Liberian History |
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Civil Warring
 Charles Taylor sits in the courtroom in The Hague, July, 2006
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1980: Samuel K. Doe, an army sergeant of Krahn descent, overthrows the government in a coup. President Tolbert and 13 Cabinet ministers are assassinated.
1985: Doe becomes Liberia's 20th president in a highly contested election. Despite this, the U.S. offers its support to Doe, giving 500 million dollars to the administration. In response Doe reestablishes diplomatic relations with Israel, closes the Libyan mission in Monrovia and reduces the staff of the Soviet embassy. The Doe government grows increasingly repressive, and former Doe supporter Thomas Quiwonkpa is killed after a failed coup attempt. The administration retaliates against this attempt by inflicting government-led violence upon ethnic groups in Quiwonkpa’s native county.
1989: As the Cold War comes to an end, U.S. political interests in Liberia wane. Led by the Libyan-funded and former Doe-supporter Charles Taylor, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) invades Liberia from the Ivory Coast, sparking a brutal civil war that lasts seven years and results in the deaths of more than 200,000 Liberians, the displacement of a million people and the destruction of virtually all of the country’s infrastructure.
1990: Samuel Doe is captured and executed. Three thousand forces from the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) enter Liberia. ECOWAS appoints Dr. Amos Sawyer as the president of an Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU). Charles Taylor, who controls most of the country, does not recognize IGNU and Liberia remains divided.
1991: The first of several major peace agreements is signed, outlining steps to disarm warring factions—the Taylor-led NPFL and the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO)—under the supervisions of ECOMOG.
 Liberian police
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1995: ECOWAS brokers a peace treaty between Liberian warring factions after many attempts at peace fail. The first Abuja Accord installs an interim Council of State and a planned cease-fire.
1996: Approximately three thousand people are killed during the Siege of Monrovia, when five of Liberia’s warring factions converge in the city. The Abuja Accord Supplement establishes a new transitional government, with former senator Ruth Sando Perry as the appointed head, and calls for an immediate cease-fire and national elections.
1997: Charles Taylor is elected president of Liberia. The election is monitored by ECOWAS.
1999: Liberians United for a Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), an anti-Taylor group, begins operations in the northern region of Lofa.
2000: The Taylor administration is accused of supporting Sierra Leone’s rebel forces by trading arms and resources for diamonds mined under horrific conditions. The United Nations bans arms exports to Liberia and diamond exports from Liberia.
2003: A LURD splinter group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), starts operations in southeastern Liberia. Rebel factions make substantial advances towards Monrovia, effectively shutting the country down. Attempts to negotiate a cease-fire among LURD, MODEL and the government fail as violence escalates.
International peacekeeping forces arrive in the country and a United Nations-backed court indicts Charles Taylor for crimes against humanity, war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law in his part in Sierra Leone’s civil war. Taylor resigns from office and leaves for Nigeria.
The government, LURD and MODEL sign a peace accord. Gyude Bryant is chosen to lead the National Transitional Government of Liberia.
An Uneasy Peace
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2005: Twenty-two candidates run for president in Liberia’s first elections since 1997. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is elected, winning a run-off against former soccer star George Weah.
2006: Charles Taylor is arrested in Nigeria and brought to a United Nations Special Court in Sierra Leone.
2007: Taylor’s trial begins in the International Criminal Court in the Hague. He pleads not guilty to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity in supporting the Sierra Leone insurgency. His defense does not deny that the crimes took place, but states that Taylor did not orchestrate the war.
