By S. Siapha Mulbah
The Liberia Coalition of Human Right Defenders (LICHRD) has embarked on engaging government over the legislation and legitimization of a drafted human right defender’s policy aimed at protecting activist across the country.
LICHRD and its members organization over the weekend kicked off a robust awareness on the National Human Right Defenders Policy in Monrovia calling on branches of the government to take the necessary actions that will legitimize the policy so the rights of all citizens can be defended by activists who find pleasure practicing human right defense without fear for their lives.
Starting the awareness over the policy at the workshop for members within the human right circle, the Chairperson for LICHRD, Neidoteh Torbor, outlined that defending the rights of human being in country in the midst of growing threats and insecurities requires government’s involvement in order to achieve its missions as signed for at international conventions and treaties.
Torbor said the 1986 Constitution focuses on fundamental human right but did not go into specifying the scope, for which the national human right defenders’ policy has been drafted to support the working enshrined in the constitution.
According to him, the protection of those in these areas matters because they are the ones that go into direct contact with perpetrators; fighting for the interest of victims. In some case, the defenders become the target and at times fall prey to human right violators.
He noted that it is time that the government stand by its words after attaching signatories to international conventions and treaties by making the policy a law so that perpetrators will not use the many influences that exist in silencing the defense of human right in Liberia.
“The drafted national human right defender policy is currently in the office of the minister of justice. For the sake of effective and efficient defense of the right of citizens the government have to use the instruments in that policy as tools in protecting the journalists, the lawyers and many other activists that have case to pursue as a means of defending others right,” Tobor briefed the media at LICHRD central Monrovia’s office.
Explaining further, the activist maintained that the time is now to have such an instrument legislated because the Liberian leaders Joseph Boakai has signed the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Court that will see many activists pushing the advocacy of victims against some war and economic criminals that have some political or financial influences that poses threats to the defenders.
“The activists are vulnerable without this policy and defending human right is even risking stakeholder more. With the establishment of the War and Economic Crimes court signed by the president, we need this policy to protect us in defending the right of those victimized and seeking justice,” he said.
LICHRD with support from the International Service For Human Right (ISHR) based in Geneva started the awareness of the Human Right Defenders policy with a day-long workshop to build the capacity of members who were to go into the communities and spread the message on creating a platform that protects those guiding the right of the public.
Duwana Kingsley, the acting Executive Director of the Coalition said in order to defend human right, the communities must play major roles and at such, the awareness activities will reach out to different communities capturing the attention of the public.
Kingsley noted that the member of the LICHRD are looking at the importance of the drafted policy which will also move to other parts of Liberia with the awareness because the matter of human right affects every citizen across the different counties.
The group lauded their foreign based partner ISHR for supporting the cause to defend the peoples right intimating that the responsibility of implementing the drafted policy is now on government.
