Mansion Differs With Human Rights Report

By Alex Yomah
The Government of Liberia has taken exception to the Independent National Human Rights Commission (INHRC) latest report against the authority of the Liberia National Police thereby describing it as a ‘sponsored’ report intended to pacify its donors.
In the report released by the Independent National Human Rights Commission recently following the January 6, Council of Patriots’ protest held in Monrovia, the Commission accused the police of using “Excessive Force” to disperse peaceful protesters.
Reacting to the report on yesterday at the Executive Mansion’s regular press update, the Spokesperson of the presidency, Isaac Solo Kelgbeh, described the report against the government as totally false and one engulfed with partiality.
The Executive Mansion urged the INHRC, a government supported entity, to be balance in its report and reminded the commissioners that the peace and stability of this nation depends on the credibility of the Commission’s report.
Kelgbeh asserted that the video and photographs on the protest is contrary to the Human Rights Commission Report. “If you watch the video you would know exactly that the very Human Rights people who are writing these things against the police were alongside the police authority trying to dialogue with protesters to tell them to stop cooking to where they assembled.
“They were heard in the video saying that, that cannot happen today and then it is the same Human rights people who are saying that the police used excessive force to disperse protesters?” Solo wondered.
According to Mr. Kelgbeh, even where the Human Rights Commission gets its sponsorship to enable it write such reports, either in those States or countries, police authorities often used batons and teargas to disperse protesters especially when they [protesters] are defiant to police regulations.
He said there was no report of death during and after the protest therefore it behooves him to hear that the INHRC reported otherwise. “The Human Rights Commission’s report was driven to satisfy its international partners. Trust me, the government trusts the Commission but I think those who collected the raw materials perhaps may had misinformed it,” he surmised.