[00:00:00]
>> What is your view about. What. I mean agreement with you that. The conduct. Was not very helpful. And. I have to take it. One step back. To go privately licensed. Dog was a military strong. If you look around the world. Any time military strongman have been defeated.

[00:00:39]
In elections. It has been with a strong political alliance. And the failure of our like your politicians. To form an alliance. To rally behind one candidate. The failure to put the egos aside. Is a contributing factor to empowering all to do what he did but it still does not excuse the fact.

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That rigging the election was not. A helpful thing for the country the likes of Rick to it. I do believe that one of those for your speaker. One a majority of folks. The fact that we did not have the opportunity. To transparently know the result. Is something that is the responsibility of the government and we cannot ship that plane.

[00:01:42]
To the opposition as much as we may be disappointed in the inability to unite the historical fact. Must be recognized. Thank you. Mr Whitney. This. From your statements or given are taught you were also speaking on behalf of. Liberia in your capacity but I can see so I can push on to you were talking while to get an explanation.

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For clarity on what was in the newspaper. So sitting there in from I want to get a clarification. I know we all fall out of area where I knew him because when we came to the United States in the eighty's in your file He was then Minister of Commerce.

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Was in the house every three years for you he was minister of commerce and I came on a delegation with him we met you student I see. From what I gather you will seem to be sitting as. Victim. Of this you are war. And also as an alleged perpetrator.

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Of the alleged perpetrator of the allegations you know of fools. And as a survivor. Of the civil war. And now Liberia who continued to. Want to work towards the development involving a politically socially economically for Liberia and Michael Reich. Accept a qualified alas because to be given credibility let the allegation come from someone who is a direct Victor not someone who is using an allegation to score political points.

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And this. Directly. Responsible process for me to accuse me and my fam. Let them let someone come and say. Covered Porter is responsible for this particular action for me. To my brother or my friend OK tank I'm going to give it credence thank you for Marshall you came you were born nine hundred fifty nine and you came to the ninety states nine hundred seventy eight you stated I do what.

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You will. Put. To you know to you know I'm Tom boy in l u when you were at L U because even pointed to one of our commissioners that you all were at L U two in a time and trying to all. Maybe the consciousness of how the youth or young people felt a body called men at that time which happened to be.

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Government but you came nine hundred seventy eight Tory ninety States of America so there for you what not there for the rights riot nine hundred seventy nine April fourteenth am I correct you are correct OK thank you you came ninety at ninety years old to the United States.

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Who Korea where to come did you come on a scholarship or what your parents. Thank. You. Thank you for my. Sorrow for the death of your families and thank you for clarifying when you decide to be a leader criticisms will come but I want to advise you the harder tools blowholes is just like there when any treat the harder the wind is stronger to treat So continue to do what you want to do intros for your country one more question the last was your ethnic group your ethnic background we'll kill you Benny.

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Nine hundred seventy eight do you have any children born here yes how many at three point. X. because now we are eighteen history and even if in our history and who want to classify these children because since I have the chairman. History I want to make sure that I get the recommendations from the Liberian so.

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What do you classify your chair only want to be classified and. Well the reality is that all of us who have had children in this country why those children to go to live. There would be a separate demographic. Characteristics. You could almost call them the second coming of the people from America.

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They are not you know if my son wants to go home. Something give me five. American like us but. It will be a characterization that. Came before and I will be accurate thank you very much. Before before we. Before we take a farm one I'd like to address a statement by.

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On the issue of the accusations. That have been made but one of the things that has created a lot of instability in our country is this tendency to make any. Wild accusation about somebody in the political sphere. We saw it particularly during the last one P.R. or. I would just look at somebody and just say anything just without proof without a shred of evidence that is a contributing factor to conflict in our society and that is the reason why I thought it was important to share that with this commission because I was asked to also share my diet for experience and I'm relating that because it is something that we've done back home and many of the habits that we exhibit back home we brought along with us as I say you can take a map on a bush or you can always take the boat out of you thank you very much and not interrupt me because I know you will be coming back for the second time and we need times to enable you to come back so I finish my question and.

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Thank you. So thank you very much for your presentation I was very inspired by the frankness I could feel from what you were telling us so my question is I was in three levels particularly of concern about three periods of our history and you seem to have been someone connected to all three of them based on the presentation you made I'm concerned about the root cause of this crisis that we had Liberia so looking at the first phase the seventy to eighty phase OK you mention.

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That you don't believe that though his group was really to source of that incident and I tend to share that view but you also mention that the progressives did not have a platform of violence as a means to bring social justice to Liberia but yet it seems that this became the reality so our research tells us where do we go where what was the source of this root violence so can you give us any hit you did mention some job as somebody who was an alternative person.

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To have carried out a revolutionary activity maybe he has a hint that could tell us a little bit more or do you have anything else you want to get to guide us in what was the root of that violence at the very beginning I know you have to protect all of your reality so do it in a way past if you think it has to be done confidentially that you can give it to us later now second you will give you all three or just whatever time let alone one and that's what I want to open for if you are one I said the progressive did not have a platform for violence to bring about social justice I was referring to the.

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Leading up to a cool OK because. Approaching the one thousand nine hundred war many of those who were in the progressive movement did actually. Embrace a platform of violence. A major job or whatever higher was that he was dead by the way so you can ask him. But he.

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Was the commander on board and all these guys he trained and he was. A military leader up to cool. Who got separated to a different posting at the time and go and. Actually carry out the coup and the elephant killer became the elephant owner. That is a you know it's a trait of our society by the way which also.

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Undermines. You know. Peace and Security and peaceful coexistence a. Jabberwocky all and that's why I know but even I don't know him Jabba was because we have a. Someone as intended to be the president. And there are groups of people who have the planning capacity. You have the financing capacity to.

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Build a network to make it possible and I don't know what the extent and of what it's sad that most of the people involved the seventeen but Jeff about was still alive there are fewer than are still alive those are people that if you speak to maybe they have information that can shed light you know after Tom was killed who was going to be the president was a job or was it somebody else.

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And that was what I was referring to thank you the second phase is the eighty five phase we had. Kept that promise to not run for power there could have been a free and fair election that the new writers leader could have come forward to lead the country but suddenly you said there was a change and so one influenced him you could you give us a be hint as to how this issue was took place because this influence and that decision has now become a root cause of the problems after that because he way of responding to give us back making it a tribalistic issue is that of keeping a presidential profile in protecting this country led to a bunch of compound situations so can you give me any light on that I can't give you a light so.

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Too many individuals who were responsible for. Influencing him in that direction the memo that we saw from John Ransom we have a copy of that memo No I don't I don't lead me to believe that he would be one of those because at the time the conflict that he was trying to deal with and strategizing for thought when was this conflict over the basic question of should the military if you know how to surveillance or not so.

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It's easy to conclude that he was in favor of perpetuating himself and therefore in order for you to do so you have to defeat your arch rival who won't buy any order to defeat him this is what you have to do. OK. Thank you and the third one the next window of opportunity that we had as a nation to change things was one thousand nine hundred seventy with the election but the Liberian people chose to put Charles Taylor into power a man who had been a root factor from the one nine hundred ninety up to ninety ninety seven then the same people decided to remove him by the same technique of military filings Having already seen the past experience so the question that comes to my mind is.

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How could this happen you know and what can be our lessons now to protect against a repetition should we make reforms in our constitution to give qualification to leaders because presently our Constitution has no specific qualification for leadership just a certain age and a Liberian but your nature of thinking your past background it doesn't here so could you comment on that from your perspective.

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Well I mean one of. The fundamental tenets of democracy is that you know from time to time we may not like but have to uphold and respect the people have a right to be wrong. There's nothing we can do or should do to prevent them from being wrong other than giving them information.

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They situation of the tale of Victoria is a very complex one. I've even heard that he won in a B.B.C. precinct. Does a year earlier was trying to annihilate them. I think. There are a number. Of. Reasons for that. One factor is that. The Liberian people War forty eight.

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They believe that if Taylor did not win the war would continue. So they thought that by giving him victory they will have peace. The other factor is that. His. Opposition. Now necessarily political opposition in the campaign but. During the war. Did many things. To be little themselves in eyes of the public that led the public to believe that Taylor was just a straw man who could bring all of them into the fold.

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When after the ACA some are caught. The ulema J. faction wrote about Johnson and company gave Charles Taylor everything you wanted including the minister the minister of justice the Director of Police the Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Internal Affairs they created a situation where the police director who ordered they arrested just as many as I would justified the foreign minister would justify it to the international community then Internal Affairs Minister would justify it to the country so they put themselves in a box and everybody knew that they were selling out to Taylor when I logic Chroma.

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Joint Forces were tailored. To wage war on one rover in April of one thousand nine hundred ninety six it told the country that Taylor is the boss of all of these guys so that's making president will control the rest of them. And in on the water clean. In two thousand and three.

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It will be inaccurate to say the same people that voted for Taylor actually carry out a war it doesn't take of my joy. It will start a war I think some like twenty five people started this war in nineteen ninety one here across the border OK so it doesn't take a majority so I don't believe that the majority opted for war to remove Taylor.

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It was brought upon by those who thought the only way back to Liberia. Is through military action and this is one of the central themes. Throughout this conflict the people who started one thousand nine hundred eighty nine Charles Taylor Moses Blah price Johnson all these people there were people wouldn't you that if the walked down the streets of Monrovia there would be dead bodies the people who started a war even against a lot of people would knew that if the walked down the street someone over there would be dead bodies.

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And so they able to form alliances. With countries and individuals who supply them what weapons you know people who say they collect money to buy weapons people don't have the ability to collect money to buy weapons or money in the color goes on the goodwill money countries. Support them with arms ammunition that they need.

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In the case of Liberia who would who would be some of those countries that you would say helped us. Well definitely with the tale of war and on the help came from Libya to work in a faster than I because you can typically support in a war by which territories are used in a way to war in a case up on the other war they came from gaining and without the you know complicity of the Kenyan government I don't think where possible find their way to Liberia they were acting they were not you know dropping from planes and fighting the coming for territories and the fact that a man of that tale also created a situation where the Contras some running life.

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Had a sup preservation need to see him defeat it. The reason moved into Liberia in one thousand nine hundred was because it was discovered that Taylor had dissidents for most of the West African countries and their plan Moammar Gadhafi have was taking all of US dollars apiece then we'll move to these other countries and we saw it manifest in Sierra Leone he had.

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A son of the late secretary working. As one of theirs and the plan was to destabilize Guinea and they actually did attempt that a few times but again your government had a sub preservation interest in the throne in Taylor and so a central theme to this whole conflict is that the policies the foreign policies don't want Tayla as a relates to our neighbors created insecurity for them we remember back in the eighty's one door sent troops to the border in response to a newspaper article so we have to be serious about good relations with our neighbors so in a final conclusion in this case this is still impunity to the law so we do recommend that such things be left alone in the case that the other country was defending itself in this perception of what our bad motivation or did or should the R.C.U. seek some kind of reparation or you know other situation from those countries that brought an attack on us.

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In the case for example DAW he was a legitimately elected president but yet countries united together to support his overthrow in a case of he was a legitimate elected president yet countries abroad put money in supporting gather to support the overthrow so in analyzing it as we look and say well they were defending their perceptions is it right is it wrong you know what it will be your thinking and feeling as a Liberian leader here I think we have to be practical in the case of the Guinea and government there was provocation.

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And. Forces did attack Union villages I want time. In a case of Libya there was no provocation in the case of the eye because there was no provocation in the case of booking a faster there was no provocation and we demand I mean before I forget I'm going to mention France.

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The French component of this. The iron mine in name. In the signature were days he wanted any investor would. Extract that or to build a train track to Conakry as such a long ways and they said No Listen there's a railroad from here to be counted. It's not feasible for us to build this railroad so we'll have to take it through like you and he don't want to do it but let's sign a contract finally agreed to do it and they've formed a French Academy Fergie and France wanted Iran and so they thought that by investing in Taylor.

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It would give them access to their own and throughout they provided a diplomatic political and military cover for Taylor at the same time they were taking out the bloodline once they were taking large from Liberia the iron ore was being shipped to France and France it everything to give to law cover.

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And flag even and at some point a French journalist also got involved because. There is a link from radio from France International which is therefore i should know the A.P. U.P.I. and wish they quote that I witness a said that the name I read national council people committed atrocities that report was based in Senegal and his eye witnesses well quite likely and people I think you are so I'm covered where.

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M.P.'s are cause witnesses. Led the public to believe that F.R. committed the karaka camp massacre when now it's come out that these witnesses are now free to speak that it was actually done by the M.P.'s also the French have been collaborators giving him political cover public relations cover and trying to demonize anyone I want to question.

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So then you're recommending to us that for those that have no alibi in the sense or justification we should seek reparations for the Liberian people from your Nations thank you very much. Thank. You said. Life was spinning Mr. Yeah. And you can't. Eat. How was your life before you came.