Monrovia – National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL) has called on the Liberian Government to address series of human rights violations cataloged by the U. S. State Department’s 2020 Human Rights report on Liberia.
The report, published under the titled: “2020 Country Report on Human Right Practices in Liberia,” covers seven sections of human rights practices including respect for the integrity of a person; respect for civil liberties, freedom of participation in the political process and corruption and lack of transparency. The others include the government’s attitude towards NGOs’ investigation of alleged abuse, discrimination, societal abuses; and human trafficking and Workers’ rights.
In a statement issued in Monrovia, the NCSCL said it has rigorously analyzed the contents of the report, and as a result quantified at least 143 human rights practices mentioned in it, some of which were gross violations.
Of the143 human rights practices identified, the NCSCL rated 50 or 34.9 percent as ‘good’ practices, 34 or 23.8 percent as fair and the highest 59 or 41.3 percent as poor. Majority of the ‘good’ human rights practices are related to respect for civil liberties (19 of the 50 good practices) while the remaining 12 are scantily spread across the other eight sections, according to the Council, according to the Council.
Some ‘good’ human rights practices include: release of pretrial detainees when COVID-19 struck and removal from prisons of juveniles to avoid detention. Others are: no report of political prisoners, significant freedom of religion, protection of refugees; cooperation and responsiveness of government.
‘Poor Human Rights Practices’
The NCSCL grouped the ‘poor’ human rights practices as the arbitrary killings; arbitrary detention by government officials; lack of investigation and accountability for violence against women and children; and ‘serious problem’ of independence of the judiciary as well as poor working conditions and the worst forms of child labor.
The U.S. State Department documented the incident between the late broadcast journalist Zenu Koboi Miller and some members of the elite presidential guard, the Executive Protection Services (EPS) where he complained that he was brutally attacked in late January 2019 at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Stadium. Miller died in a local hospital on February 15, 2019 after complaining of numbness in his left arm and legs. While a direct link between the assault and death was never established, an autopsy was not conducted, and the family issued a statement saying Miller had died of hypertension and stroke.
The State Department also reported another incident that involved an off-duty Liberia National Police (LNP) Sergeant Sensee Kowo, who was also the deputy commander of LNP Ganta City Detachment in Nimba County. On March 8, Kowo allegedly flogged and choked 18-year-old motorcyclist Samuel Selleh after an argument; and Selleh died shortly.
Authorities fired Kowo and opened an investigation into the death. One account of the event suggested Selleh died as a result of stones thrown by friends who came to his defense. Sergeant Kowo, who originally fled the scene was arrested and charged with murder. At the first hearing of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Sanniquellie, Nimba County, during the August Term of Court, the former sergeant pleaded for a change of venue was granted. The case was transferred to Grand Bassa County where Kowo is still held in pre-trail detention.
On ‘Violence and Harassment’, the State Department reported that the Liberian Government’s officials occasionally harassed newspaper and radio station owners, as well as individual journalists because of their political opinions and reporting. It highlighted a specific case involving FrontPage Africa’s Sports Editors, Christopher Walker who was assaulted at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Stadium on January 23, 2019.
Walker said he was standing with other journalists in the assigned media area when two police officers approached him and demanded he leaves the area despite having the proper press accreditation. The two officers then grabbed and shoved Walker while several other officers, including members of the Police Support Unit wearing helmets and body armor, pushed and shoved him to the ground. It is alleged that Walker was targeted because of an article he wrote that accused the Ministry of Youth and Sports of fixing a football match to favor the team from Grand Kru County, President George Weah’s home county. Walker’s article alleged Weah had requested the fix. President Weah set up a presidential inquiry committee headed by former Information Minister, Dr. Laurence Bropleh to probe all violations allegedly committed by state security against journalists. However, the committee is yet to start its work, while some of its members have left.
The LNP spokesperson, Moses Carter told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that the names of three implicated officers had been forwarded to the Professional Standards Division of the LNP for investigation. However, that has been no report of any investigation conducted by the division since Carter’s pronouncement.
The NCSCL’s Recommendations
In a set of recommendations, the NCSCL, called on the “Government of Liberia to improve professional behavior of the Police and other security officers and take other actions to prevent arbitrary deprivation of life and related violations.”
The Council also called for clarification of the relevant laws regarding applying for permit to conduct peaceful demonstration or protest, allot adequate fund to the National Election Commissions for the conduct of the forthcoming by-elections and for the presidential elections in 2023.
It requests the government to conduct speedy trials of those indicted of various alleged crimes, including corruption and called on the government to grant the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission prosecutorial power to prosecute cases of corruption…”
The Council also called for the allocation of adequate resources to implement the Rape and SGBV prevention road map; and fully implement the relevant laws and policies to prohibit all of the worst forms of child labor and improve working conditions of workers.