War Crimes Court Will Undermine Liberia’s Security

…Father Tikpor

The establishment of a war crimes court in Liberia will undermine the peace and security of the country, Monsignor Reverend Father Robert Tikpor has said.

Father Dr. Tikpor said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia should not recommend the establishment of a court of international justice in Liberia at the conclusion of its process. The Catholic prelate believes that such recommendation would not solve the country’s problem.

“Do not waste your time my beloved commissioners. An international court will not give us peace,” Father Tikpor said.

He was testifying Monday at Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Thematic Hearing on Historical Review in Monrovia.

He said the establishment of an international war crimes court in Liberia would ensure a return of the country to the path of confusion.

“We will not sleep if you recommend that. We will not sleep. They have their men around here. An international war crimes court will not heal the country. It will not heal the situation. We are a forgiving society. We are a healing society,” he said.

He recommended that leaders of the former warring factions be granted amnesty so that the country can remain peaceful. “Let’s ignore the heads of the former warring faction. It is God that will judge them,” he said.

Father Tikpor admonished Liberians to allow God to decide the fate of members of the former warring factions, saying, “Let God take our revenge.”

He clarified that his recommendation was personal and not the position of the Catholic Church in Liberia.

Although he said he was not against the commission recommending prosecution, he was opposed to the setting up of a war crimes court in Liberia.

Under the theme: “Examining Liberia’s Past: Reality, Myth, Falsehood and the Conflict”, the hearingwill provide a critical review and expert perspectives into Liberia’s past not only for the purpose of understanding the historical antecedents to the conflict, but to ensure the country’s history or national narrative reflected the experiences, beliefs and aspirations of Liberians of all backgrounds.

The hearing featuring the testimonies and presentations of historians, anthropologists, journalists, lawyers, politicians, diplomats and clergymen is intended to help Liberians rewrite their history by seeking to identify the issues that underpinned our history, divided us as a people and nearly eviscerated the state.

The hearings are focused on events between 1979 and 2003 and the national and external actors that helped to shape those events.

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Press Release issued by the TRC's media unit.

Historical Review Hearing Opens Monday

…Expert Historians To Testify

Prominent Liberian and foreign historians have started testifying at Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Thematic Hearing on Historical Review in Monrovia.

Under the theme: “Examining Liberia’s Past: Reality, Myth, Falsehood and the Conflict”, the hearings which will convene at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion from 1-6 September, will provide a critical review and expert perspectives into Liberia’s past not only for the purpose of understanding the historical antecedents to the conflict, but to ensure the country’s history or national narrative reflected the experiences, beliefs and aspirations of Liberians of all backgrounds.

The hearing featuring the testimonies and presentations of historians, anthropologists, journalists, lawyers, politicians, diplomats and clergymen is intended to help Liberians rewrite their history by seeking to identify the issues that underpinned our history, divided us as a people and nearly eviscerated the state.

Already, as part of the TRC’s endeavor to provide a critical review of Liberia’s past, several Liberian and foreign historians have been invited as expert witnesses to present testimonies during the hearing.

They include Dr. Joseph Saye Guannu, prominent Liberian historian; Monsignor Reverend Father Robert Tikpor, of the Catholic Church in Liberia; Professor Elwood Dunn, the Alfred Walter Negley Professor of Political Science at Sewanee: The University of the South (Tennessee, USA). Dr. Dunn is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles notably on Liberia.

Also to testify is Dr. Augustine Konneh, a professor and former Chairman of History at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Konneh also teaches at Clark Atlanta University and Agnes Scott College and his area of instructional concentration includes African, African-American, United States, Caribbean and World histories. His academic self interest is in economic history, particularly West Africa, and in conflict and conflict resolution in Africa.

Professor Svend Einar Holsoe, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Delaware will also give his historical perspective during the hearing. Professor Holsoe has authored several publications including books, book reviews monographs, edited works, bibliographic documentation and articles on Liberia. He is the founding editor of the Liberian Studies Journal, Liberian Working Papers and Liberian Monograph Series, member of the African Studies Association and a founding member of the Liberian Studies Association.

Another witness, Joseph Edward Holloway is a professor of Pan African Studies at California State University and a prolific writer on Liberia.

The TRC Historical Review Committee is chaired by Commissioner Pearl Brown-Bull. As part of the commission’s mandate to promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation following the country’s long running conflict, the TRC is required to adopt appropriate mechanisms and procedures to document the experiences of Liberians and address varying issues including the country’s historical myths that impacted the conflict.

The commission has been conducting investigations and research into cases of abuse and other violations during the conflict, as well as holding several individual, institutional and thematic hearings.

The hearings are focused on events between 1979 and 2003 and the national and external actors that helped to shape those events.

The TRC was agreed upon in the August 2003 Accra Peace Agreement and created by the TRC Act of 2005. The TRC was established to “promote national peace, security, unity and reconciliation,” and at the same time make it possible to hold perpetrators accountable for gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law that occurred in Liberia between January 1979 and October 2003.

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Press Release issued by the TRC's media unit.

Deadline is August 29 for Knight International Journalism Fellowships

Dear Lamii, The International Center for Journalists is currently seeking applicants for the Knight International Journalism Fellowships program. As participants of the 2008 Goteborg, Sweden conference we value your regional expertise and support of independent media worldwide. The Knight International Journalism Fellowships program sends international media professionals to key countries where there are opportunities for meaningful and measurable change. If you or someone you know may be interested in applying for a fellowship, please visit our Web site: http://knight.icfj.org/apply for information about the program and current fellowship openings. The countries we are currently recruiting fellows for are: Bangladesh, Brazil, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Montenegro, Pakistan, Philippines, Syria/Lebanon, and Zambia. Journalists applying for a fellowship must have a minimum of 10 years of journalism experience and fluency in the language of the host country. The deadline to apply for the October 20-24, 2008 orientation is August 29, 2008. The Knight International team is also looking for ways to reach potential fellows around the globe. If you know of a job posting Web site in your country or region, particularly one that focuses on journalism jobs, please send an email to knight@icfj.org. Sincerely, The Knight International Team 1616 H Street, NW 3rd Floor | Washington, DC 20006 US

Only 3% of People Recycle Their Old Mobile Phones

Survey carried out by Nokia has reported that only 3% of people recycle their mobile phones despite the fact that most have old devices lying around at home that they no longer want. Three out of every four people added that they don't even think about recycling their devices and nearly half were unaware that it is even possible to do so.

The survey is based on interviews with 6,500 people in 13 countries including Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, UK, United Arab Emirates, USA, Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia and Brazil. Nokia says they carried out the survey to find out more about consumers' attitudes and behaviors towards recycling, and inform the company's take-back programs and efforts to increase recycling rates of unused mobile devices.

Markus Terho, Director of Environmental Affairs, Markets, at Nokia said, "It is clear from this survey that when mobile devices finally reach the end of their lives that very few of them are recycled. Many people are simply unaware that these old and unused mobiles lying around in drawers can be recycled or how to do this. Nokia is working hard to make it easier, providing more information and expanding our global take-back programs." He added, "If each of the three billion people globally owning mobiles brought back just one unused device we could save 240,000 tonnes of raw materials and reduce greenhouse gases to the same effect as taking 4 million cars off the road. By working together, small individual actions could add up to make a big difference."

The findings highlight that despite the fact that people on average have each owned around five phones, very few of these are being recycled once they are no longer used. Only 3% said they had recycled their old phone. Yet very few old devices, 4%, are being thrown into landfill. Instead the majority, 44%, are simply being kept at homes never used. Others are giving their mobiles another life in different ways, one quarter are passing on their old phones to friends or family, and 16% of people are selling their used devices particularly in emerging markets.

Globally, 74% of consumers said they don't think about recycling their phones, despite the fact that around the same number, 72%, think recycling makes a difference to the environment. This was consistent across many different countries with 88% of people in Indonesia not considering recycling unwanted devices, 84% in India, and 78% of people in Brazil, Sweden, Germany and Finland.

The survey revealed that one of the main reasons why so few people recycle their mobile phones is because they simply don't know that it is possible to do so. In fact, up to 80% of any Nokia device is recyclable and precious materials within it can be reused. Globally, half of those surveyed didn't know phones could be recycled like this, with awareness lowest in India at 17% and Indonesia at 29%, and highest in the UK at 80% and 66% in Finland and Sweden.

Mr Terho said, "Using the best recycling technology nothing is wasted. Between 65 - 80 percent of a Nokia device can be recycled. Plastics that can't be recycled are burnt to provide energy for the recycling process, and other materials are ground up into chips and used as construction materials or for building roads. In this way nothing has to go to landfill."

Many people interviewed for the survey, even if they were aware that a device could be recycled, did not know how to go about doing this. Two thirds said they did not know how to recycle an unwanted device and 71% were unaware of where to do this.

Responding to the survey findings Nokia is developing a series of campaigns and activities to give people more information on why, how and where to recycle their old and unwanted devices, chargers and mobile accessories. The company is also expanding its global take-back program by adding many more collection bins and promoting these in store to raise greater awareness.

Posted on Cellular News website on 8th July 2008.

The Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice on Friday formally cleared Journalist Bill K. Jarkloh of Rape/Sodomy Charges. The City Court’s “Clerk’s Certificate” clearing Mr. Jarkloh of the charges forbids him from further answering to the charge of rape/sodomy.

The court document indicates that the case was been dismissed by the court after careful perusal in Mr. Jarkloh’s without prejudice, totally discharging him from further answering to the charge of Rape/Sodomy.

Mr. Jarkloh was on May 13, 2008 charged with Rape/Sodomy based on the complaint of one Ruth Samuels who alleged that he had raped her eight-year-old daughter Love Samuels. But Mr. Jarkloh at the time challenged his accusers to use the law prove the criminal charge against him instead of using extrajudicial methods.

The journalist who was detained at the Monrovia Central Prison for over three weeks by the court strongly protested his innocence and claimed that the charges against him were masterminded by people whose intend was to destroy his reputation.

Jarkloh noted that "the Chief Justice of Liberia, Cllr. Johnny Lewis, perfected the plot when he personally ordered the Monrovia City court to disregard police investigation into the Love Samuels situation and go ahead to prosecute Mr. Jarkloh in the absence of police investigative report and charge sheet as required by the New Penal Law of Liberia."

The journalist said the Women and Children Unit of the Liberia National Police was investigating the Love Samuels situation based on the intervention of a local NGO, ZODWOCA, Inc. through its Women and Children Coordinator Korpo Kortimai who is also Mr. Jarkloh’s spouse when the court arrested him on the Chief Justice’s orders.

The journalist further explained that Love Samuels was found on the streets of Monrovia in a state of abandonment. The journalists states that at which time the little girl told ZODWOCA and the Police that she was raped by a fellow known as Lincoln.

The journalists also said the police attested little girl on several prior occasions for vagrancy. The kid told police investigators at the Women and Children Unit that she was raped by this Lincoln person in a video cinema. “She earlier related the same information to ZODWOCA, and thereafter told the Safe Home to which police sent her for rehabilitation. She is said to have further confirmed this same information to the Court and even the Chief Justice in the presence relief workers and journalists.

Mr. Jarkloh has meanwhile indicated his intension of seeking legal redress against the people behind the conspiracy for the "very serious damage" the Rape and Sodomy allegation have done to his character and reputation. He then expressed his gratitude to all those who stood in his cause during his ordeal.

Liberia Media Center Releases 2nd Media Monitoring Report

After nearly three months, the Liberia Media Center today released its second media monitoring report on the coverage of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process and the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

The exercise, follow up on the center’s previous monitoring of the TRC coverage by the local media is meant to technical and editorial advice to the country’s media for the improvement of news content and programs being delivered to the general population.

According to an LMC release, the monitoring also seeks to build a culture of professional accountability amongst media houses. The center noted that the Liberian media has generally shown strong interest in the coverage of the TRC and the Charles Taylor trial, in spite resource and editorial constraints.

The release extolled the outstanding works done by the Daily Observer, New Democrat, Star Radio and Radio Veritas for their coverage of both processes, though overall the broadcast media provided more coverage than the print. The LMC also flagged The Analyst Newspaper’s persistency in notably keeping a number of issues, especially the appearance of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf before the TRC on the front burner.

All media institutions combined produced far better quality stories than the previous review. But the report berated the National Chronicle for what it called its troubling pattern of reporting. It strongly admonished the paper clearly delineate its news articles from its opinions.

The study stated that coverage of the TRC process declined since the issuance of the first monitoring report. This, the report noted is in part due to lack of access by reporters, and the movement of the hearings further away from the capital city Monrovia.

According to the report, the print media published a total of 182 articles dropping from a monthly average of 95.5 in the preceding period to 60.6 articles. While the broadcast media aired 126 articles which accounted for a 1.93% reduction on the previous monthly average of 65.5 to 42.0 news stories.

The monitoring found that coverage of the Charles Taylor trial is almost evenly divided between the print and broadcast outlets, though the broadcast sector relied rather heavily on Talking Drum Studio and the BBC World Service Trust syndicated reports from the trial taking The Netherlands.

In a related development the LMC has recommended that the TRC should to reconsider its approach to issues regarding media. The center said the commission’s media unit is acutely under-resourced and requires concrete support to carry out its functions and that support for local media coverage of the process should be provided if and when necessary.

The center also noted that a mechanism needs to be instituted for providing print media houses access to resources on the Charles Taylor trial. It says institutions like the ICTJ, LMC, BBCWST and TDS should explore the possibility of forging partnership as well as other creative ways to narrow the information gap, especially within the print media.

The LMC is expected to release its final report on its media monitoring project in the coming months.

HIGHWAY AFRICA CONFERENCE

2008 Theme: Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens

CALL FOR APPLICATION TO ATTEND THE HIGHWAY AFRICA CONFERENCE, 8 – 10 SEPTEMBER 2008, RHODES UNIVERSITY, GRAHAMSTOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

Highway Africa, a programme of the School of Journalism at Rhodes University, will be hosting the 12th edition of the Highway Africa Conference from 8-10 September in Grahamstown, South Africa.

Highway Africa has a limited number of scholarships for practising African journalists who are keen on learning and using digital media. PLEASE NOTE THE EMPHASIS ON PRACTISING JOURNALISTS. WE DO NOT HAVE SPONSORSHIP FOR ANY OTHER INTERESTED PARTICIPANTS OUTSIDE THIS CATEGORY.

Interested PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS should submit the following information:

· a curriculum vitae with 2 contactable referees
· a 300 word statement on why they are interested in attending the Highway Africa and what will be done with the skills and information acquired
· a letter of support from your Editor or Publisher

Please submit the above by the 30th of June 2008. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL BE DISCARDED. SEND THROUGH ALL DOCUMENTS AT THE SAME TIME.

Shortlisted candidates will be required to complete registration and indemnity forms supplied by Highway Africa.

The decision of Highway Africa on the selection of candidates is final.

Applications should be submitted to Luthando Kiti on:

L.Kitit@ru.ac.za and copied to dirtyharry70@gmail.com

Please do not phone to inquire about your application. We will respond to e-mail correspondence ONLY.