Editing History of Liberia (section)

==Second Liberian Civil War (1997–2003)==
{{Main|Second Liberian Civil War}}

===Elections 1997===
[[Charles Taylor (Liberia)|Charles Taylor]] won the 1997 presidential elections with 75.33 percent of the vote, while the runner-up, [[Unity Party (Liberia)|Unity Party]] leader [[Ellen Johnson Sirleaf]], received a mere 9.58 percent of the vote. Accordingly, Taylor's [[National Patriotic Party]] gained 21 of a possible 26 seats in the Senate, and 49 of a possible 64 seats in the House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kieh|first=George Klay Jr.|title=Warlords, Politicians and the Post-First Civil War Election in Liberia|journal=African and Asian Studies|year=2011|volume=10|page=97}}</ref>  The election was judged free and fair by some observers although it was charged that Taylor had employed widespread intimidation to achieve victory at the polls.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Harris|first=David|title=From 'warlord' to 'democratic' president: how Charles Taylor won the 1997 Liberian elections|journal=Modern African Studies|year=1999|volume=37|issue=3|pages=431–455|doi=10.1017/S0022278X99003109|s2cid=58890072|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/6258/1/FromWarlordToDemocraticPresident_Harris.pdf|access-date=July 9, 2023|archive-date=November 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103083314/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/6258/1/FromWarlordToDemocraticPresident_Harris.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

===1997–1999===
Bloodshed in Liberia did slow considerably, but it did not end. Violence kept flaring up. During his entire reign, Taylor had to fight insurgencies against his government. Suspicions were rife that Taylor continued to assist rebel forces in neighbouring countries like [[Sierra Leone]], trading weapons for diamonds.

Taylor had fortified his power over Liberia mostly by purging the security forces of opponents, killing opposition figures, and raising new paramilitary units that were loyal only to him or his most trusted officers. Nevertheless, he still faced a few remaining opponents in the country, mostly former [[warlord]]s of the First Liberian Civil War who had kept part of their forces to protect themselves from Taylor. His most important domestic rival by early 1998 was [[Roosevelt Johnson]], a [[Krahn people|Krahn]] leader and former commander of the [[United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy|ULIMO]]. After some minor armed altercations, almost all of Johnson's followers were finally killed by Taylor's security forces during a [[1998 Monrovia clashes|major firefight in September 1998]], though Johnson himself managed to flee into the [[United States]] embassy. After one last attempt by Taylor's paramilitaries to kill him there, causing a major diplomatic incident, Johnson was evacuated to [[Ghana]].

===1999–2003===
Some ULIMO forces reformed themselves as the [[Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy]] (LURD), backed by the government of neighbouring [[Guinea]]. In 1999, they emerged in northern Liberia, and in April 2000 they started fighting in [[Lofa County]] in northernmost Liberia. By the spring of 2001, they were posing a major threat to the Taylor government. Liberia was now engaged in a complex three-way conflict with Sierra Leone and the Republic of Guinea.

Meanwhile, the [[United Nations Security Council]] in March 2001 ([[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1343|Resolution 1343]])<ref name="UNSC resolutions 2001">{{cite web|title=UNSC Resolution 1343|website=UN Security Council|url=https://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2001/sc2001.htm|access-date=2008-07-23|archive-date=July 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708081250/http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2001/sc2001.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>  concluded that Liberia and Taylor played roles in the civil war in Sierra Leone, and therefore:
* banned all arms sales to, and diamonds sales from Liberia; and
* banned high Liberian Government members from travel to UN-states.

By the beginning of 2002, Sierra Leone and Guinea were supporting the LURD, while Taylor was supporting opposition factions in both countries. By supporting Sierra Leonean rebels, Taylor also drew the hostility of the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British]] and [[Federal government of the United States|American governments]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In 2003, other elements of the former ULIMO-factions formed another new small rebel group in the Republic of Ivory Coast,  the [[Movement for Democracy in Liberia]] (MODEL), headed by Yayah Nimley, and they emerged in the south of Liberia.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

===Women of Liberia===
{{Main|Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace}}
[[File:LiberianWomen.jpg|thumb|320px|[[Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace]].]]
In 2002, the women in Liberia were tired of seeing their country torn apart. Organized by social worker [[Leymah Gbowee]], women started gathering and praying in a fish market to protest the violence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.odemagazine.com/blogs/readers_blog/9001/leymah_gbowee_peace_warrior_for_liberia_2009|title=eymah_gbowee_peace_warrior_for_liberia 2009}}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> They organized the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), and issued a statement of intent: <blockquote>"In the past we were silent, but after being killed, raped, dehumanized, and infected with diseases, and watching our children and families destroyed, war has taught us that the future lies in saying NO to violence and YES to peace! We will not relent until peace prevails."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=womens_peace_movement_liberia_08|title=Womens peace movement of liberia|access-date=April 27, 2010|archive-date=February 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223130725/http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=womens_peace_movement_liberia_08|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>Joined by the Liberian Muslim Women's Organization, Christian women and their allies created [[Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace]].<ref>{{cite web |title=United Nations Radio |url=http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/detail/64653.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225063024/http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/detail/64653.html |archive-date=February 25, 2012 |access-date=April 27, 2010}}</ref> They wore white to symbolize peace, staged silent [[nonviolence]] protests and forced a meeting with Taylor and extracted a promise from him to attend peace talks in Ghana.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2008/11/inf/GboweeLeymah.html |title=Bio of Gbowee Leymah |access-date=April 27, 2010 |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514084736/http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2008/11/inf/GboweeLeymah.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2003, a delegation of Liberian women went to Ghana to continue to apply pressure on the warring factions during the peace process. They staged a [[sit-in]] outside of the Presidential Palace, blocking all the doors and windows and preventing anyone from leaving the peace talks without a resolution. Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace became a political force against violence and against their government.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.guideposts.com/blog/life-faith-liberia-peace-movement-women|title= Guideposts review|access-date= April 27, 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091113053300/http://www.guideposts.com/blog/life-faith-liberia-peace-movement-women|archive-date= November 13, 2009|url-status= dead}}</ref> Their actions brought about an agreement during the stalled peace talks. As a result, the women were able to achieve peace in Liberia after a 14-year civil war and later helped bring to power the country's first female head of state, Johnson Sirleaf.

===UN timber embargo and arrest warrant against Taylor===
[[File:Buduburam-refugee-camp.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Buduburam]] [[refugee camp]] west of [[Accra]], Ghana, home in 2005 to more than 40,000 refugees from Liberia]]
On March 7, 2003, the war tribunal [[Special Court for Sierra Leone]] (SCSL) decided to summon Taylor and charge him with [[war crime]]s and [[crimes against humanity]], but they kept this decision and this charge secret until June that year.<ref name="NRC 5-6-2003">{{cite news| newspaper=NRC Handelsblad|language=nl|location= Nederlands |date= June 5, 2003}}</ref>

Due to concerns over the lack of social, humanitarian and development use of industry revenue by the Liberian government, the UN Security Council enacted a 10-month embargo on timber imports from Liberia on July 7, 2003 (passed in Resolution 1478).
<ref name="UNSC resolutions 2003">{{cite web|title=UNSC Resolution 1478|website=UN Security Council|url=https://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions03.html|access-date=2008-07-24|archive-date=November 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115045826/http://www.un.org/docs/sc/unsc_resolutions03.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

By mid-2003, LURD controlled the northern third of the country and was threatening the capital, MODEL was active in the south, and Taylor's government controlled only a third of the country: Monrovia and central Liberia.

On June 4, 2003, ECOWAS organized peace talks in [[Accra]], Ghana, among the Government of Liberia, civil society, and the rebel groups LURD and MODEL. On the opening ceremony, in Taylor's presence, the SCSL revealed their charge against Taylor, which they had kept secret since March, and also issued an international arrest warrant for Taylor.<ref name="NRC 5-6-2003"/> The SCSL indicted Taylor for “bearing the greatest responsibility” for atrocities in Sierra Leone since November 1996. The Ghanaian authorities did not attempt to arrest Taylor, declaring they could not round up a president they themselves had invited as a guest for peace talks.<ref name="NRC 5-6-2003"/> The same day, Taylor returned to Liberia.

===Pressure of rebels, Presidents, and UN: Taylor resigns===
June 2003, LURD began a siege of Monrovia. July 9, the Nigerian President offered Taylor safe [[exile]] in his country, if Taylor stayed out of Liberian politics.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/09/liberia/|title=Nigeria would shield Taylor from trial|publisher=cnn.com|date=July 10, 2003|access-date=August 19, 2008|archive-date=December 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218050400/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/09/liberia/|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in July, American President [[George W. Bush|Bush]] stated twice that Taylor “must leave Liberia”. Taylor insisted that he would resign only if American [[peacekeeping]] troops were deployed to Liberia.

August 1, 2003, the Security Council, ([[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1497|Resolution 1497]]) decided on a multinational force in Liberia, to be followed-on by a United Nations stabilization force. ECOWAS sent troops under the banner of '[[ECOMIL]]' to Liberia.<ref name="nytimesnigeria">{{cite news | first=Felicity | last=Barringer | title=Nigeria Readies Peace Force for Liberia; Battles Go On | date=July 24, 2003 | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D6153FF937A15754C0A9659C8B63 | newspaper=The New York Times | access-date=2008-01-18 | archive-date=August 19, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819151302/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/24/world/nigeria-readies-peace-force-for-liberia-battles-go-on.html | url-status=live }}</ref>  These troops started to arrive in Liberia probably as of August 15. The U.S. provided logistical support.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/07/liberia/| title=Liberia's Taylor not ready to leave| date=July 7, 2003| publisher=cnn.com| access-date=August 19, 2008| archive-date=June 13, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613012359/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/07/liberia/| url-status=live}}</ref> President Taylor resigned, and flew into exile in Nigeria. Vice-president [[Moses Blah]] replaced Taylor as interim-President.

An ECOWAS-ECOMIL force of 1000 Nigerian troops was airlifted into Liberia on August 15, to halt the occupation of [[Monrovia]] by rebel forces. Meanwhile, U.S. stationed a [[Marine Expeditionary Unit]] with 2300 Marines offshore Liberia.