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The Advocates for Human Rights hosted public hearings as a component of its partnership with the TRC of Liberia from June 10-14, 2008, at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Minnesota is home to one of the largest populations of Liberians outside of West Africa. Commissioners of the TRC of Liberia traveled to Minnesota to preside over the hearings. These hearings were the first ever public hearings of a national truth commission to be held in a diaspora community.
The U.S. public hearings presented the experience of Liberians in the U.S. diaspora. Witnesses testified about the human rights abuses in Liberia that forced them to flee, their experiences in flight and in refugee camps, and the experience of resettlement in the U.S.
The U.S. hearings also provided an important opportunity for Liberians in the Diaspora to present their experiences and recommendations directly to the TRC, which is mandated to make binding recommendations to the government of Liberia.
The hearings were webcast live in order to make them more accessible to the public. To view archived recordings of these webcasts, click here. To view footage of public hearings held in Liberia, click here.
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