MONROVIA – The Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia has welcomed the appointment of the chairperson and four commissioners to the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR). The 2005 Act creating the INCHR, required seven commissioners including the Chairperson thereby completing the composition of members of the Commission’s Board.
The rights group has, however, called on President George Weah to complete the appointment of the remaining two commissioners to the INCHR in full adherence to the 2005 Act.
“The CSOs Human Rights Advocacy Platform congratulates the Chairperson and all 4 Commissioners appointed by the President of the Republic of Liberia to the INCHR in line with the Act of 2005. The Platform see your appointment as a positive step in ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights for all in Liberia,” the group stated in a press statement over the weekend.
According to them, given the role played by the Commission over the years and the many negative reports coming from the Commission coupled with the Commission’s less visibility and cold relation with the CSOs community, they challenge the appointed Chairperson and commissioners to raise the Commission’s profile by increasing the commission’s visibility, relation and interaction with the CSOs community, and exhibit a more proactive response to human rights issues and concerns.
“The CSO Platform wishes to caution the chairperson and commissioners while awaiting your confirmation at the Liberian Senate, that the commission under your watch will not be a sleepy and toothless bulldog, but a robust commission that will rise to the occasion in raising its antennae on human rights at all time without interference,” they averred.