Liberia truth commission established to investigate human rights abuses News
Liberia truth commission established to investigate human rights abuses

[JURIST] Liberian and UN officials on Monday inaugurated a Truth and Reconciliation Commission [UN Mission in Liberia news release, PDF] to investigate human rights abuses during the country's war-torn rule from 1979-2003. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf [BBC profile] presided over the swearing-in of the nine commission members, and she called the commission an opportunity to "bring forth a unifying narrative." The commission, modeled after a similar one used by South Africa [SA Commission website] following years of apartheid rule, does not have authority to try any suspects. It has been charged with documenting abuses during previous governments of Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor [PBS profile] and making recommendations for restitution.

Liberia [JURIST news archive] was required to form the commission by the peace agreement reached in 2003, and it was later approved by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act in June 2005. It will be jointly funded by Liberia and the UN. Former President Charles Taylor has been indicted [text] by the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone [official website; JURIST news archive], but he remains in asylum [JURIST report] in Nigeria. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

USSR established

On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.