Civil Society Advocacy Platform Now Condemns The CDC Gov’t Move To Extradite Mohammed Turay
PHOTO: Adama Dempster, top Liberian Rights Advocate
By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
The Liberian government’s handing over of the former Sierra Leonean Police Chief, Mohammed Y. Toure to the Sierra Leonean government Monday night has sparked serious public debate in this country, with some people criticizing local civil society advocates for being passive about the issue.
Toure was extradited under a big Sierra Leone army escort across the Mano River bridge dividing the two countries.
They have compared Turay’s situation to that of vocal talk show host and political activist, Henry Costa who fled to neighbouring Sierra Leone in January 2020, after being accused by the CDC government of breaking Liberian law.
But Costa, who was arrested at the Sierra Leonean border, was later allowed to leave Sierra Leone for the United States, because the Sierra Leonean government said there was no extradition treated between the two West African states.
But in Liberia, although the former Sierra Leone Police Chief Superintendent was detained at the Liberian Police headquarters in Monrovia for three nights, Liberian human rights activists were visibly silent.
This has caused some members of the Liberian public to therefore blame human rights activists for playing deaf ears to Toure’s case.
The behavior of Liberian rights activists towards Mr. Toure has Sierra Leonean lesson not to be nice to their sister country Liberia.
Civil Rights Advocacy Platform condemns CDC Gov’t Move
Meanwhile, in the wake of the public debate, the Secretary General of the Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia, Adama Dempster has issued a press release today, Wednesday, August 9,2023, describing Toure’s extradition “as unfortunate and against international, regional human rights norms and practices”.
Below is the press release from
Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia Statement on the
Extradition of Mr. Mohammed Toure, Former Chief Superintendent of Sierra Leone national Police
Monrovia (August 9, 2023)
The Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia describes the extradition of the former chief of Seirra Loenenational Police Mr. Mohammed Y., Toure from Liberia on suspicion of being part of a coup plot in neighboring Sierra Leone is as unfortunate and against international, regional human rights norms and practices.
Liberia as a state party to international and regional human rights treaties should not have hasten the extradition of the former chief of Sierra Leone Police on the basis of his human rights and protection, he should have been given a due process as an accused person to access the nature of the allegation void of any political grounds of interference and furthermore Liberia should have consulted diplomatic channels and involving Interpol before drawing to a conclusion.
A lesson learnt from the request for the extradition of Henry Costa in 2020, the Sierra Leonean government did not yield to Liberia’s request for extradition. They maintained diplomatic and human rights positions to not turn Mr. Costa over to Liberian Government.
CSO Platform and the human rights community views the rushed extradition of Mr. Toure from Liberia to Sierra Leone as unfair and against human rights best practice. Mr. Toure should have been given the opportunity to challenge the allegations he was accused of committing in the extradition request from the Government of Sierra Leone while in Liberia.
Under the act of EXTRADITION PROCESS IN SIERRA LEONE: Under the Act, every fugitive criminal in Sierra Leone shall be liable to be apprehended and extradited in the manner provided by the Act. “All requests for the extradition of a fugitive criminal shall be addressed through the usual diplomatic channels to the Attorney-General who, if satisfied of the authenticity of the warrant in virtue of which the request for extradition is made, and that any other conditions on which, in the particular case, the extradition depends, appear to be fulfilled, may issue and endorse on, or attach to, the original warrant or request an Order as prescribed in Form 1 in the Sixth Schedule, and the said Order shall be a sufficient authority to apprehend the fugitive criminal and bring him before a Judge or Magistrate.”
The CSO Platform believes that despite Mr. Toure being a Sierra Leonan national, his rights to protection from torture and other inhumane treatment should have been guaranteed by his appearance before a Liberia judge to test the allegation levied against him in the warrant.
The CSO Platform call on the Liberian government to take responsibility and be blamed for failing to protect the basic rights of Mr. Toure if the government of Sierra Leone subjects him to torture and other inhumane treatment.
While the civil society and the human rights community in Liberia remain in consultation with its counterparts the human rights community in Sierra Leone to follow up on the status of Mr. Toure;
The human rights community and civil society condemn the wave of continue coup d etata in the African region. We further call on the regional the body ECOWAS and AU to put appropriate measure in place to discourage coup and promote democratic governance in Africa.
Adama K. Dempster
Secretary General
Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia