Photo credit: Gregory Stemn, picture of one of Liberia’s former warlords now Senator Prince Y. Johnson in the 1990s
-As Conference on ending impunity takes place in Liberia
By Augustine Octavius
The first international conference aimed at generating support for the human rights community in the setting up of a war crimes court for Liberia has been taking place in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
At the conference, it was disclosed by a member of the UN Human Rights Committee Margo Waterval disclosed
that the Liberian government has been given two years to ensure that punitive measures are taken against past human rights offenders.
Margo Waterval of the UN
But until now, the government of President George Weah has insisted that prosecuting perpetrators of gross human rights abuses in the past including war crimes and crimes against humanity was not at the top of this government’s agenda.
According to Madam Waterval, the other two requests that have been made to the government are the administration of fair justice and the respect of customary land in Liberia.
Reports on those requests will be “graded and forwarded to the United Nations Secretary General for final decision,” the UN Human Rights Committee official said.
At the same time, the Associate Director for International Justice at Human Rights Watch, Elise Keppler has said that civil society organizations and the Liberian government must continue the engagement on accountability for war crimes committed during the years of instability.
“The CSOs and the Liberian government must actualize their discussion by making practical their agreement by taking punitive actions against those suspected of violating human rights, economic crimes and misuse of public resources,” Ms. Keppler told the justice conference.
The Independent National Commission on Human Rights of Liberia through its Acting Chairman Attorney Reverend Bartholomew Colley assured stakeholders that his commission would work with government to report on progress made on human rights in the country.
Mr. Kutaka Togbah
European Union’s head of Political, Press and Information Department, Juan Antonio Frutos pointed out that the consultations seeks to increase public awareness on the UN Human Rights Committee’s observations and recommendations.
Also speaking at the conference was the representative of the Center for Civil and Political Rights, Andre Afanov, who noted that lots of violations of human rights and abuses are occurring on a daily basis on the African continent.
But he lamented that the abuses are not being reported by the media and human rights advocates.
Consequently, Mr. Afanov noted that there are thousands of people in detention with some dying, simply because there is no information on their whereabouts.
He encouraged human rights actors in Liberia to go the extra mile by exhibiting high degree of investigation about what is unfolding in their
The representative of the office of the High Commission on Human Rights in Monrovia, Sonny Onyeobula, spoke of plans to hold a retreat for specialized committees of the National Legislature on law reform in Liberia.
Mr. Onyeobila said his office is also working out modalities with the Inter Religious Council of Liberia to conduct more training for line ministries and agencies on human rights issues in the country
The Director at the Division on Human Rights Protection at the Ministry of Justice Kutak Togbah, in his remarks said the Liberian government is working with the human rights community in the country to ensure the respect for human rights .
The conference under the theme: “Engaging Civil Society and Government Stakeholders to follow on the United Nations Rights Committee Concluding Observations in Liberia,” brought together representatives of the Human Rights Watch , the Office of the
Commissioner of the United Nations Council on Human Rights, the European Union among others. It is sponsored by the United Nations Human Rights Office, the European Union, The Fin church Aid and the Center for Civil and Political Rights.