Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai has issued a formal apology on behalf of the state for the brutal violence and trauma inflicted on citizens during the country’s two devastating civil wars, which claimed an estimated 250,000 lives between 1989 and 2003.
Speaking at a reconciliation ceremony in Monrovia, Boakai expressed regret for the atrocities, including massacres, rape, mutilation, and child soldier recruitment, saying, “To every victim of our civil conflict, to every family broken, to every dream shattered, we say: We are sorry.”
This apology marks a significant step towards reconciliation, as recommended by the 2009 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report.
Boakai has also taken steps to establish a war crimes court to hold perpetrators accountable, signing an executive order in May 2024 to set up the Office of War and Economic Crimes Court.
