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650 Third Avenue South
Suite 550
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone: (612) 341-3302
Fax: (612) 341-2971
Asylum Client Line:
(612) 341-9845 |
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The Advocates Requests Correction Be Issued for Star Tribune Article
12/11/2007 5:05 PM
The Advocates for Human Rights has requested that a correction be issued for the article “Warlord or Peacekeeper: Liberians differ on leader’s past” which can be found at http://www.startribune.com/local/12296701.html, specifically to the following paragraph: “Mariah Seton of Chicago, an adviser to the commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has been reviewing the history of the Liberian civil war, said Friday by phone that the commission, along with The Advocates for Human Rights, have taken statements from people in Minnesota. She said no one has filed either a statement or complaint alleging Dwanyen was a warlord or was responsible for killing people.”
The Advocates for Human Rights has a memorandum of understanding with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia to coordinate its work in the U.S. Mariah Seton is not a member of the TRC Diaspora Project’s Advisory Committee. Only The Advocates is authorized to speak on behalf of the TRC in the U.S.
Further, she does not have access to any of the TRC statements that have been taken and cannot speak to either who has given a statement or what information their statement contains. This matter is particularly serious as we have been hearing complaints from the Liberian community about the quote, which implies that the TRC is biased and is breaking its promise of confidentiality to statement givers. The TRC statements in the US are taken in a confidential manner and are entered into a password protected database; even statement takers can access only the statements that they have taken. Only the TRC and a small number of The Advocates’ staff and project management team members have access to all of the TRC statements and we have not been authorized by the TRC to disclose the information contained in the database. Given the role of the TRC and the importance of remaining neutral, The Advocates for Human Rights is unable to comment on the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota election.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune has declined to issue a correction.
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