Human rights observers will be deployed to monitor the independence of the planned June seven protest in the country, two local human rights and civil society organizations have announced in Monrovia.
The two thematic organizations of the human rights and CSOs in the country are the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia and the National Civil Society Council of Liberia.
They called on the Council of Patriots to provide details of the full objective of the planned June 7 protest, highlighting the counts of the protest.
The two institutions want the organizers of the June 7 protest to outline their counts in adherence to all human rights principles, in line with free flow of information relating to the fulfillment of the protest, the access to information and rights of information for the general public as well as citizens to fully address the concerns of the protesters.
Addressing a joint press conference in Monrovia on Tuesday, the National Coordinator of the platform, Adama Dempster, also called on the Liberian government to respect the constitution and the international human rights laws signed regarding the right to protest.
Mr. Dempster also requested the Council of Patriots to have free flow of information relating to the protest, including all types of media, so that everyone can freely impact and receive information about the protest before, during and after.
The human rights and CSO communities want the organizers of the protest to ensure that all public authorities and law enforcement agencies provide detail, accurate and policing protest.
The human rights and CSO communities cautioned those with an obligation to disclose information and make information available on request do so within the timetable specified by law.
The statements by the human rights and CSO communities come in the wake of several attempts by the local and international partners for the Council of Patriots to negotiate with the government on the concerns they have, including corruption and the poor state of the country’s economy.
There has to far been no official response from the Council of Patriots on the statements from the human rights and CSO community. Report by Augustine Octavius