Monrovia – The Acting Chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) Bartholomew B. Colley says there is a need for massive awareness on issues of human rights in Liberia.
The INCHR official says many Liberians do not understand the true meaning of human rights and as such it is difficult for them to know how to protect human rights when such understanding is lacking.
“There are lots of ignorance from some people on human rights issues, so there is a need to carry out massive awareness”, said Mr. Colley.
He says although the INCHR is doing its best but asserted that it is a huge battle and the Commission needs to move the fight further to make people understand the real meaning of human rights.
The Acting head of INCHR says the awareness has to be very aggressive in nature in order to reap results.
“Let people understand what this whole human rights is about, every person in this country must understand what their rights are, that way, they will know when such rights are violated but if you do not know your rights, you can’t know when they are violated”, he added.
He made the comments Tuesday at the Murex Plaza in Sinkor during the start of a two-day Technical Engagement session with INCHR in Strengthening its capacity in engaging with and providing technical guidance to the Legislature on law reforms and bills and human rights advocacy and accountability.
The engagement is supported by the Office of the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR), Liberia Country office.
Making presentation on the topic, Legislation and area of interventions/collaboration in the ratification of human rights treaties, Atty. Andrew B. W. Jaye, Sr., Legal Counsel-House of Representatives said the National legislature does not tamper with international treaties and conventions during ratification.
He said these treaties and conventions are agreed and signed by countries and as such the National Legislature does not alter them during ratification but only subject them to normal legislative processes before ratification.
“We do not alter these international treaties and conventions because many countries sign them, so as a country we cannot make changes to what other countries have already signed”, Atty. Jaye said.
He added that Liberia as a part of ECOWAS, AU and other international and regional organizations, its Legislature cannot make changes to treaties agreed by these organizations.
“Only our domestic bills can be altered but treaties that are signed by international principals, it does not go through vigorous scrutiny because it is not a local bill”, he indicated.
Atty. Jaye proposed that for many of these treaties and international conventions to be ratified speedily, organizations such as the INCHR involved in human rights issues should strengthen their engagements with lawmakers by making a case for these treaties to be domesticated.
For his part, Professor of Law at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, John Josiah, speaking on the topic “Legislation and area of interventions/ collaboration in the ratification of human rights treaties, said there are weaknesses in the ratification of human rights treaties in Liberia.
He said until Liberia can ratify many of these treaties, implementation will not be effective.
“We sign many international treaties as a country but Legislature fail to ratify them. The purpose of ratification is to domesticate and once we don’t do that, there is a big problem”, He said.
The Law Professor said in the absence of ratification, the country has not acquired jurisdiction over those who violate provisions of these treaties.
He added that during ratification, there is always the need to modify local laws to incorporate provisions of international treaties that come in conflict with the local laws, something he noted if not done will lead to conflict between local laws and some international treaties.
Professor Josiah challenged institutions that are concerned with human rights to begin drafting legislations that will ensure that local laws can reflect the involvement of the country in international agreements.
He also emphasized the need for key human rights institutions to continue to collaborate with members of the National Legislature in order to get their support in the ratification of international treaties and conventions.
Earlier, providing an overview of the engagement, Roosevelt Jajay, a staff of OHCHR said the engagement is part of OHCHR responsibility to build the capacity of state institutions on issues of human rights.
He said Mr. Uchenna Emelonye, Country Representative/ OHCHR was expected to attend the opening of the engagement but due to some pressing activities, he will be present at the close of the engagement to make a statement.
The engagement continues Wednesday in Monrovia.
Background
The Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Liberia signed its host country agreement with the Government of Liberia on 1 April 2018 with a mandate to promote and protect human rights through different strategies including; technical cooperation arrangements, capacity building, training, awareness raising, technical assistance, human rights monitoring, investigations, documentation and report to strengthen strategic evidenced-based advocacy with government authorities and other oversight and institutional mechanism to demand for accountability, prevent impunity and promote respect for human rights and Rule of Law.
Following the closure of UNMIL in March 2019, OHCHR Liberia stand-alone country Office was established to contribute to the consolidation of achievements made after UNMIL and to ensure sustained peace, reconciliation and conflict prevention.
As Liberia has continued to enjoy relative peace and stability following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2003, the political, social and economic state of affairs continues to remain fragile given that, key conflict drivers which led to the conflict have not been adequately addressed.
Additionally, a diverse range of human rights abuses and violations which occurred during the conflict have not been addressed resulting in impunity and lack of accountability for human rights violations which occurred during the conflict. Equally, recommendations from the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report have not been implemented for the past nine (9) years resulting in denial of access to justice to victims who suffered harms and gross human rights violations and abuse during the protracted conflict.
The Government of Liberia has elaborated a Strategic Roadmap for National Healing, Peacebuilding & Reconciliation to provide overall policy guidance to deepen peace and reconciliation efforts in Liberia. OHCHR Liberia Office envisages to bring its human rights technical expertise to provide technical support to the Government of Liberia and relevant interlocutors to strengthen requisite capacities of national interlocutors and institutional mechanism to adapt right based, victim-centered and gender-sensitive approaches to strengthen ongoing initiatives aimed at contributing to long-term sustainable peace and reconciliation through ensuring that human rights of victims to effective remedies, recognition of harms suffered, gender-sensitive reparations and other forms of restitution are guaranteed.
The process of post-conflict recovery in Liberia has been ongoing for over a decade, resulting in several major governance and policy achievements.
However, despite progress in building peace, several root causes of Liberia’s 14-year civil war remain unaddressed. The human rights challenges in Liberia range from extrajudicial killings by police; police abuse, harassment and intimidation of suspects and others citizens; arbitrary arrest and detention most time leading to protracted pre-trial detention; lack of accountability in cases of violence against women and children, including rape, domestic violence and traditional harmful practices. On the other hand, impunity remains a serious problem for individuals adversely mentioned in atrocities committed during the civil wars, as well as for those responsible for current and continuing crimes.
The two Days Technical Engagement session with INCHR in Strengthening its capacity in engaging with and providing technical guidance to the Legislature on law reforms and bills and human rights advocacy and accountability is one of several activities being undertaken by OHCHR.