Malawi's Matron in Monrovia

This weekend President Sirleaf hosted the new President of Malawi, Mrs. Joyce Banda, in a symbolic mini-summit of Africa's two female heads of state. Very clever of them, and perhaps gracious of Ma Ellen, as although Africa's 2nd female leader was hailed the world over, there has been some lamenting in Liberia of the diluting of Sirleaf's distinction,  with a headline in the New Democrat of 9 April reporting Banda's constitutional succession as: "Pres. Sirleaf Loses Iconic Place As Africa's Only Woman President." Sirleaf remains Africa's only elected (and re-elected) female leader.

When heads of state make official visits to Liberia, Tubman Boulevard's streetside poles are mounted with flags, as is the strange thin concrete arch over the street at Vamoma House. I can't help but marvel at the speed and efficiency with which these flags appear in orderly fashion just in time for these visits without even much visible installation---this compared the to delay and chaos in some many other basic government provisions that is so common.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, One Administration Later

Courtesy TLCAfrica.com

Four photos of Liberia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, two of which I took this weekend, two of which are from TLCAfrica's invaluable and shocking photo series of Monrovia. While I am not certain of the date of the first photo, it is surely sometime between 1990 and 2003, when Monrovia was sieged and most buildings were so devastated. But note that the 2nd photo below is time stamped to July 28, 1998, which (if correct) means this was the general condition of the Ministry during Charles Taylor's administration.

Courtesy TLCAfrica.com

The two photos below were taken a few days ago. One I tried to get from a similar vantage point, coming down Capitol Hill and onto Tubman Boulevard in Sinkor, opposite the University of Liberia. The building is mostly obscured by the stately trees and other landscaping between the street and the resurrected drive, but these are not the only cosmetic makeovers, as evident in the smart new paint scheme visible in the rooftop photo below, taken perhaps less than 9 years after the first image--one administration apart. Partly it should be noted that Foreign Affairs is the current home of the Ministry of State -- President Sirleaf's offices--- so there have been plenty of resources and reasons to fix up the place, but the juxtaposition is striking nonetheless, and speaks to how far the city has come since the recently-convicted Charles Taylor was administering Liberia's government as head of state. 

Both photos ©2012 Moved2Monrovia.

The Verdict

There were no disturbances on the street in Monrovia today, as some had feared, others had predicted, and even a few had hoped for.

There was a small crowd around the Daily Talk on Tubman Boulevard, where a crowd of young Taylor-sympathizers brought some clever signs, some alarming t-shirts, and the inevitable shrine to Papay Ghankay himself in the form of an oversized poster:

Just after the verdict was read a continent away, really immediately coinciding with it, a rainbow formed a halo around the sun. This lasted about an hour, perhaps more. I've now read international journalists' reporting positive and negative divinations of this rare astrological phenomenon.

The Crimes

It was a big, historic day for Liberia, West Africa, and the world as the verdict against Charles Taylor was read at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, some 3000 miles away in the Netherlands. Most of Monrovia tuned in, via radio and television, to hear the Judge read out the entire summary. The city was calm yet agitated, as people rushed to cluster around the nearest news outlet, and a few took to the streets. 


It was not exactly a sound-bite friendly format: the reading of the summary judgement took more than two hours, without the single-second drama of an OJ Simpson-style jury statement. I don't know how anticipated this was, but only the BBC and Al Jazeera covered the event live, and even they broke occasionally when the Judge took a sip of water to continue reading the 40+ page decision. 


Despite the court's dry tone and lengthly speech, the review of the case of striking, as it took more than a quarter of an hour just to read the charges against Taylor: with categories of crime, dates, times, brief descriptions of various events. If have copied that portion of the transcript of today's session below. 

In newspaper coverage of the trial, the list of the accusations, when rattled off, is so vast and vague that the real events they are based on can be forgotten. And while the summary does not detail the tens of thousands of pages of testimony and transcripts that the Judges reviewed, it does reference enough context to remind us that these charges are the result of specific acts of violence and inhumanity. 

In the wake of Taylor's guilty verdict, in which not all of the prosecution's case was proven, it is no longer about Charles Taylor, the single man. The list below recounts hundreds of individual and collective horrors, whole classes of atrocities which occurred countless times to thousands of people. What number of homes and businesses were looted? How many were burned down, and how many people were inside? In total, many murders relate to the following list? How many rapes? How many were in public? What was the final count on the number of amputations? In the end, how many young people had been coerced, drugged, fooled or forced into soldiering or slavery? How many escaped and were sent back, their fate sealed? When does a rape victim become recategorized as a sex slave? 


How many lives did this war destroy? These were the thoughts running through my mind before the judge asked Charles Taylor to stand and learn his fate. 


MURDER, a Crime Against Humanity, punishable under Article 2.a. of the Statute. (Count 2) and/or
VIOLENCE to Life, Health and Physical or Mental Well-Being of Persons, in particular MURDER, a Violation of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II , punishable under Article 3.a. of the Statute (Count 3)
16. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance, and/or Liberian fighters, murdered civilians in various locations in the following districts of Sierra Leone:

17. In Kenema District between about 25 May 1997 and about 31 March 1998.
    
18. In Kono District between about 1 February 1998 and about 31 January 2000.
    
19. In Freetown and the Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and 28 February 1999.
    20. In Kailahun District between about 1 February 1998 and about 30 June 1998.

RAPE, a Crime Against Humanity, punishable under Article 2.g. of the Statute
(Count 4)
21. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance, and Liberian fighters committed widespread acts of rape against women and girls in various locations in the following districts of Sierra Leone:

22. In Kono District between about 1 February and about 31 December 1998.
    
23. In Freetown and the Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and about 28 February 1999.
    24. In Kailahun District in 1998 and 1999 women and girls were raped in various locations which were not charged in the Indictment. The Trial Chamber makes no finding of guilt for these crimes for reasons fully set out in the written judgement.

SEXUAL SLAVERY, a Crime Against Humanity, punishable under Article 2.g. of the Statute (Count 5)
25. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that between about 30 November 1996 and about 18 January 2002, members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance and Liberian fighters committed widespread acts of sexual slavery against civilian women and girls in Sierra Leone in various locations in the following districts of Sierra Leone:

26. In Kono District between about 1 February 1998 and about 31 December 1998.
    
27. In Kailahun District in 1998 and 1999.
    
28. In Freetown and the Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and about 28 February 1999.

OUTRAGES UPON PERSONAL DIGNITY, a Violation of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II, punishable under Article 3.e. of the Statute (Count 6).


29. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance and Liberian fighters committed widespread acts of outrages upon the personal dignity of civilian women and girls by acts such as forcing them to undress in public and by raping them and committing other acts of sexual abuse sometimes in full view of the public, and in full view of family members, in various locations in the following districts of Sierra Leone:

30. In Kono District between about 1 February 1998 and about 31 December 1998;
    
31. In Freetown and the Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and about 28 February 1999;

32. In Kailahun District in 1998 and 1999 outrages upon personal dignity were committed against women and girls in various locations not charged in the Indictment. The Trial Chamber makes no finding of guilt for these crimes for reasons fully set out in the written judgement.


VIOLENCE to life, health and physical or mental well-being of persons, in particular CRUEL TREATMENT, a Violation of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II, punishable under Article 3.a. of the Statute (Count 7); and/or
OTHER INHUMANE ACTS, a Crime Against Humanity, punishable under Article 2.i. of the Statute (Count 8)


33. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance, and Liberian fighters committed widespread acts of physical violence against civilians in various locations in the following districts of Sierra Leone:
34. In Kono District between about 1 February 1998 and about 31 December 1998, civilians were forced to endure cruel treatment including having words carved into their bodies, and amputations of limbs.
35. In Kailahun District, crimes of physical violence were committed not charged in the Indictment. The Trial Chamber makes no findings of guilt for these crimes for reasons fully set out in the written judgement.
36. In Freetown and the Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and about 28 February 1999 civilians were subjected to cruel treatment, including the amputations of limbs.

CONSCRIPTING OR ENLISTING CHILD SOLDIERS INTO THE ARMED FORCES OR USING THEM IN HOSTILITIES, and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, punishable under Article 4.c. of the Statute (Count 9)


37. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that between about 30 November 1996 and about 18 January 2002, members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance and Liberian fighters conscripted and enlisted children under the age of 15 into their armed groups and used them to participate actively in the hostilities in the following districts of Sierra Leone:
38. In Tonkolili District, children under the age of 15 were abducted and conscripted into the RUF at Kangari Hills from early 1996 until May 1997. Between 500 and 1000 children had “RUF” carved into their forehead or back to prevent escape.
39. In Kailahun District, children under the age of 15 were conscripted into the RUF throughout 1998 and 1999, and underwent military training at Bunumbu training base, also known as “Camp Lion”, and at Buedu Field.
40. In Kono District during the Indictment period, children under the age of 15 were conscripted into the RUF and AFRC at various locations and were used to participate actively in hostilities and to amputate limbs, guard diamond mines, go on food-finding missions, as bodyguards, to man checkpoints and in armed combat.
41. In Bombali District, children under the age of 15 were conscripted into the RUF and AFRC between 1998 and 2000, underwent military training at various locations and participated actively in hostilities.
42. In Port Loko District between January 1999 and April/May 1999, a child under the age of 15 was abducted, conscripted into the AFRC and used for active participation in hostilities in Masiaka.
43. In Kenema District during the Junta period, children under the age of 15 were used as armed guards for mining sites.

44. In Koinadugu District between March and May 1998, children under the age of 15 were used to participate actively in hostilities and at least one child under the age of 15 was used to fight against the Kamajors.
45. In Freetown and the Western Area, children under the age of 15 were used to participate actively in hostilities in Benguema from the end of January until March 1999 and during the Freetown attack in January 1999.


ENSLAVEMENT, a Crime Against Humanity, punishable under Article 2.c. of the Statute (Count 10)
46. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that between 30 November 1996 and about 18 January 2002, members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance and Liberian fighters intentionally exercised powers of ownership over civilians by depriving them of their freedom and forcing them to work, thus committing the crime of enslavement in various locations in the following districts of Sierra Leone:
47. In Kenema District between about 1 July 1997 and about 28 February 1998, civilians were abducted and forced to mine for diamonds.
48. In Kono District throughout 1998 and 1999, civilians were abducted and used as forced labour to carry loads, perform domestic chores, go on food-finding missions, undergo military training, and work in diamond mines.
49. In Kailahun District between 30 November 1996 and July 2000 civilians were abducted and used as forced labour to carry loads, collect arms and ammunition, construct the Buedu airstrip, undergo military training, farm, fish, perform domestic chores and go on food-finding missions.
50. In Freetown and the Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and about 28 February 1999, civilians were abducted and used as forced labour to carry loads, perform domestic chores and destroy a bridge.

PILLAGE, a Violation of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II, punishable under Article 3.f. of the Statute (Count 11)
51. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance, and Liberian fighters, engaged in widespread and unlawful taking of civilian property in various locations in the following districts of Sierra Leone:
52. In Kono District, between about 1 February 1998 and about 31 December 1998, civilian goods were looted, money and diamonds were looted from a bank and, as part of ‘Operation Pay Yourself’, civilian homes and shops were looted.
53. In Bombali District, numerous instances of looting of civilian property occurred between 1 February 1998 and 30 April 1998. Money from a bank was also looted.
54. In Port Loko District between 1 February 1998 and 30 April 1998 there were numerous instances of looting of civilian property as part of Operation Pay Yourself.
55. In Freetown and the Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and about 28 February 1999, widespread looting of civilian property from residences and businesses occurred.


ACTS OF TERRORISM, a Violation of Article 3 Common to the Geneva Conventions and of Additional Protocol II, punishable under Article 3.d. of the Statute ( Count 1)
56. The Trial Chamber finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that members of the RUF, AFRC, AFRC/RUF Junta or alliance, and Liberian fighters committed acts of terrorism by committing the crimes described in counts 2 to 8 as part of a campaign to terrorize the civilian population of Sierra Leone.
57. There was evidence in the crimes described in counts 2 to 8 of public executions and amputations; people were beheaded and their heads displayed at checkpoints; during “Operation No Living Thing,” during the Junta Period in Kenema Town, a civilian was killed in full public view and then his body was disembowelled and his intestines stretched across the road to make a “checkpoint”; women and girls were raped in public; people were burned alive in their homes. The Trial Chamber finds beyond reasonable doubt that the purpose of these atrocities charged in counts 2 to 8 was to instil terror in the civilian population.

58. However, some acts of violence, even when committed in a campaign whose primary purpose was to terrorise the civilian population, may not have been committed in furtherance of such a campaign. The Trial Chamber finds that this is the case with the acts of violence underlying the crimes of Child Soldiers (Count 9), Enslavement (Count 10), and Pillage (Count 11). The Trial Chamber therefore finds that the crime of acts of terrorism has not been established for these counts.
59. The Trial Chamber also finds that the Prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that acts of terrorism were committed by the widespread burning of civilian property with the primary purpose of terrorizing the civilian population in various locations in Kono District between about 1 February 1998 and about 31 December 1998, and in various locations in Freetown and Western Area between about 21 December 1998 and February 1999. 

Let Justice Be Done To All...

The Temple of Justice is one of the three huge buildings that make up the triumvirate of the Capitol Hill complex, just southeast of Central Monrovia. The TOJ, which houses the Supreme Court, is a curious building, with an oblong tower connected to an arrangement of court houses. 

Dating from around 1960 and originally built by the Italians, the Temple was refurbished with assistance from the US government in 2008-2010. 

One notable aspect of this renovation, which had previously skipped my notice, was an alteration to the massive motto which is affixed to the narrow façade of the temple's central tower, which faces the street which bisects Capitol Hill. 

Historically, and until recently, the elevation had been arranged with the seal of the Republic, a large title head "TEMPLE OF JUSTICE" above a set of scales, underneath which it read, "LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO ALL MEN" which is, beyond the unsettling imagery of its passive-voice, commandeering construction, loaded with irony for a country whose people high and low have regularly inflicted great injustices upon one another and generally treated different groups unequally, sometimes perilously so. 

 The last word is also a bit uncomfortable in 21st century English, as usage has moved away from employing "men" to stand-in adequately for "human beings" while amicably referencing that half of the species which are not, actually, men.

In response to that, and perhaps at the behest of the great many women in high levels of public service here in Liberia, from the President, to the Minister of Justice, to the American Ambassador, and the United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary General (the last two of whom have recently departed), the upgrading of the mid-century complex included an updating of the motto. (Here's a link to a nice blog post from a Liberian woman about witnessing this alteration). Today, the same wall reads, "LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO ALL" or more exactly:

LET

JUSTICE

BE DONE

TO ALL

*

In which the star acts as a sort of period, end of sentence, for the whole assemblage.

However, a popular joke around town is, that this is not just a decorative flourish, but actually part of the new meaning of the motto. For it reads, LET JUSTICE BE DONE TO ALL (STAR). Therefore, if you are not a star, or perhaps, one of the 'all stars,' then no justice will come to you under the current system. 

Justice

The world awaits Thursday's announcement in the Hague, and foreign correspondents have flown in to Robertsfield, and all week has been filing the latest child-soldiers-and-cannibalism "pieces" to add to that particular journalistic canon, if not the wider world's understanding of Liberia and its recent past. 

Monrovia has been mostly calm, without the tense, pensive atmosphere of the election season. No one knows what news will come this week, or what this country's reaction to it will be. Some seem to be willing for the drama and action of unrest in the streets.

But lots of people seem to have had enough of that. While there is disgruntlement, and anger that can often lead to violence, there is little momentum that carries even a charged street mob into a chaotic frenzy. There are flashes of unrest, which extinguish as quickly as the flare.

On Saturday night, a motorbike driver died on Sékou Touré Avenue on Mamba Point. A gate had been installed across the foot of the hill, which leads up a hill lined with United Nations and World Bank offices (Sékou Touré is something of the Turtle Bay of Monrovia).  After midnight, the gate was down across the street, and either the motorbike driver (a) did not know that the gate was there, or was not open, or (b) the guard closed the gate to prevent the motorbike from passing, possibly because the driver had not bribed the guard to open the gate. The motorbike smashed to bits against the barrier, the gas tank exploding, according to witnesses.

Sékou Touré Avenue at Newport Street on Sunday morning.
The gate's barrier is on the sidewalk, the black burn marks are presumably from the gas tank. 

Newport Street at the intersection. The United Nations was present, but the scene was calm. 

An angry mob formed in the neighborhood. The guard or guards ran away. The mob put fire to the wooden guard house, but did not cause further disturbance. A provision shop a few feet from the scene was unharmed. The following day, Liberia National Police tactical units and United Nations forces lined the block. Groups of residents formed at the curbs. But there was no confrontation, verbally or physically. The cops asked questions of elders, ascertaining facts.

Many people didn't hear about the incident: I just happened upon it, driving through the city on Sunday morning. By the late afternoon, some expatriates began texting each other warning messages, to steer clear of the area and foretelling of possible mob action or violence from fellow motorbike drivers, or other agitators.

The following day, motorbike drivers did indeed return to the scene. The young men, perhaps more than a few of them former combatants in the war, stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the ruined gate, holding hand-written signs, demanding justice for the guards, and compensation for the victims and their families. That was all they wanted, and so they had organized in a civil manner to ask for it.

Ripped from the Liberian Headlines: Giant Caterpillars Invade Grand Cape Mount: Chop down fruit trees, threaten police

This is the type of reporting I've only ever encountered here, with its wonderfully inaccurate, vague, and apocryphal style. From yesterday's Inquirer newspaper (emphasis added):

Caterpillars Invade Cape Mount Again - Chops Grapefruit Tree, Threatens Police Station

Caterpillars have again surfaced in Garwula District, Grand Cape Mount County after they were last discovered in Jewajeh Town, Tewor District.

The giant size caterpillars were discovered in Sinje Town, next to the Sinje Police Checkpoint after they attacked and chopped off the leaves of a tree close to the area.

According to the Police in Sinji, some of the caterpillars were heading toward the police station, but were burned to avoid infestation.

This paper was also informed by some residents of a nearby village that the caterpillars have eaten-up the leaves of a grapefruit tree and are moving to other tree crops in the area.

According to the Agriculture Coordinator of Grand Cape Mount County, Mr. Gboto Massaquoi, the caterpillars are not army worms and are not very harmful as compared to army worms.

He added that from the survey conducted by his office, the caterpillars were not in large quantity. He said a team of experts from the Ministry of Agriculture has successfully sprayed the caterpillars in the county and is no longer found in the area.

It is yet to be seen whether the insects will resurface in other areas in the county.

The imagery is hilarious and wonderful: an army of giant caterpillars invade a whole county, attacking a police checkpoint and chasing the police to their station, so that the immediate area had to be set ablaze like the Atlanta munitions depot in the face of the approaching Sherman's march. Meanwhile some villagers nearby report that a single grapefruit tree "in the area" had had a few leaves clipped.

Ripped from the Liberian Headlines: Giant Caterpillars Invade Grand Cape Mount: Chop down fruit trees, threaten police

This is the type of reporting I've only ever encountered here, with its wonderfully inaccurate, vague, and apocryphal style. From yesterday's Inquirer newspaper (emphasis added):

Caterpillars Invade Cape Mount Again - Chops Grapefruit Tree, Threatens Police Station

Caterpillars have again surfaced in Garwula District, Grand Cape Mount County after they were last discovered in Jewajeh Town, Tewor District.

The giant size caterpillars were discovered in Sinje Town, next to the Sinje Police Checkpoint after they attacked and chopped off the leaves of a tree close to the area.

According to the Police in Sinji, some of the caterpillars were heading toward the police station, but were burned to avoid infestation.

This paper was also informed by some residents of a nearby village that the caterpillars have eaten-up the leaves of a grapefruit tree and are moving to other tree crops in the area.

According to the Agriculture Coordinator of Grand Cape Mount County, Mr. Gboto Massaquoi, the caterpillars are not army worms and are not very harmful as compared to army worms.

He added that from the survey conducted by his office, the caterpillars were not in large quantity. He said a team of experts from the Ministry of Agriculture has successfully sprayed the caterpillars in the county and is no longer found in the area.

It is yet to be seen whether the insects will resurface in other areas in the county.

The imagery is hilarious and wonderful: an army of giant caterpillars invade a whole county, attacking a police checkpoint and chasing the police to their station, so that the immediate area had to be set ablaze like the Atlanta munitions depot in the face of the approaching Sherman's march. Meanwhile some villagers nearby report that a single grapefruit tree "in the area" had had a few leaves clipped.

Egyptair Flying to Robertsfield?

In a nearly identical story from the post from earlier today about Emirates, the Liberian Observer's inflated-headline factory churns out another bloated balloon: Egyptair resumes flights to Liberia, in which the article actually states that some Egyptian aviation officials visited Liberia, and signed an agreement which paves the way for Egyptair to fly to Robertsfield from Cairo via Accra "next year." This seems more concrete than February's Emirates update, and the article also references a precedent that Egyptair formerly flew to RIA, but as far as I know that was never the case.

Emirates Coming to Robertsfield?

Since at least 2009, there has been feverish excitement that everyone's favorite megacarrier, Emirates Airline, would start flying to Liberia. Given the airline's rapid expansion, across the African continent as much as anywhere else, and the general lack of air service into the country, any hint of movement on the subject has been met with swoons of excitement, at least by the Liberian press, which don't necessarily mind passing on a hyped up announcement of not-so-much, such as when Liberia and the UAE sign an MoU discussing the concept of air service between the two countries.

Two years ago, eyes swam with daydreams of shopping malls and sand dunes in the wake of the sufficiently vague Liberian Observer headline: Emirates Airline Flies to Liberia Soon, which was actually a story about some Emirates execs coming to check out Robertsfield, just as a management team of an airline which is receiving one new A380 super jumbo jet a month surely does to every international airport in the world. This latest article was the first update on Emirates's interest in RIA since that breathless report from 2010. An interesting note on the attendance, or lack thereof on the Liberian side:

“The UAE delegation designated Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, RAK Airways and FlyDubai as UAE national airlines under the Agreement. The Liberian delegation will designate its airlines in due course.”

April is the Cruelest Month

The above photo is from mid-April 1979. The corner of Broad and Randall Streets, the "1st and Main" of Monrovia, which is still today the site of the Palm Hotel and is down the street from the KLM desk, but no longer boasts a swish Swissair ticket office or Panasonic showroom. The city of that morning looks modern, cosmopolitan, and affluent, but on closer inspection, a disorder is evident.

It is one of the first days after the Rice Riots, perhaps even the very next morning. The Swissair agent's glass windows are smashed away, and the debris of chaos is visible on the otherwise immaculate pavement. At least forty Liberians are dead, the first casualties in a violence which would crescendo into a great massacre of hundreds of thousands.

While travel agents would sweep up the lobbies of their plush storefronts and enjoy a few more years representing European airlines, and the Lebanese Hi-Fi salons would still find customers for the latest American, European, and Japanese electronics, the golden days of Monrovia's prosperity were coming to an end. Later that year, in June, President Tolbert would open the Hotel Africa and Unity Conference Center, and for a brief while it would seem that Monrovia was still the capital of Africa, and Liberia was still a leader among its nations.

But by the next April, Tolbert would be dead in his bedroom, burial place unknown. His cabinet, including his family members, would be tied up and shot on the beach, or never be seen again.

That would be a full decade and half before the hell of April 6th, 1996, which drowned Monrovia in an acid bath of looting, destruction, mayhem and murder, and announced the arrival of the new leader, Charles Taylor.

It would be another seven years before the chaos of April 2003, when World War III rained down on destitute, desolate Monrovia in the form of un-aimed rockets, blind grenade landings, and the deadly whistle of AK bullets whipping through the streets.

April has come to Monrovia again, full of dates which are remembered by mourning if they are thought of at all. The clouds are changing. The waves, so crisp and evenly paced in previous months, crash haphazardly on shore. The bright sand repels the tidal forces, sometimes sending them back to crash against the next onslaught, a spectacular sight that forebodes of dangerous currents for swimmers. The seasons are changing; the skies begin to dim with cloud cover, soon to darken with rain.

Photo via Liberia77

What does New Zealand have to do with Liberia?

Generally not a lot, however over the past six months, stories about New Zealand have been showing up in news alerts about Liberia, and vice versa.

The reason is the Rena, a freighter vessel which struck the Astrolabe reef off the eastern coast of New Zealand's north island on October 5th, and has been lodged their since, slowly breaking up. Details of the toxic threat of oil and other chemicals leaking into the reef, and the US$100million clean-up that followed can be found in articles from around the world.

The Greek-owned, Swiss-chartered, Filipino-crewed cargo liner is, like a large number of ships on the high-seas, Liberian-registered. Liberia has long been one of the world's leading "flags-of-convenience" which has often been a source of bad press in general as an opaque source of foreign currency for Liberia's government and an unhealthy arrangement in which the world's oceangoing operators seek the lightest regulations to register their fleets (article from 2003 when Taylor departed). I mentioned the Liberian Ship Registry back in February when talking about their shiny new building in Sinkor.

Its only worse when there is a headline-grabbing accident with a Liberian-registered vessel, such as happened when Carnival Cruise Line's megaliner the Ecstasy caught fire after leaving Miami in 1998. The footage, caught on camera by Miami news stations, broadcast images of a blackening stern with the word MONROVIA emblazoned in huge letters (see below). The only connection to Liberia at all is legal and tax paperwork, yet its yet another way that evening news watchers associate negative news events with Liberia.

In the case of the Rena, it seems there may be some actual involvement of Liberian government authorities in allowing the ship to continue on its fateful voyage across the Tasman Sea. From an Associated Press Story from the end of February:

A December investigation by the AP found that Australian authorities impounded the ship 10 weeks before the crash after finding 17 safety and maintenance violations, but that Liberian maritime authorities intervened, essentially saying the ship was safe to sail and the problems could be fixed later. It's not clear whether any of the previously identified problems played a role in the grounding.

So far, the crew and the owners have been charged, but there is no further word if Liberia could be in further trouble or exposed to cost recovery by antipodean authorities. The repetitional damage that Liberia's foreign image continues to suffer at the convenience of its international maritime registry has been inflicted once again.

A Morning Crocodile Cloud

I woke up this morning to an immense crocodile-snouted cloud rising with the sun over the ocean. I was startled, but take it as a good sign.

Greetings from Liberia

I am still in Monrovia. This blog is not dead. Its best posts are ahead of it-- in fact, there is more to write about than ever before. I've just been busy with my day job, which has been awesome, but exhausting. Every day this city surprises me, pleases me, frustrates me, and inspires me. Welcome back, thank you for your patience and attention.

Above: a postcard from Liberia, c.1970. A panoramic view of Monrovia from atop Snapper Hill (perhaps from the Ducor Hotel) looking west-southwest towards Sinkor. The Executive Mansion can be seen faintly in the center background, and the bizarrely Brutalist Trinity Episcopal Cathedral can be partially seen at left.