VZCZCXRO5827
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #0623/01 1441711
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241711Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8639
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1406

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MONROVIA 000623 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/W PCARTER, JBUELOW, PDAVIS, INR/AA BGRAVES, AF/RSA 
MHARPOLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA: TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION MOVES 
FORWARD SLOWLY 
 
REF: A. 06 MONROVIA 1294 
 
     ¶B. 06 MONROVIA 1146 
     ¶C. MONROVIA 294 
     ¶D. MONROVIA 1637 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Silvia Eiriz for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( 
d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary. Over the past two months, the Liberian Truth 
and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has been working with the 
international community to put policies and practices in 
place that will instill donor confidence and permit 
resumption of funding of the TRC's activities.  Many strides 
have been made towards instituting policies and creating a 
comprehensive work plan and budget, but the TRC still suffers 
from management problems and personality conflicts that are 
proving difficult to resolve.  The Chairman of the TRC told 
Poloff that he would quit the Commission if he could.  Some 
other commissioners are not cooperative with international 
community efforts to assist or advise the TRC.  Commissioners 
continue to make public statements accusing the international 
community of failing to support the Commission while refusing 
to acknowledge their own shortcomings.  An European 
Commission (EC) technical advisor seconded to the TRC to 
assist with management issues is often marginalized by 
Commissioners and they have not fully accepted 
recommendations included in a lengthy report she prepared on 
the Commission.  The TRC Chairman stalled the commencement of 
mutually agreed upon financial audit, creating some 
bureaucratic reasons for holding up the work. 
Notwithstanding problematic Commissioners, the TRC 
secretariat, headed by a recently arrived Executive Secretary 
 
SIPDIS 
and a competent and dedicated Program Manager, pushes forward 
with a work plan and budget.  The new budget of approximately 
5 million USD for 18 months is much more realistic than the 
original projected amount of 12 million USD for a two year 
project.  Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary 
General (D/SRSG) Jordan Ryan, instructed the UN Development 
Programme (UNDP) to fund the 2-month emergency budget with 
the assistance of the Open Society Institute for West Africa 
(OSIWA).  Embassy is deciding on a disbursement mechanism for 
USAID funds available for use by the TRC.  Benetech, 
contracted by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and 
Labor (DRL), is assisting the TRC with database management 
and coding human rights incidents.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In February 2007, the international community 
through the International Contact Group on Liberia (ICGL) 
recommended that the TRC engage with the ICGL in a combined 
working group, with the ICGL serving in an advisory capacity. 
 The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and TRC jointly chair the 
working group and ECOWAS acts as the secretariat.  Working 
group meetings started in March and have been taking place 
once a week since then.  The working group has formed several 
sub-committees to address specific issues.  The first 
sub-committee reviewed the TRC's rules and procedures, making 
a recommendation to the Commissioners on changes that should 
be made.  The second sub-committee on programs and budget 
continues to meet to discuss elements of the emergency plan 
as well as larger issues of a comprehensive 18 month work 
plan and budget that can be presented to donors.  A third 
sub-committee was formed to address issues of staffing and 
salaries. 
 
¶3. (C) Not all Commissioners are in favor of change.  Through 
working group meetings it has become clear that some of the 
Commissioners are unwilling to address problems of 
overstaffing or other mismanagement of financial or human 
resources.  Commissioners continue to insist that they each 
need a personal secretary and personal security officers. 
They were initially resistant to pooling their vehicles, but 
have now agreed on a modified vehicle pooling policy.  (FYI. 
The TRC only has 10 vehicles, but 9 are assigned to 
Commissioners, leaving one for general use. End FYI.) 
Commissioners refuse to make cuts in their own salaries, but 
are willing to cut staff salaries to address budgetary 
realities.  The GOL provides funds for salaries for TRC staff 
and Commissioners.  Commissioners earn approximately 3,200 
USD per month after taxes.  The TRC Chairman claims that 
Commissioners do not receive any other benefits in the form 
of fuel allowances or vehicle maintenance costs.  (FYI. If 
the proposed national budget is passed by the legislature, 
the average civil servant will earn 50 USD per month. End 
FYI.)  The Commissioners cite both the TRC Act and other 
regional commissions when justifying salary expenditures. 
The Act states that Commissioners should be paid at the level 
of Supreme Court Justices.  (FYI. Commissioners on the Sierra 
Leone Truth Commission were paid 8,000 USD per month. END 
 
MONROVIA 00000623  002 OF 002 
 
 
FYI.) 
 
¶4. (C) While Commissioners appear resistant to outside 
intervention, the newly hired Executive Secretary of the TRC 
secretariat, Nathaniel Kwabo and the Program Director, Steven 
 
SIPDIS 
Manly are reaching out to the international community for 
assistance.  They have requested more training programs for 
staff from UNMIL and the Glencree Center for Peace and 
Reconciliation. They have requested and received assistance 
from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) 
on devising policies guidelines, a work plan, and a budget. 
They are discussing security issues with UNMIL and the 
Ministry of Justice.  Manly is putting together a 
comprehensive work plan and budget that will be presented to 
the TRC-ICGL working group for comment.  (FYI. Both Kwabo and 
Manly are Liberians returned from the diaspora.  Kwabo is the 
former director of the Liberia Democracy Watch, the same 
organization that current TRC Chairman Jerome Verdier was 
heading before becoming a Commissioner.  Kwabo is reportedly 
quite close to Verdier even though he was chosen, according 
to Verdier, through a transparent process. END FYI.) 
 
¶5. (C) The working group agreed on a financial audit to 
account for money spent to date and to help the TRC improve 
accountability.  The USAID Office of Transition Initiatives 
(OTI) agreed to fund a financial audit through a Ghanaian 
firm chosen by Liberia OTI partner Development Alternatives, 
Inc (DAI).  OTI/DAI informed the TRC one week in advance of 
the auditors' arrival and provided the TRC with the final 
version of the scope of work.  When the auditors arrived on 
May 21, they were only given a small room to work in and were 
instructed by the TRC Chairman (through the Executive 
Secretary) not to start any work until the Commission 
 
SIPDIS 
received a letter of engagement from the auditing firm.  The 
Executive Secretary claimed not to have a copy of the scope 
of work and said that there was some concern that the 
auditors were not Liberians and that the Commission was not 
consulted when choosing the auditing firm.  On May 23, DAI 
country director informed the Executive Secretary that if the 
auditors did not begin work that day, they would depart the 
country that afternoon.  The auditors were subsequently 
allowed to commence a financial review of the TRC.  A 
management review of the Commission has also been suggested, 
but Commissioners believe it would duplicate the work of the 
EC in-house technical advisor (even though they have not 
accepted the results of the EC technical advisor's 45-page 
report on management practices and other policies).  The 
Ambassador has suggested that OTI consider funding a 
management audit when the EC technical advisor finishes her 
assignment to verify if improvements have been made. 
 
¶6. (C) Comment. The Commissioners continue to play the same 
games that have stalled the process to date.  The TRC was 
given ample opportunity to comment on the scope of work and 
request input into the selection process.  They were also 
informed in advance that the auditors were arriving and could 
have requested a letter of engagement earlier.  Without a 
financial audit, it will be difficult for the Commission to 
continue soliciting international support. Despite 
Commissioners' resistance to changes or oversight, the 
Commission, with the assistance of the working group, has 
made strides towards recommencing its activities.  UNDP and 
OSIWA will fund a 2-month emergency plan to reinvigorate the 
process through a massive public awareness campaign.  The 
Program Director and his staff are well on the way to a 
formalized, comprehensive, and reasonable work plan and 
budget which encompasses all TRC activities until September 
2008 and which will encourage more donor funding.  The French 
government recently gave UNDP USD 250,000 for women's 
participation in the TRC.  If remaining USG assistance is 
disbursed, total support to the TRC will be close to 1 
million USD by the end of the process. End Comment. 
Mazel