Liberia has been at peace since 18 August
2003, when a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in Accra, Ghana.
After a brutal war in the early-to-mid- 1990s, a repressive government
headed by Charles Taylor was in power from 1997. By the time the rebel
movement Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy started encroaching
on the capital in 2003, there was mconsiderable pressure for a firm and
lasting peace agreement. But Liberia had seen over a dozen peace agreements
in the previous dozen years, and all suffered from questionable political
commitment of the signatories actually to keep the peace and build a truly
democratic society.
This article is based on extensive interviews
with many of those who took part in the 2003 talks. It aims to record the
dynamics, actors and elements that determined how and why many of the key
decisions were taken that resulted in the 2003 peace agreement, with a
particular focus on questions of justice, accountability and the rule of
law. It also tracks developments in the four years after the accord was
signed, and provides insights that may be useful in future mediation contexts.