A/HRC/12/42 page 5 I. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS A. Independent National Commission on Human Rights 1. On 21 May 2009, the Senate concurred with the House of Representatives and passed amendments to the act establishing the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR). The OHCHR National Institutions Unit provided legal advice for the drafting of the act and its amendments to ensure compliance with international standards (the Paris Principles). The act as amended was presented to the President of Liberia who assented to it in June 2009. The INCHR is mandated to ensure the implementation of recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), whose mandate ended on 30 June 2009. A list of 11 nominees was submitted to the President in early 2007, from which she is expected to appoint 7 commissioners.4 The Executive postponed making any appointments, waiting for the amendments to the act to be passed. Concerns relating to the nominated persons had also been raised and it is possible that the appointment of commissioners will be delayed due to these concerns. B. Truth and Reconciliation Commission 2. The TRC held institutional and thematic hearings covering, inter alia, the media, legislature, children, women and reparations during the period under review. In January 2009, it released volume I of its final report which contained initial findings and recommendations. The TRC concluded its mandate with the delivery of its consolidated final report, volume II, to the national legislature and the President on 30 June 2009.5 The report, whose cover page is marked “unedited”, contains key findings on the root causes of the conflict and recommends criminal prosecution in a special hybrid extraordinary tribunal for the most serious violations, including economic crimes. Eight leaders of the warring factions, including former President Charles Taylor, as well as a list of 98 individuals identified as “most notorious perpetrators” are among those recommended for prosecution. Other main recommendations are related to domestic prosecutions for lesser crimes; reparations; lustration; use of a decentralized “Palava Hut” peacebuilding mechanism; and extensive legal and political reforms.6 Fifty public and 4 Article IX of the Act to Repeal the Act of 1997 Creating the Liberia Commission on Human Rights and to Create the Independent National Commission on Human Rights of Liberia (2005). 5 On 24 March, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf approved a retroactive resolution extending the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) from 22 September 2008 to 30 June 2009. 6 Two TRC members made separate dissenting submissions to the report to the House of Representatives and explained that the accountability recommendations of the TRC would not further national reconciliation.