Amnesty Int'l Concurs With U.S. Govt on Corrupt Liberian Judiciary

Chief Justice Korkpor said mess in the system was inherited

Liberia’s justice system remains inefficient, under-resourced and corrupt, Amnesty International’s 2013 State of World’s Human Rights Report has find. This follows the release in April 2013 by the U.S. State Department of its 2012 Human Rights Report which also criticized Liberia for judicial inefficiency and corruption, lengthy pretrial detention, denial of due process and harsh prison conditions.

As highlighted by the U.S. Government in its report, Amnesty International also found court processes slow resulting in detainees being kept in lengthy pre-trial detention. Approximately, according to Amnesty International, 80% of the prison population was awaiting trial. The 2012 United States government's Human Right Report said an estimated 78 percent of prisoners in Liberia were pretrial detainees, despite the release of hundreds (710) by the “Fast Track Court and 26 by the probation program to reduce overcrowding.”

Amnesty’s latest report was released yesterday. According to the global human right campaign group, by the end of the year, public defenders were operating in each county, but civil society organizations reported it was still a challenge to find free legal representation.

For its part, the U.S. Human Rights report disclosed that “Judges were susceptible to bribes for awarding damages in civil cases. Judges sometimes requested bribes to try cases, released detainees from prison, or found defendants not guilty in criminal cases. Defense attorneys and prosecutors sometimes suggested defendants pay bribes to secure favorable rulings from or to appease judges, prosecutors, jurors, and police officers.”

In sharp response to this declaration by the U.S. Government, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said “We could get angry over this characterization and blame it on lack of information or the cunningness of global politics.  But we should see this differently – as another wake-up call to all of us to introspect and address those long-standing shortcomings. We recognize the challenges and constraints, resource scarcity, capacity weaknesses, cultural proclivity, and we applaud the progress despite these limitations.”

But the newly-commissioned Chief Justice, Francis Korkpor Sir., has acknowledged some of these problems, but blamed unqualified practitioners dispersed across the judicial sector. “We inherited a lot of judicial personnel during the war --- people who are not qualified as judges, people who are not qualified as clerks of court, bailiffs, some of whom found their way into the judiciary.” He regretted that “warring factions appointed these people without giving due recognition to their backgrounds and qualifications; and we have some of these people in the judiciary today. They say justice delayed is justice denied. The best security our citizens should have is the protection coming from the rule of law.”

Prison Condition

Amnesty International has observed that following its 2011 report on prison conditions, the government restricted the access of national and international organizations to prisons and prison data. By the end of the year, the government had failed to make public a report by the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, following a 2011 visit to inspect places of detention.

It recalled that in January, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for construction of a new central prison in Montserrado County, which was expected to reduce overcrowding and provide improved facilities, but little progress had been made by the end of the year. “Many expressed concern that a new prison would not solve the underlying issues that result in high numbers of pre-trial detainees,” it said.

In its latest report, Amnesty said, “Poor security and harsh conditions contributed to at least a dozen prison breakouts across the country. Sources indicate the authorities responded by cutting time for fresh air and exercise. Throughout the year, medical care improved slightly with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare providing regular medical care, although drugs and supplies were still in short supply.”

Impunity

Regarding impunity, Amnesty registered that after Charles Taylor was found guilty by the Special Court of Sierra Leone, and sentenced to 50 years in prison for crimes committed in Sierra Leone, the Liberian people have yet to see anyone prosecuted for human rights violations committed during the armed conflict in their own country, however.

It furthered that most of the 2009 recommendations of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) were yet to be implemented. These included establishing a criminal tribunal for prosecuting crimes under international law, as well as other legal and institutional reforms, and recommendations relating to accountability, and reparations.