The People's Redemption Council (PRC) was a military junta that ruled Liberia from 1980 to 1984. The PRC had 17 founding members and was later expanded to 28. The PRC initially functioned as the executive and legislative body in Doe's government. For a long portion of its history, its government was dominated by Americo-Liberians, a group of free people of color and freed slaves from the United States and their descendants who first established Liberia in 1822 as a colony of the American Colonization Society, a private philanthropic organization based in Washington, D.C. and led by a number of leading American statesmen. From Liberia's independence until the coup that gave rise to the PRC, the Americo-Liberians controlled nearly every aspect of Liberian political and social life, eventually creating a strict one-party system organized around the True Whig Party. After the death of long-serving President William Tubman in 1971, William Tolbert, Jr., became president. In 1979, civil discord rose to an all-time high due to a 50% increase in rice prices, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Liberians in what became known as the Rice Riots of 1979. Public disaffection continued with Tolbert's decision to host the 1979 Organization of African Unity annual summit in Monrovia, building a state-of-the-art conference center and hotel specifically for the event at a cost of more than USD$25 million. In addition to an overall lack of development and a stagnant economy, this unrest precipitated the 1980 Liberian coup d'état that would lead to the creation of the PRC.
Shortly after its formation, the PRC authorized the arrest of over 100 former government officials from the Tolbert administration. In mid-1981, the PRC created the National Constitutional Commission (NCC), the Constitutional Advisory Assembly (CAA), and Special Elections Commission (SEC) to, respectively, write a new constitution, revise the newly drafted constitution, and run democratic elections. Three of these new members were former officials from the Tolbert administration. which effectively ended the intra-council conflict.
International response
After the coup, the United States, the Organisation of African Unity, and the West African Economic Community criticized Doe and the PRC. Additionally, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank restricted loan terms offered to Liberia under the PRC.
Composition
At its inception, the PRC consisted of 17 soldiers.
However, despite this consolidation of authority, Doe quickly consolidated executive and legislative power, effectively making the PRC a de facto cabinet rather than a body with powers of its own. Under the new constitution, Article 97, referred to by some as "transitional provisions", provided no action taken by the PRC "shall be questioned in any proceedings whatsoever" and prevented any court or tribunal from hearing any case pertaining to the 1980 coup, the suspension of the prior constitution, the establishment and actions of the PRC, or any legal decisions made or penalties imposed by the PRC.
Colonist-native ethnic tension in Liberia had been prevalent since the arrival of the Americo-Liberians in the early 1800s.