Origin of the conflict
In 1822 the first freed slaves arrived from America in Liberia and by 1847 they had organised themselves and founded the Republic of Liberia. The first civil unrests started in 1979, with an open protest against high food prices. A year later Samuel Doe organised a coup. The new government did however not improve the prospects of the people and intolerance increased; Doe fired almost all his allies and officials including Charles Taylor, whom he accused of corruption.¹ This eventually led to the civil war in Liberia.  
 
Chronological timeframe
In December 1989 the rebel group National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, invaded Liberia from the Ivory Coast. By 1990 the NPFL had already conquered all of Liberia except the capital Monrovia. The Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) separated itself from the NPFL under leadership of Prince Johnson. They captured the sitting president Samuel Doe, tortured and killed him.
The eight year civil war claimed 150.000 lives and 850.000 people fled to neighbouring countries. During the conflict, 20.000 child soldiers were recruited by all parties. In 1997 ECOMOG, a peace force of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had been involved in peace negotiations since 1991, ended cruelties by supervising elections. Out of thirteen presidential candidates, Charles Taylor of the NPFL was elected president.² His administration was characterised by corruption and human rights violations. State power was often abused for the personal benefits of government officials who offered little or no accountability towards the Liberian people.
In 1999 a second civil war erupted as the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) invaded the North of Liberia.³ Early in 2003 the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) segregated from the LURD and started seizing cities in the east of Liberia from its base in the Ivory Coast. In August 2003 a cease-fire agreement was reached thanks to the efforts of regional and international peace forces. This ended the governments’ regime upon which Charles Taylor fled.⁴
Military violence and repression of freedom of speech are still continuing in Liberia. Furthermore, government troops have joined rebel fractions, which led to atrocities towards civilians.⁵  

Actors involved
Liberia has known civil war from 1989 until 1997 and from 1999 until 2003 in which several different actors were involved. At the beginning of the first civil war Samuel Doe was president and Charles Taylor with his rebel group National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) challenged his authority. During the first civil war Prince Johnson separated from the NPLF and started his own Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPLF). Also, Liberian refugees have started their own militant group in Sierra Leone in 1991 which was known as United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO). ULIMO was also divided into two groups in 1994; ULIMO-K led by Alhaji Kromah and ULIMO-J led by Roosevelt Johnson.⁶ In 1997 Charles Taylor came to power however he was ousted by 2003 after considerable resistance against his regime. The second civil war started in 1999 when Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) invaded the North of Liberia. This group was split up as well which led to the origination of Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) in 2003.⁷

Response of the international community
The United Nations (UN) sent a peace force of 15.000 soldiers and 1.115 police officers after the cease-fire agreement of 2003 to maintain peace and security. Furthermore, ECOWAS has played an important role in peace negotiations by creating ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group). Since the Liberian people still have little confidence in the current administration and due to incessant accusations of corruption, the European Union already has taken administrative steps to postpone part of its development aid.⁸

Sources
1 http://www.cmo.nl/conflictenbank/?Afrika:West%26nbsp%3BAfrika:Liberia
2 Sendabo, T., 2004, Child Soldiers. Rehabilitation and social reintegration in Liberia. Tierp: Tierps Tryckerie AB.
3 Human Rights Watch, 2004, How to fight, how to kill. Child Soldiers in Liberia. New York: Human Rights Watch.
4 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2004, Child Soldiers Global Report 2004. http://www.kindsoldaten.nl
5 http://www.cmo.nl/conflictenbank/?Afrika:West%26nbsp%3BAfrika:Liberia
6 Sendabo, T., 2004, Child Soldiers. Rehabilitation and social reintegration in Liberia. Tierp: Tierps Tryckerie AB.
7 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 2004, Child Soldiers Global Report 2004. http://www.kindsoldaten.nl
8 http://www.cmo.nl/conflictenbank/?Afrika:West%26nbsp%3BAfrika:Liberia