[00:00:00]
>> Well I mean relative to the rest of the country I had a very good life. My father was at the data he was industrious he was a lawyer he made a decent living for us it could have been much better. Had it not been for a lot of.

[00:00:23]
Oppression both economic and political is a man who spent a lot of resources running for the Senate three times one of three times but the position was given to someone else who the government felt comfortable with. He lost his job as a result of the county because. You disagree.

[00:00:46]
On some policy matters the first one was. When. The lamp will strike in one nine hundred seventy three the justice minister the labor minister went in to name a county and and sent to their barracks for soldiers to going to crush the strike. And become a commando team to him because that's what had a calming he was a commander in chief of the forces and he said first of all I don't take orders from the justice minister take them directly from the president of the minister of justice I mean of minutes of internal local government and secondly I don't see the justification for sending soldiers to go across the labor dispute in Lampel has not told us that there's any you know crime of violence going on so you know when.

[00:01:36]
And then after he he lost his job they suppressed him economically he started a logging company and the fight before he started along company he leased land till talking on the company which was. You know operated. Paddle was a nephew of Paul but from his wife's side. As one.

[00:02:00]
As operators so lease the land and talk lumber company never paid a dime in each a certain time for ages it was impossible for them to collect I remember one time was going up to twenty five thousand dollars in one thousand seventy four twenty five thousand was a lot of money.

[00:02:14]
Then he joined with an Italian or started their own company and as soon as they got their first consignment they whine and talk Lumber Company part of protest that my father's company trespassed on their land imagine a man whose political unpopular has fallen on the president hasn't done for us but he leaves out a going and fast pass on the present nephew foreigners so the first to develop my people came in to investigate and their finding was that no interest passed but the trees are talking on the company's concession basic translation of you want to land you don't want to trace there's no such thing in life.

[00:02:55]
You only land you own everything from six feet below and. There's a mineral right six feet in the part that you don't so there was a lot of that. Economic oppression that cost our lifestyle to not be what it was in terms of truly achieving the potential that's why I spoke of economic and political life the centralization of power where you had a fairly comfortable life yes and.

[00:03:23]
If you what. Time you could leave the life. Yes. Then you get interested in one thousand nine hundred ninety eight. Point. Did you start to get in for in the situation in Liberia in the States. I've always been deeply interested in what's happening in my country. In the early eighty's so I started to import export porn and.

[00:04:01]
I detention of the war in the area was something that I did not participate in and didn't feel I was the right thing to do in fact most people who actually participated and I was saying in secrecy after the fact when I was long before a lot of information began to be revealed to me.

[00:04:20]
So at what point did you start to get in for in the one way when you say get involved I've always been like you said in one thousand nine hundred fourteen. In one thousand. You and I'm four in the OK so which one way you fall with are you talking about several levels of involvement so please let me know differently by different prizes we had it and we've had a race Wired Where you in any way involved in that now it's the other way yeah yeah and then they had an association Yeah.

[00:04:59]
People taking from me. And do a pot of rice why. Were you a part also of that organization at that time no it was in Michigan that an organization was not a member was an affiliate of where you live at that time and then we came to the coup.

[00:05:21]
By do with. The military. Leader was. Am I right that's your right. Where you involving the now. The wars. Was. Were you in for any of those Now the only involvement I had is what I explained to you with an emergency council. In my retention council was one of those.

[00:05:56]
Fighting forces a fighting force die. Also committed atrocities in the country. And so I want to repeat one question that commissionable us as you city can you consider yourself by the fidelity you supported by agreeing to be. The speaker for the consul. Supported. Incursion into the country you can be as a.

[00:06:36]
I did not have command and control responsibilities. I can take responsibility if someone was a factor that an organization that was affected that I was affiliated with cause that impact and I can. You know definitely take responsibility for that affiliation but the command and control of that organization rested with the government the interim government the purpose of that assault but Association of that organization was to launch along with I come out that's what we were told that's what I believe that's what I that's why I signed on that we will be supporting a deployment up back on the fact that Baca wanted not deployed.

[00:07:27]
It was not unknown to me at the time I made those statements I was here. Outside of all of the spheres of what happened at the time that the actions actually did happen. And our views of what should happen down was misled so I don't know the answer to your question OK You said that most of the Christ I do it is in the country were supported first by maybe the.

[00:08:01]
Organizations. Dendy. OK niceish and c and in the Congo. Did you in any way I support any one of those organizations. Besides an American flag also no. Thank you so much. Thank you very much for dying. As you would there on the stand this is an exercise intended to provide clarity.

[00:08:31]
You know meet the truth. And expose whatever inconsistences phalluses that can be contained in the narratives of our history. In that regard. I would like to ask you. What. Did the command structure the command and control structure. Of the N.R.C. the modem should counsel what did it look like Who were the top commanders.

[00:09:05]
Where exactly in Liberia it operated if it did operate at all. And let me. Stop there for now OK while we there was a board. Which was a sort of decision making body that had just I want to. Johnson. How are you on. The I want them. And.

[00:09:33]
Late Gen final. And I had an executive committee that was chaired by. Dr Dhar on. You happy that. You asked for Dolly and. Johnson quite well. And it. Was a war. There are a few others whose names are not coming to mind right now but all those four they saw that they gave the prominent actors and I was on that.

[00:10:10]
The media while reporting to the board on the military side the person who was according to walk with AK I was out of pocket cost. The school part. The forming part of the first name. And car cause Well I mean. He was the. They feel commander yet he was the leader of the military wing Yeah and then you had on loan being L O M B E R.

[00:10:51]
And last name of bad B A H U R. C He was a deputy of. The last the missing B H R. And there's Secondly you're I was you had a two part question right yeah yeah what. They were. Going to straddle along the border in the forest awaiting the arrival of echo mark so that they could link up with the economic department and when the announcement was made and there was no act on.

[00:11:36]
Every get to fish them out and their positions were discovered is what I've been told and so that's when the what engaged in combat with. What the plan B F L What the M.P.'s felt and most of that thinking happened around the area. In the forest behind you could buy places like that.

[00:11:59]
Where the. But to get the training. They want they will actually fight us in the M.P.R. probably our expert or some of them have training with the M.P.'s on Libya. Where they get their arms and ammunition from when. They really don't have any they were waiting for economic department I said.

[00:12:21]
So how were they able to engage the M.P.'s not in combat. And I think from what it took they had a few single bowels and things like that but they have a military hardware have a weapons and stuff like that and have they bought a few pieces from you know from from Taylor's forces who came on to the side by their very lightly armed though they were not prepared for combat at all.

[00:12:48]
What would you say was the strength. I don't have you know any direct hold on the number that would actually I think that once I had I mean I mean being more than a thousand. And. I tell him Scott I would be a good person I asked that question he said it's the same not in most common cause I was wagging also to people who.

[00:13:19]
I know was sent from one over along when you asked what Dolly and. Why dollars. You ask for dollar why dollar was ours why give that. One as bad as A B L E I think. He said the theater of operations along the. Was in the delirium. Along the Liberian Guinea and all of you have a remote.

[00:13:53]
I think there's. Probably a close. To. They are poor and tired. And what would you say was the extent to which they were able to capture. Territory in Iberia and for how long they will hold on to such territory. They I don't know that they. Captured in territorial hold on to reality.

[00:14:27]
Information and come to me litigating prisoners. In the area which operated they kept any village of towns. When you know when they. When they were attacked I think they did launch a counter attack on. That that part I know about to about I don't know that the captured I held it was from what I was saying that lasted for about a week and then I felt that I couldn't.

[00:15:06]
Stand and it took off and. So long you see they were operational until the. About a week was about we. Thank you very much. Thank you. For your testimony. With the M.P.'s at what point did I come about you know I read everything and I was shortly after my arrival in Monrovia about late March.

[00:15:43]
Wasn't I think or sometime in April or May when we found out for sure that I'll be no department by we were asked. We were sort of given some sense that it was possible to. Do you know the airport for the deployment of. And saw. One when I took a trip to Guinea.

[00:16:11]
Sort of come to know that dialogue you know was still possible. So to have the economic deployment to take place. In terms of Baghdad. But shortly after that period when we were convinced that ACMA was not taking going to take that initiative. Which was a bad decision to make clear sort of right around the courtroom a.

[00:16:39]
FISA court. You know testimony also said that one and so. On Money that's what out there will want to handle the situation is that what. Collaborate with the consul Now we were what half hour after the fact one echo market change of mind that they couldn't do it.

[00:17:05]
Because of the logistical reasons then they claim that we have plan B. And this is our plan B.. They also talk about border patrol a death squad that was used. To remember the commando of the name of some of the people at all true. It was a one person.

[00:17:37]
That name stood out and that was the name but I understand it came with about fifteen to twenty people that he. Had in this entourage one long time. So the name of. The whole the names one person means to the Border Patrol. Individual. What Border Patrol is that as and as an individual that's just fighting as a person.

[00:18:07]
That's a fighting game of border patrol and his real name is mentoring and if you if you say Border Patrol people know what you're talking about. OK now that there was an individual who was a leader of one of the leaders of Taylor That's why. You know if you had a party but I was not told I was in this group but I thought up Border Patrol work that's just mending.

[00:18:46]
Border Patrol was the leader of the group at that time. And I think that's. So we never had a real name anyway no mental illness or humanity but people everyone people talk about everybody the knowing of the Border Patrol. Thank you. Do we get it from you Daddy and Iris he was a creation of the.

[00:19:33]
Government Yes. Source of funding came also from leaking to government Yes and how things were you that. Has signed on to this area and decided to support it. I was at the time we had a meeting in the summer after my love life where I was convinced I didn't have any reason.

[00:19:58]
To be. What they told me what call he she. Well. Let's say we saw enough to convince us that. What we're seeing the way that we saw sufficient evidence that I was involved we have a number of countries a lot of these things are where you cook up consider classified information and I think it would not be.

[00:20:28]
In the interest of like the U.S. relationship with this country for my own. Future problem if the I spoke to this person that person that person then let's say we were convinced that this was a plan that. In the worst you had direct engagement with top brass of the peacekeeping force at a time I'm not going to comment on that.

[00:20:54]
You. Think you're supposing you don't have to answer that. OK Mr Witness one of the you thank you very much for coming in and sharing these moments of reflections and. Best practice of us again we extend to your sympathy for the death of your father and other very close relatives before you leave is there anything else but other want to see you.

[00:21:26]
Just want to first. Thank all of those that. Have made this possible you the commission the advocate for human rights. I want to say that I one hundred thirty. Has experienced a terrible ordeal. And which. Is hard to find of course and. I've been quick to mind. Even some of the worst characters that we could think of.

[00:21:55]
Why some point in some way and also picked on mind especially the child soldiers. We want to say that in order for us to move move forward. We have to be serious about accountability. There's no question of allowing this culture of impunity to come to New. We stand and and dissipate the recommendations and I hope that each and every one of you have heard that when you do your recommendations you're done I hope that each and every want to you would also make it.

[00:22:33]
A personal passion. To see that those recommendations are implemented. I'll country. Depends on it. This is the best vehicle we've been given. We have to make it work. But the centerpiece has to be accountability. Thank you. Thank you very much.