By Johnny
Sad news from Staten Island. Dr. David Kpormakpor, former Liberian supreme court justice and interim president, passed away on August 19th from a brain tumor. “Prof,” as I knew him, was part of the West African community on Park Hill. He and I spent several afternoons at Korto’s Place, a Liberian cookshop, underneath the Staten Island [...]
By Johnny
A piece in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle today repeats some serious allegations: that witnesses who may testify in George Boley’s deportation proceeding received payments to do so. Details are absent from the allegations in the Democrat and Chronicle, but Boley’s attorney is quoted saying: “I’ve got reports that these people have been put up [...]
By Johnny
I’ve been scratching my head as to what the whole Naomi Campbell affair could possibly illuminate about Charles Taylor and his trial before the Special Court. Before I had a chance to come up with anything, the Times took a stab at that one last weekend. (Thanks to Shelby for pointing this out.) Alan Cowell [...]
By Johnny
There’s a lot to dig into in this decision, but an interesting item crops up on page 74 concerning the controversial memos prepared by the Office of Legal Counsel during the (second) Bush Administration. From the 11th Circuit: If you’ll recall, there was a lot of shock and indignation surrounding the definition of torture put [...]
By Johnny
More on this later, but here’s the gist from page 87 of the decision: Thank to Piper for pointing this out.
By Johnny
Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York and the DEA announced a striking anti-drug trafficking operation in Liberia–one that Sirleaf, the President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s stepson played a direct role in. Defendants in an existing narco-trafficking case I wrote about last year, apparently, helped make this happen. In a world where narco-traffickers can [...]
By Johnny
My brother pointed this out to me–thanks for the tip. Liberia’s president, Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is in Washington this week. She’s already visited Secretary Clinton and Speaker Pelosi. She’ll be giving the commencement address at Georgetown, as well as, meeting with Obama. Traditionally, these visits provide an opportunity to discuss aid and investment. President [...]
By Johnny
The International Center for Transitional Justice released a report on Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission process and findings this week. To the casual observer, watching the TRC has been a discouraging experience. The TRC, critics point out, has failed to live up to two of its central conceits: truth and reconciliation. So far, the TRC [...]