With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

From Staten Island Haven, Liberians Reveal War's Scars

Beginning next month, Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission will collect testimony on Staten Island, home to one of the largest populations of Liberians outside Africa, many of them survivors of 14 years of civil war.

The commission aims to construct a permanent historical record for Liberia, a country that has been wracked by power struggles and waves of savage violence.

Truth commissions have become a popular way to confront the crimes of crumbling regimes around the world, often when prosecutions are impractical or impossible. Twenty-nine have been launched, to mixed effect. Public hearings on apartheid in South Africa riveted the country and the world, while similar processes in Haiti and Burundi produced reports that were not widely read or acted upon.

This year, for the first time, a nation’s truth commission is reaching outside its borders to collect narratives, according to Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, which is coordinating the process.
Read entire article at NYT