RIGHTS-LIBERIA: Govt Vents Its Anger On Journalists And Students

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Apr 10 2001 (IPS) - While fighting to put down an armed rebellion in his country’s northern borders with Guinea, the Liberian President Charles Taylor has turned the heat on his critics, including journalists, students and politicians, in the capital Monrovia.

The latest to join the fray was Milton Teajay, a former deputy Information Minister and media adviser to the government, who disappeared from his home late last week and is yet to be accounted for.

A police spokesperson in Monrovia said Monday that the authorities are not keeping Teajay and that they were investigating his whereabouts.

“We (police) have learnt that he was trying to cross the borders out of Liberia,” said Paul Mulba, the police chief. “If Mr Teajay is anywhere safe, let him call the police or any radio station. We are definitely concerned about his safety since he is a prominent politician.”

This theory does not seem to convince Monrovia residents who are all too familiar with the persecution and disappearances of opposition figures. Many have been jailed, killed or hounded, but Teajay’s case has raised fresh concerns about the human rights record of the Taylor regime.

For reasons still unknown, armed police picked up one of Teajay’s brothers at the weekend. Since then, the police have surrounded the opposition politician’s residence. Teajay was recently sacked from the government and his official vehicle impounded.

Teajay also incurred the wrath of the administration when he launched virulent attacks against the logging of timber in his home region, which does not benefit locals in the area. He also has often criticised President Taylor’s autocratic rule that has apparently drawn the two on collision course.

Apart from Teajay, the regime has targeted student agitators from the University who recently came under brutal attacks from the state security forces. Lecturers as well as students were beaten up and both female and male students detained. Some were tortured while female students suffered the indignity of being raped by the security agents. The students were raising funds to support detained journalists who were standing trial for alleged espionage.

In a press statement, the London-based human rights group, Amnesty International called for “the immediate investigation of (Liberian) security officers who were responsible for torture and ill-treatment of students. They should be brought to justice.”

Last month, four journalists from the independent NEWS, a Monrovia-based tabloid, were arrested and charged with espionage, after publishing an article criticising the government’s spending on spare parts for helicopters while delaying months of wages of civil servants.

The internal repression in Liberia has escalated since July 2000, when opposition armed forces attacked Lofa County in northern Liberia from neighbouring Guinea. Critics have frequently been labeled as “dissidents” by the authorities and have increasingly been verbally and physically attacked.

The Special Operation Division (SOD), a unit of the security forces, has often been implicated in human rights abuses including torture. This reign of terror appears to have been perfected by the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU), an elite force, which is believed to be behind many political killings and disappearances.

Intolerance of criticism was further exacerbated after the publication of a UN report in December 2000 accusing Liberia of providing military support to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the armed opposition group in Sierra Leone. RUF has been responsible for widespread human rights abuses, and of profiting from the illegal trade in diamonds from Sierra Leone which fuels the war.

On Mar 7, a UN resolution introduced a ban on diamond exports from Liberia and travel for senior officials. The ban comes into effect in May unless Liberia complies with UN Security Council’s demands.

But it seems Taylor’s problems are far from over. His country’s war with dissident Liberian forces invading from Guinea keeps escalating with two major towns Voinjama and Kolahun exchanging hands. Liberia itself is under an arms embargo thus making it difficult for the government to win the war against the insurgents.

The government has reportedly been sucking in casualties from the battlefront and its animosity with the governments of neighbouring Sierra Leone and Guinea not helping it either. The Monrovia regime recently expelled the ambassadors from both Guinea and Sierra Leone accusing them of “engaging in acts not compatible with their status as diplomats.” It would not elaborate. This has further added fuel to the worsening relationship between the three countries.

Both countries believe the Liberian leadership is behind the destabilisation activities in the sub-region, an accusation that Taylor has repeatedly denied. In fact, Liberia alleges that Guinea supports armed activities in its northern border region.

Meanwhile, a planned meeting between the leaders of the three feuding neighbours, which was planned for sometime this month in the Nigerian capital Abuja, might not work because Guinea’s General Lansana Conte has vowed never to sit on the negotiating table with Taylor whom he blames for his country’s woes.

The aim of the meeting was to try and reach an agreement on how to end the escalating border crisis that has left tens of thousands of civilians displaced and plunged the sub-region into chaos.