- You are here:
- Home
- › Travel & living abroad
- › Travel advice by country
- › Country profiles
- › Sub Saharan Africa
- › Liberia
Sub Saharan Africa
Liberia |
|
|
|
Country information
HISTORY
Liberia was established as an independent state by freed slaves from America in 1847. They were joined by Africans released from slave ships off the West African coast. For more than 130 years from its founding, politics were dominated by the small minority of the population descended from these original settlers, known as the Americo-Liberians or Congo. During that era, Liberia was renowned for its stability, its functioning economy and the large amount of foreign investment it attracted in the rubber plantations and the iron ore mines. But the indigenous Africans were largely excluded from political power.
In 1980 Master Sergeant Samuel Doe, a member of the indigenous Krahn ethnic group, seized power in a violent military coup. Key members of the Americo-Liberian elite, including the President and his Cabinet were summarily executed in public on the beach. The USA, a traditional strong ally of Liberia, withdrew its support. Doe mismanaged the economy and transformed the armed forces into an ethnic Krahn militia which committed extensive human rights abuse against Liberia’s other ethnic groups.
In 1989 the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, began a revolt against the Doe regime. It quickly became a vicious civil war. The Doe dictatorship collapsed and he was murdered by a rebel faction in September. At this point Taylor (and to a lesser extent other rival warlords) already controlled large parts of Liberian territory. Despite occasional truces and no fewer than a dozen abortive peace agreements, the conflict continued for a further 6 years. During this period the rival warlords, and West African peace keeping forces, looted the country’s natural resources and state revenues.
Democratic elections were finally held in July 1997. Taylor won but the elections bought only temporary respite. Taylor's government set about plundering the state of its assets and stifling opposition activity. In 1999 fighting began and by July 2003 Taylor had lost control of most of the country, including much of Monrovia. Peace talks in Accra in August led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in September. A new ECOWAS peacekeeping force was deployed, which has since been replaced by the 15,000 strong UN force (UNMIL). Taylor was forced into exile in Nigeria. Indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), Taylor was arrested in Nigeria on 29 March 2006 and subsequently transferred to the Special Court in Freetown where he was charged on 3 March with offences relating to the Sierra Leone civil war. He has subsequently been transferred to The Hague to await trial under SCSL Mandate.
