James Harding Giahyue is the Director and Managing Editor of The Daylight, an online investigative platform dedicated to reporting resources and the environment in Liberia. James was New Narratives’ Editor of Climate, Water and Land Justice projects and a reporter with the program from 2015 to 2020. He was also a stringer with Reuters news agency,…
James Harding Giahyue
Liberian War Criminal Kosiah Rejects Swiss Court Conviction; Claims Plaintiffs Lied
MONROVIA – Alieu Kosiah, sentenced last week to 20 years in prison for atrocities committed when he was a commander of the rebel group Ulimo during the Liberian civil war, has lashed out at the justice activists who helped bring the case against him. By New Narratives staff and Anthony Stephens, Power TV/FM In a WhatsApp…
Prosecutor Pushes Court to Convict, Jail and Sanction Kosiah
BELLINZONA, Switzerland – Alieu Kosiah should be convicted of all the war crimes charges he faces, jailed for a maximum 20 years and then barred from entering Switzerland for 15 years, prosecutors said on Monday in their final argument four days to the end of the historic trial. Chief prosecutor Andreas Müller told the Swiss…
Court Hears Kosiah’s Defense Against ‘Liars’ and ‘Manipulators’
BELLINZONA, Switzerland – War crimes suspect Alieu Kosiah delivered a forceful rebuke to six plaintiffs who brought the war crimes case against him here in the Swiss Federal Criminal Court on Monday. He slammed the plaintiffs and their lawyers for “staging their testimonies” and “lying on him”. Kosiah’s anger at being on trial here was focused…
Kosiah Sat Near a Bucket with Human Hearts, Court Hears
BELLINZONA, Switzerland – Alieu Kosiah sat near a bucket filled with human hearts in Foya, Lofa County in the mid-1990s, a man told the Swiss Federal Criminal Court prosecuting the former rebel commander on Friday. According to the man, the fifth of seven plaintiffs who have brought the war crimes case against Kosiah, another rebel named…
Grand Bassa Officials Sign Bogus Logging Agreement with ‘Serbian’ Company
Editor’s Note: This story is the first of a two-part series on an illegal logging agreement between Vambo and Marloi townships in Grand Bassa County, and African Trades Entrepreneur Enterprises Incorporated. VAMBO – Officials of Grand Bassa County have signed an illegal deal with a company to pave a dusty road through two townships in…
Grand Bassa Officials Sign Bogus Logging Agreement with ‘Serbian’ Company
Editor’s Note: This story is the first of a two-part series on an illegal logging agreement between Vambo and Marloi townships in Grand Bassa County, and African Trades Entrepreneur Enterprises Incorporated. VAMBO – Officials of Grand Bassa County have signed an illegal deal with a company to pave a dusty road through two townships in…
GVL Lays Off Nearly 450 Workers
BUTAW, SINOE COUNTY – Four hundred and forty-three workers have been laid off at Golden Veroleum Liberia, more than 10 percent of its workforce, the company said on Saturday. “[They are] due to the downturn of the global economy due to the coronavirus and the constant drop in the price of oil palm on the world…
Kosiah ‘Loved Looting’ And Was Called ‘Physical Cash’
Editor’s Note: This story is the final of a two-part series on the extent of Alieu Kosiah’s alleged crimes in Foya District, Lofa County. FOYA DISTRICT, Lofa County – The ruins of a factory sit on a major route in a town called Menigesua, towards the Sierra Leone border. Tall grass and weeds have engulfed what…
War Crimes Trial Coming to Liberian Soil
The Pirkanmaa District Court in Finland announced Thursday that it will begin the trial of Gibril Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean, for war crimes allegedly committed in Liberia in his role as a commander of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) between 2001 and 2002 next week. Later in February the court will move to Liberia and…
War Crimes Trial of Alieu Kosiah ends
Anthony Stephens of Power FM/TV reports on Alieu Kosiah’s war crimes trial in Bellinzona, Switzerland, where Kosiah is demanding over $ 1.3 million in compensation. In this report, he also speaks to the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, Alain Werner, who Kosiah’s lawyer accused of “advertising his client’s statements for his personal benefit”. James Harding…
Advocates See a Big Year for Justice as Liberians face trial in U.S. and Europe over Civil War
MONROVIA – The year 2018 will go down as the biggest year yet for criminal accountability of war crimes and crimes committed in during the Liberian civil war (1989-2003). But advocates for a Liberian war crimes court say 2019 will be even busier, with two cases in the United States and four in Europe—one each…
Liberia: Residents of Speaker Chambers’ District Want Him to Agree to War Crimes Court Establishment
Pleebo, Maryland County – The 14-year civil war spared no part of Liberia. The county of Maryland suffered an especially heavy toll. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report recorded 3,934 victims here, the second highest after Sinoe (5,706). This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting…
Liberia: UN, American Envoys Call for War Crimes Court at Milestone Justice Conference
Monrovia – Stephen Rapp, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice and Dr. Uchenna Emelonye, Country Representative of the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights have both called for Liberia to set up a war crimes court to prosecute perpetrators of its civil war. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfrica as part of…
German Envoy Says Justice for Liberian War Victim Is Key
MONROVIA – Hubert Jäger, the German Ambassador to Liberia, joined the chorus of international community calling on Liberia to hold a war crimes court. This story first appeared on FrontPageAfricaOnline as part of a collaboration for the West Africa Justice Reporting Project. Speaking at the launch of the Alliance for Transitional Justice, a collaboration of…
Family Calls for Justice and Reparations over Maher Massacre
Morris Town, Bomi County – Watta Kanneh, 68, struggles to draw water from a creek next to towering palm trees, where she and other villagers make palm oil in two blackened drums sitting over huge fire hearths. Kanneh still suffers from wounds she received 16 years ago during the 2003 killings that became known as…
New Narratives Coverage of Warlord Trial Makes International Media
New Narratives reporters covered the trial of Mohammed Jabateh, convicted of immigration fraud in a Philadelphia court in October 2017. Reporters Tetee Gebro, Jackson Kanneh, James Harding Giahyue provided extensive reporting in Liberia and in the court and Liberian community in Philadelphia. Court art was also done by NN visual artist Chase Walker. Please see…
Oil Industry Chaos: Liberians Benefit From Low Oil Prices
Monrovia – The plunge in oil prices on the world market has dealt a devastating blow to Liberia’s oil industry dashing hopes that oil may have been the savior for Liberia’s struggling economy. But at the same time those low prices have been an expected boost to ordinary Liberians thanks to the sharply lower price…
Passage of New Oil Law Offers Hope of Industry Restart
Monrovia – In this last of a three-part series on the survival of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) amid financial turmoil and the global oil crisis, we ask whether the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law could save Liberia’s oil and gas sector from further decay. The recent passage of the Petroleum (Exploration and…
NOCAL Slashes Costs To Survive As Income Dries Up
Monrovia – In this second of a three-part series on the survival of the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) amid financial turmoil and the oil crisis we look closely at how the company is operating in these difficult times. NOCAL is cash-strapped and is no longer leading the promising Liberian oil and gas sector…