Allegations of rape and or sexual abuse and violations reported across the country seem not to be a priority for state prosecutors as the survivors’ continuous cry for justices never reaches the court’s dockets.
One of the most recent reports of rape was by a female junior officer of the Liberia National Police against a senior officer and amidst the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INHCR) call to the Ministry of Justice to act, that case lingers and might be at the verge of natural death.
On February 10, 2022 a complaint filed with the INHCR alleged that on November 25, 2021, Officer Joshua During summoned the female officer to his office at about 4:45 PM where he raped her and thereafter a formal complaint was filed with the Liberia National Police but that has not been entertained.
According to report gathered, that report is still awaiting recommendations from the Professional Standards Department (PSD) on whether or not the allegation of rape as levied by the female junior officer has sufficient magnitude to warrant a formal charge of rape against her superior.
Whilst there have been several demands from the INCHR to the Liberia National Police to turn the officer over to the appropriate authorities to ensure accountability, the Police authorities have maintained that a preliminary investigation must first be conducted by its Professional Standards Board before any other legal prosecution which had not been the case with other officers.
According to the Police, Section 22.91 (d) of the 2015 Act Establishing the Liberia National Police provides that “The PSD shall conduct all disciplinary proceedings against all LNP officers below the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police.”
The INHCR which reminds the Ministry of Justice of Liberia’s domestic, international and regional obligations to address rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence said, principally, Liberia’s constitutional mandate is to protect and promote human rights.
The Commission further reminded that Liberia is an accession to the Covenant on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW), as well as its Optional Protocol, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, to name a few.
The INCHR said the authority granted to the Professional Standards Board to preliminarily investigate grievous allegations such as rape, as well as the submission of the Board’s recommendations to the Inspector General of Police for review, decision, and action, undermines and impugns legal standards set as well as national gains made in the fight against rape in Liberia.
The Commission opines that the parity of reasoning that estops a Magistrate from conducting a preliminary examination in cases of rape at the level of the magisterial court is an overwhelming basis for which the Police Professional Standard Board cannot and should not conduct a preliminary examination in the allegation of rape.
The Commission frowned that the Director of Police cannot sit as judge and jury to accept, modify or reject recommendations emanating from the Professional Standards Board noting that this wide flexibility and leverage of police authority raise serious human rights concerns as it has the propensity to undermine access to justice for rape and other forms of sexual offenses.
The INCHR stated that the latitude to first conduct preliminary hearings in rape cases also puts police officers accused of rape in a different category than other individuals accused of similar crimes thereby asserting that the peculiar nature of this case makes it even more compelling and expedient to apply the highest of standards under Liberian law.
The INHCR further avers that “A formal police charge” is not the only means by which criminal matters enter the criminal justice system and therefore calls on the Ministry of Justice to act on the allegations of rape brought against Officer During.
The Commission urged the police to recognize that the essence of prosecution is not limited to establishing guilt, but also to ensuring justice is served adding, “Both the complainant and the accused are officers of the law and that the act is alleged to have taken place on the premise of the Liberia National Police is of grave concern.”
Again, on June 20, 2020, an officer of the Liberia National Police was accused of raping a 15-year old girl at a police substation in Monrovia after the victim was placed in police protective custody in response to an attempted rape incident against the same individual.
The survivor reported that whilst in police custody later the same night, an on-duty night officer forcibly had sex with her and incident underscores the need for the Liberia National Police to allow the law to take its course, as a police station should be one of the safest places in Monrovia.