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Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Liberia holds funeral for ex-leader Doe decades after assassination
ZWEDRU, Liberia: Hundreds of people gathered Friday in rural Liberia for the state funeral of authoritarian former president Samuel Doe 35 years after his assassination, part of the country's ongoing reconciliation efforts over its violent past. Doe's brutal 1990 torture and murder were an early turning point in the two civil wars that killed around 250,000 people and ravaged Liberia's economy. He is being commemorated at his home compound in southeastern Grand Gedeh County alongside his wife, Nancy, who died in May and will be buried at the estate. Liberians gathered along the route Friday as the couple's caskets – his symbolic, and hers containing her body – were slowly driven through the county capital of Zwedru on the bed of a truck decorated in bunting in the country's red, white and blue colors. The state ceremony is being attended by President Joseph Boakai, who declared a period of mourning this week from Tuesday to Friday, with flags flown at half-mast. His executive mansion Facebook page said the commemorations are part of a 'broader effort' meant to 'promote national reconciliation.' The circumstances surrounding Doe's death mark a notorious episode in Liberia's history. Infamous warlord Prince Johnson, a key player in the civil wars (1989 to 2003), appeared in a video watching his fighters slowly mutilate and torture Doe to death while he calmly sipped a beer. Various rumors but little concrete information exists as to the fate and location of Doe's remains following his death. Doe's own rise to power was also steeped in violence. His 1980 to 1990 rule remains divisive, remembered by many Liberians as a brutal dictatorship, while others recall some transformative measures he implemented fondly. Liberian Mercy Janjay Seeyougar said in Monrovia ahead of the funeral that she remembered how Doe once gave her a candy, and that during street cleanings he would 'stop and be with the people who are doing the cleaning.' In 1980, Doe, then an army sergeant in his late 20s, led a coup assassinating president William Tolbert, the last in a line of leaders from the Americo-Liberian ruling class comprised of the descendants of former US slaves. Quickly establishing a regime of terror, Doe had 13 members of the government he had overthrown publicly executed on a beach and his regime subsequently jailed or persecuted many of its opponents. He was elected in a 1985 presidential vote that many observers said was marked by fraud. The brutality of his regime, combined with declining economic conditions and favoritism toward the Krahn ethnic group of which he was a member, led to increased unpopularity.
Malay Mail
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Syria launches national efforts for truth and reconciliation, vows justice for victims of Assad's regime
DAMASCUS, May 18 — Syria on Saturday announced the formation of a national commission for missing persons and another for transitional justice, more than five months after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. Syria's new authorities have pledged justice for victims of atrocities committed under Assad's rule, and a five-year transitional constitution signed in March provided for the formation of a transitional justice commission. The fate of tens of thousands of detainees and others who went missing remains one of the most harrowing legacies of Syria's conflict, which erupted in 2011 when Assad's forces brutally repressed anti-government protests, triggering more than a decade of war. A decree signed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and released by the presidency announced the formation of an independent 'national commission for missing persons'. The body is tasked with 'researching and uncovering the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared, documenting cases, establishing a national database and providing legal and humanitarian support to their families'. A separate decree announced the formation of a national commission for transitional justice to 'uncover the truth about the grave violations caused by the former regime'. That commission should hold those responsible to account 'in coordination with the relevant authorities, remedy the harm to victims, and firmly establish the principles of non-recurrence and national reconciliation', according to the announcement. The decree noted 'the need to achieve transitional justice as a fundamental pillar for building a state of law, guaranteeing victims' rights and achieving comprehensive national reconciliation'. Both bodies will have 'financial and administrative independence' and act over all of Syrian territory, according to the decrees signed by Sharaa. In December, an Islamist-led coalition toppled Assad after five decades of his family's iron-fisted rule and nearly 14 years of brutal war that killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more. Tens of thousands of people were detained and tortured in the country's jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons against his own people. Rights groups, activists and the international community have repeatedly emphasised the importance of transitional justice in the war-torn country. In March, Sharaa signed into force a constitutional declaration for a five-year transitional period. It stipulated that during that period, a 'transitional justice commission' would be formed to 'determine the means for accountability, establish the facts, and provide justice to victims and survivors' of the former government's misdeeds. This week, prominent Syrian human rights lawyer Mazen Darwish told AFP that lasting peace in Syria depended on the country building a strong judicial system giving justice to the victims of all crimes committed during the Assad era. — AFP
