Liberia: thousands of people pay their last respects to ex-warlord Prince Johnson during a state funeral. What will be the future of the country…
In northern Liberia, thousands of people gathered this Saturday to pay their last respects to the former warlord Prince Johnson, a controversial but influential figure in Liberian political life, who died at the end of November at the age of 72 years. A national funeral which raises many questions about the country’s tormented past and its future.
Prince Johnson: From Warlord to Influential Senator
Infamous for a video showing him sipping a beer while his men tortured President Samuel Doe to death in 1990, Prince Johnson remained a major player in Liberian politics until his death. After playing a key role in the civil wars that ravaged Liberia between 1989 and 2003, leaving some 250,000 dead, he became an influential senator, acting as kingmaker in the last three presidential elections.
Despite accusations of war crimes and atrocities against him, Prince Johnson has never expressed regret about his past and has never been put on trial. He even continued to enjoy strong popularity, particularly in his native county of Nimba.
Funerals that divide
If thousands of Liberians paid him a final tribute on Saturday, wearing the traditional colors of Nimba and brandishing fake wooden weapons as a symbol of his warrior past, the death of Prince Johnson is not unanimous. Many question the impunity he has enjoyed despite the recommendations of a “Truth and Reconciliation” commission in 2009 recommending that he and other warlords be tried by a special tribunal.
-Prince Johnson managed to have such political influence when he returned from exile in Nigeria that he somehow managed to confiscate or divert justice efforts.
Alain Werner, lawyer and director of the NGO Civitas Maxima
What future for justice and reconciliation in Liberia?
The death of Prince Johnson and the tributes paid to him revive debates on the need to judge the crimes committed during the civil wars to allow the country to truly turn the page. Last May, President George Weah signed a decree creating a body responsible for establishing a special war crimes court, raising hopes of progress on the path to justice and reconciliation.
But many fear that the lingering influence of former warlords like Prince Johnson in politics will continue to hamper efforts in this direction. His death therefore raises as many questions as it arouses emotions, about a past that does not pass and a future that is still uncertain for Liberia.
