had to come out from hiding and give myself up to save her life.”

“If you did not implement the order, the big man would implement it on you,” was the defence of many of the perpetrators. Joseph Henah said his team had found many of the perpetrators deeply conflicted over being accused, yet there had been no justice for their own forceful conscription and torture in the hands of rebel soldiers.

A long way to justice

The journey for perpetrators to the hearings consisted of the following steps: the INCHR visited villages to enumerate people who wanted justice and reconciliation. After victims identified perpetrators, they were invited for peacebuilding workshops to discuss the crimes committed during the war.

On-going calls for justice for crimes of greater magnitude committed during the war, coupled with misinformation, led perpetrators to fear they were being setup for arrest. However, with much psychosocial counselling, some agreed to appear for the Palava Hut hearings.

One rebel commander, whose manner of speech commanded everyone’s attention, was shocked to find out that his accuser was his uncle, with whom he lived in the same household and had shared breakfast that morning.

“It is only here today that I found out that my accuser was my own uncle,” he said. “Everything that we did during the war was wrong. I wish war doesn’t ever come back.”He had four cases to answer, brought by different people. He was one of the few perpetrators we spoke to who seemed to have put the war out of his mind, until the Palava Hut process begun.

“I really did not think I had done anything wrong, and I had let all those things out of my mind,” he said with unexpected emotion. “I feel very bad for myself, and sad that four people I know accused me, yet I was happy living my life. I pray to God to make me a changed man, and to point me in the right direction.”

Others could neither recognize nor remember their victims but conceded the accusations.

Building sustainable peace among neighbours

Many perpetrators we spoke to after their hearings were visibly relieved after obtaining pardon from their victims. Some said they had unsuccessfully tried to apologize to victims after the war.

“It is no small thing the woman has given me today. I thank God for making this day possible,” said one who had tried several times to reconcile with his victim, but she would not speak to him.

Another perpetrator said: “I tried speaking to him several times, but he just walked right past me. He was scared of me. Today, I bowed down and asked for his forgiveness and he agreed. My mind is clear. It is finished. Now I can go back to church.”

Achieving true peace entails much more than laying down arms. There cannot be real peace without justice. Justice is a vital requirement for healing wounds, of which truth and reconciliation are key ingredients.

The Palava Hut hearings are pivotal in establishing the truth of what happened, and securing apologies, setting the stage for reconciliation and social cohesion. Victims kept their hurt and feeling to themselves fearing the perpetrators could attack them again if exposed.

Taly's case is one of close to 300 that have been resolved through Palava Hut hearings, which have also helped 483 people dealing with the trauma they experienced in rebuilding social cohesion in their communities. For him, this was enough to resolve his hurt and bitterness and bring the matter to a close. “This has been what I wanted,” he said. “Acknowledgement and an apology.”