By: Mark B. Dumbar>
dmark@ame.edu.lr
MONROVIA-Founding National Director and Lead Investigator on Human Rights Advocacy in Liberia Adama Kiatamba Dempster has disclosed that justice needs to be served for the many atrocities commented during the civil war.
Dempster made the statement following a one day workshop for students from the Mass Communication Department of the University of Liberia September 13, 2022.
According to him, after the civil war the TRC recommended and implemented that a special measured be taken against those individuals who may have commented those atrocities in Liberia.
He further narrated that at the end of the day those implementations and recommendation under the watchful eye of the TRC have not been acted upon.
“So the gross of impunity now has given room for us to still not be able to address issues of accountable in our country”, he noted.
He mentioned that from the human rights prospective when you failed to address past human rights violations or abuse, you give room for people to have justification to keep commenting more crimes.
He stated, “that at the end of the day you find out that corruption has becomes the order of the day”.
According to him, we have never had any judicial measure taking place to be able to hold people that were previously listed for having commented crimes in Liberia.
He noted, “at the end of the day we are just like in a circle and nothing is done”.
He said that during the Covid-19 pandemic the issues of rape was as reported as the most day-to-day offensive crime that was being commented in Liberia.
He further note that the issues of human trafficking is one of the major crimes in Liberia that today, many children are being abused in different ways.
“Why will you choose to sell your friend human being, or take money to sell your friend human being in another country to work as slaves”, he wonders.
He mentioned that this entire different human rights situations is happening within our country and yet justice is not being served.
“I am not saying that those human rights practices are not happening in other countries, but because of the conflict settlement in those countries the human rights situations are not as compared to Liberia”, he noted.
According to him, when a country fails to address conflict issues they create room for more conflict to happen.
“This is happening in our society to the extent people are now becoming politicians”, he noted.
He mentioned that there is a need that the Government of Liberia and the people of Liberia to stand up against those injustices to be able to speak out, and push for the issues of justice so that people can be held accountable.
He added that because the culture of impunity has undermined our country to the greatest extent, poor people can’t have the necessary justice.
He noted, “The culture of impunity around the world has not been a place where people international want to keep playing around”.
He narrated that in our society impunity has become the order of the day.
“For an instant, you have a situation at the court wherein you don’t have that empowerment to go through that situation in getting a lawyer that could stand up for you against whoever that may offend you”, he noted.
He stated, “There are overpopulated prisons in the Republic of Liberia, but people have been sent to prison facilities (Jail) in numbers for something they know nothing about”.
“I visited the Monrovia Center Prison two months ago and the population currently at the prison is around 1,300, but the problem at the prison is due to the population within the prison, he noted”.
He pointed out that at the Monrovia Center Prison the total capacity for prisoners within the compound are 374 prisoners, but now we have 1,300 prisoners at the Monrovia Center Prison.
Alphonso Toweh
Has been in the profession for over twenty years. He has worked for many international media outlets including: West Africa Magazine, Africa Week Magazine, African Observer and did occasional reporting for CNN, BBC World Service, Sunday Times, NPR, Radio Deutchewells, Radio Netherlands. He is the current correspondent for Reuters
He holds first MA with honors in International Relations and a candidate for second master in International Peace studies and Conflict Resolution from the University of Liberia.
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