By J.H. Webster Clayeh, [email protected]
Monrovia – The Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) has commended the government for passing into law several frameworks to safeguard the wellbeing of every child in Liberia but wants practical approach in curtailing the many abuses against children.
In 2005, the government signed the Anti-trafficking law and the Children Law of 2011, which calls for a strong and cohesive educational system, the Decent Work Act of 2016 which prohibits child labor, the African Union Campaign to end Child Marriage launched 2016 in Liberia and many other laws protecting the rights of children.
Speaking to journalists in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Day of the African Child at the INCHR Headquarters in Sinkor, the Acting Chairperson of INCHR Atty. Bartholomew Bioh Colley, knowledge the legislative frameworks and international human rights treaties signed by the government but he stressed that the implementation of those laws protecting the rights of children is far from being achieved.
“The Commission notes and strongly advises that the existence of legal rules without implementation does not fulfill the obligation of a state under international human rights law,” said Atty. Colley.
“The commission, therefore, calls on the government to strengthen its implementation and enforcement mechanisms to end early and forced child marriages, the continued pattern of rape, and abuse of children.”
According to the INCHR Acting Commissioner, the wave of early child marriages, perennial cases of rape, the persistent abuse of children, such as street peddlers, child labor, child trafficking, and the humiliation of children as old as five years on the accusation of witchcrafts are inhumanely appalling.
Acting Commissioner of INCHR also called on religious and traditional authorities to ensure “due and lawful respect for the right of a child in compliance with both national and international human rights laws”.