Liberia Genocides
What exactly Happened?
WHO WAS DOING THIS TO THE PUBLIC? WHO GOT HURT BECAUSE OF IT?
Charles Taylor was the reason of the collapse of Liberia’s State structures and it was at the root of the descent into savagery. As the government forces lost territory to the approaching rebel force led by Charles Taylor, its administrative authority rapidly collapsed. The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) easily took over, imposing military rule. But by this time the military could no longer be considered a national institution. Doe’s tribal allies within the army chain of command first isolated and then began killing troops from other tribes, who they assumed to be caring to Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL).
Before very long, a combination of the AFL’s inherent indiscipline and ineffectiveness as a fighting force, and the failure of the government to rally tribes other than Doe’s Krahn to its side, transformed the government army into just one more warring faction. This loss of legitimacy was itself a major factor in furthering the violence, since AFL soldiers came to regard the war as a fight for personal survival. The burning of villages and the slaughter of their inhabitants came to characterize the AFL’s strategy. And as rebel forces drew closer to Monrovia, the AFL unleashed a reign of terror on the capital. Civilian disappearances became commonplace, and bodies began to pile up in the streets.[1]
Before very long, a combination of the AFL’s inherent indiscipline and ineffectiveness as a fighting force, and the failure of the government to rally tribes other than Doe’s Krahn to its side, transformed the government army into just one more warring faction. This loss of legitimacy was itself a major factor in furthering the violence, since AFL soldiers came to regard the war as a fight for personal survival. The burning of villages and the slaughter of their inhabitants came to characterize the AFL’s strategy. And as rebel forces drew closer to Monrovia, the AFL unleashed a reign of terror on the capital. Civilian disappearances became commonplace, and bodies began to pile up in the streets.[1]
Sources: [1] Huband, Mark. "Liberia." Crimes of War. Crimes of War Project, 2011. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://www.crimesofwar.org/a-z-guide/liberia/>.
[2]McGrath, Timothy. First and Second Liberian Civil Wars (1989-2003). Digital image. Crimes of War – Liberia. GlobalPost, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/war/140407/7-armed-conflicts-prove-we-learned-nothing-rwanda-genocide-drc-syria-iraq-darfur-sudan-liberia-mexico>.
[2]McGrath, Timothy. First and Second Liberian Civil Wars (1989-2003). Digital image. Crimes of War – Liberia. GlobalPost, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. <http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/war/140407/7-armed-conflicts-prove-we-learned-nothing-rwanda-genocide-drc-syria-iraq-darfur-sudan-liberia-mexico>.