On July 30, 1990, AFL soldiers entered St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, which was a designated Red Cross shelter with approximately 2000 people of Gio and Mano dissent. The soldiers opened fire on the civilians killing 200 to 300 people(Willful Slaughter 3). Many of the survivors fled to the former U.S. Agency for International Development compound. AFL soldiers later stormed the compound, captured more than 350 people, and reportedly shot them on a nearby beach(Aderiye 115). The war has been characterized by numerous such slaughters killing Liberians, foreigners and aid-workers. The military leaders have been mostly responsible for generating ethnic attacks and reprisals. Amnesty International and Africa Watch reported in 1991 that General Doe had ordered a shoot to kill policy against anyone engaged in “suspicious activities”(Noble A9). Many times this has translated into anyone suspicious of belonging to the wrong ethnic group. Rebel forces have also often gone on killing sprees into Krahn territories attacking and killing unarmed civilians. High civilian losses and victimization have come to be typical of weak state or ethnic wars. Liberia proves this well. The conservative death toll in 1994 placed the number killed in the war at an estimated 150,000(French 2 ).
By the end of July 1990, Charles Taylor’s force had fought its way into the capital. There was also a splinter faction, the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), lead by a break away Taylor lieutenant, Prince Johnson. With 500 fighters, Johnson had successfully taken over a section of Monrovia by the end of July(Liberians A2). The situation in the capital became desperate. President Doe was holed up in his government mansion protected by only a few hundred troops. Throughout July and August there were major battles within the capital. AFL, NPFL and INPFL troops were said to brutalize the local population. There were reports of rebels dressed in bizarre wigs and costumes indiscriminately killing anyone suspected of being a Doe supporter(Liberians A3). Prince Johnson was photographed personally executing civilians, including a Liberian Red Cross worker who was handcuffed to a French relief worker(Ruiz 7).
With the UN and U.S. not committing to any intervention the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) were pressured to act. Thousands of Liberians had fled to different member states such as Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d’ivour, and hundreds of nationals from ECOWAS states, were trapped without food, water, shelter or medicine. In August of 1990 foreign nationals from ECOWAS states and abroad were refused permission to leave Charles Taylor held territory(Rebel A3). ECOWAS, consisting of 13 member states, has traditionally had differences in levels of political and economic development and also between many of the francophone and anglophone states. Under a 1978 protocol member states that can not resolve an intra-community dispute peacefully are to submit such disputes to the ECOWAS heads of state for resolution(Wippman 166). The protocol only dealt with aggression between or among signatory states and did not address aggression coming from within. Under the protocol member states were to provide military assistance in the case of external aggression.
Upon meeting for a conference on the Liberian war in Freetown, in early August 1990, the attending heads of state called for all of the parties to obey an immediate cease fire and announced that an ECOWAS cease firing monitoring group(ECOMOG) would be established in Liberia “for the purpose of keeping the peace, restoring law and order and ensuring that the cease-fire is respected”(Wippman 167). It was not exactly clear how the force was supposed to monitor a cease fire that did not exist. This meant that they would have to enforce a cease fire therefore getting involved in the fighting. There were criticisms of the intervention by members within ECOWAS such as Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso which criticized the intervention as violation of a sovereign countries affairs(Adisa 217). There were also criticisms from members of the warring factions such as Charles Taylor. For the most part the international community including the Organization of African States (OAU) has cautiously approved the force. ECOMOG was the second half of what was to be a two part effort in Liberia. Through diplomatic means the members of the ECOWAS would push for a peace settlement in the Liberian war and ECOMOG would then supervise and maintain a cease fire(Akabogu 83, 84, 85). The force was to originally avoid military engagements. Leaders had hoped that the mere presence of the Ecomog contingent would force Charles Taylor to agree to a peace fire and the ECOMOG force would then be able to keep its peace-keeping role.
Upon arrival the ECOMOG forces were attacked by Charles Taylor’s forces and saw quickly that it would be difficult not to get in involved in the fighting. On his way to a meeting scheduled at ECOMOG headquarters, Charles Doe was capture and killed by Prince Johnson’s troops(Liberia’s A2). Despite Doe’s death no one faction was able to claim power and the fighting continued.
Within one month ECOMOG had developed into an offensive force. In October 1990, ECOMOG forces started an offensive campaign to push Charles Taylor’s NPFL out of the Monrovia( Barret 34 ). Often fighting side by side with INFPL and AFL forces, ECOMOG was able to push Taylor’s forces out of Monrovia by the end of October. ECOMOG secured the capital, freed thousands of civilians and foreign nationals trapped within Liberia and made it safe once again for relief agencies to begin their work in Monrovia. In November of 1990 an interim government was established and a former University professor, Amos Sawyer was installed as interim president(French 2).
With the ECOMOG intervention and the establishment of an interim government the war did not come to a stop. From 1990 on ECOWAS has tried to bring about cease-fire arrangements failing many times with Charles Taylor refusing to participate. The Conotou agreements of 1992 and Accra agreement of 1995 both collapsed with new outbreaks of fighting. Amidst ECOWAS’s attempts for a peace settlement through negotiations with the warring factions the conflict widened and new militias sprouted up adding to the complications.
The war expanded in 1991 into Sierra Leone, further adding to the instability of the region. NPFL forces joined forces with Sierra Leone dissidents and invaded the country in March. The invasion was seen as a retaliation by Taylor for Sierra Leone’s support for ECOMOG. From 1991 on it is difficult to track the actors in the Liberian war. ECOMOG has had continued skirmishes with the NPFL and other factions, there have been 29 failed cease fires, and it is very difficult to track the number of small militias roaming the country.
Although ECOMOG has succeeded to a great extent in protecting and allowing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population it has still had no great success in stopping the root of Liberia’s turmoil, the war itself. Because of questions over ECOMOG’s neutrality, the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia was created in 1992. Its function is to supervise the negotiation of a cease-fire and disarmament of all sides.
In December of 1994, a cease fire was agreed upon by the warring factions. Upon success of the cease fire, plans were made by UNOMIL and UNHCR for the disarmament of the warring factions and the repatriation of refugees. Except for low level skirmishes, the cease fire held through the early months of the year. In early April of 1995, there were reports of fighting between new factions in five different counties. The fighting has created a new influx of refugees to the ECOWAS areas(United Nations 1995: 7). In addition to the new fighting, the governments of Tanzania and Uganda have announced the withdrawal of their troops from ECOMOG forces. Nigeria also announced a downsizing of their forces in late 1994(French 1).
With the recent resurgence of conflict and continued movement of refugees and displaced as a result of it, it is hard to judge where the Liberian peace process stands. After almost five years of efforts by the regional and world diplomatic communities, the fighting in Liberia continues. The United Nations reports that the peace keeping operation is economically burdened and funds have had to be borrowed to sustain it. The total assessment of contributions to all peace keeping operations as of March 28, 1995 was $1,663 million(United Nations 1995: 3). With continued fighting, economic and political constraints and new military factions, it is questionable as to how long the commitment will remain. There is a chance that the actors involved may act as the U.N. did in Somalia; unwilling to continue peace keeping operations and leaving the warring factions to fight it out amongst themselves.
Civilian Movements, Tragedy and The International and Local Response
As a result of the war 85% of Liberia’s citizens have become refugees or displaced persons within their own country(Update 2) . Their situation has been one of hardship and difficulty. Often becoming a deliberate target of the war, these people have faced massacres from the beginning of the war and there are still reports of targeted killing of civilians by military factions. Many of the refugees or displaced persons caused by the Liberian war have not been able to reach assistance offered by the international community. This has occurred either because they have not been able to reach the safe or aid distribution areas because of fighting or detention or the relief agencies have not been allowed or could not get to vulnerable groups because of violence or refusal of passage by military authorities.
The refugee situation in Liberia has also been of a continous nature. Because of the continued reconfiguration of actors and territories in the war the refugee situation has not been able to reach a leveling off. In 1993 the IFRC estimated that the total number of refugees and displaced person caused by the Liberian civil war was 2,050,000(Update 1). At different times repatriations have occurred but it is questionable as to whether they were successful because many of these people are suspected as having to flee again because of renewed fighting. In 1994 some 775,000 Liberians refugees had fled their country and an estimated 1,000,000 were said to be internally displaced(Liberia 2). In addition to the Liberian refugees and displaced, there were also 260,000 Sierra Leonean refugees, 100,000 in Liberia and an estimated 400,000 displaced(U.S. Committee 65). Country breakdowns are as follows:
Liberia: 100,000 Sierra Leoneans refugees
Sierra Leone: 16,000 Liberian Refugees
Cote d’ivoire: 360,000 Liberian Refugees
Guinea: 375,000 Liberian refugees
200,000 Sierra Leonean refugees
Ghana: 20,000 Liberian refugees
Nigeria: 4,000 Liberian refugees
(Liberia 2)
UNHCR reported that about 50,000 Liberian refugees repatriated in 1993, 1994 but it is estimated that most of these refugees have fled because of renewed fighting late in 1994(U.S. Committee 58).
There are a number of different organizations that have worked at assisting the refugee and displaced populations in the various countries affected by the war. Both the UNHCR and either the ICRC or the IFRC has been working in each country affected by the war. The local Red Cross Societies have also been very active in aiding and assisting refugees and displaced. Some of the other organizations working in the region are UNICEF, The World Food Program, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, Reli