The Acting Executive Director at the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR), Urias Teh Pour, has described as laudable the just ended partnership visit by a delegation from the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRIs) based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Making the remarks when he bade Atty. Gilbert Sebihogo and team farewell at the close of a five-day working visit to Liberia, Atty Pour expressed that the key goal of the visit was to rally support for the sustenance and maintenance of the INCHR as an “A Status” national human rights institution.
Prior to Atty. Sebihogo’s departure for neighboring Sierra Leone on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, he expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Liberia for what he described as “a warm African hospitality accorded him and his delegation.”
The NANHRI’s Secretary General specifically extoled the Transitional Management Team (TMT) at INCHR for coherently managing the affairs of the Commission even in the absence of a Board of Commissioners (BOC) adding, “While there can be no Commission without commissioners, the vibrancy of any functional human rights commission rests with a strong and functional secretariat.”
Atty. Sebihogo further lauded the Government of Liberia and partners for the establishment of a fully functioning human rights Commission in Liberia while at the same time commending the government for the appointment of the new BOC and admonished government to complete the appointment of the full bench of seven commissioners.
The delegation, while in Liberia, paid courtesy calls on several ministries including the Ministry of Justice, where Deputy Justice Minister. Cllr Nyanti Tuan, assured the visiting delegate of the Justice Ministry’s support for human rights promotion and protection in Liberia.
In a related development, the Secretary General of the Civil Society Human Rights Platform of Liberia, Adama Kiatamba Dempster, has reiterated his organization’s firm stance on accounting for criminality and the establishment of a War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia.
Mr. Dempster assured the NANHRIs’ delegation of his Platform’s preparedness to partner with the new BOC in the implementation of the TRC recommendations. Meanwhile, the former Acting Chairperson of the INCHR, Bartholomew B. Colley, has applauded NANHRI for its continuous support to INCHR, especially on gaining its “A Status”. He called on officials of NANHRI to maintain the similar pace of support to the 3rd batch of BOCs.