Monrovia, Dec. 16 -- The rift deepened after the civil society bloc submitted its own draft bill for a war crimes court to the Senate Judiciary Committee saying the Office was taking too long. Umutoni urged broad coordination among the Court Office, civil society, the Human Rights Commission and key state institutions to establish the courts. Christine N. Umutoni, the United Nations resident coordinator in Liberia, reaffirmed the U.N.'s support for the Office of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia at an event in Monrovia marking International Human Rights Day, as a dispute between the Office and a bloc of civil society organizations led by the Independent National Commission on Human Rights has spilled into public view.

The Unit...