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Liberia: Defense Act Submitted to Lawmakers
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The NEWS (Monrovia)
13 March 2008
Posted to the web 13 March 2008
Monrovia
A proposed law for servicemen of the new Liberian military has been submitted to the National legislature by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
The draft Defense act, submitted to lawmakers Tuesday, would hold servicemen responsible if they violate provisions of the law.
Defense Minister Brownell Samukai told journalists early this week at a press briefing that a code of conduct that would govern the behavior and attitude of the new army as well as the respect for human rights are explicitly cited in the proposed law.
He emphasized that the new army will also be held responsible if it violates the human rights of the people.
Minister Samukai said if the proposed law is passed, the new army would submit to the dictates of the law, adding that anyone who violates the law would be charged and prosecuted in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) which also forms part of the proposed law.
The intent of the defense act, according to Minister Samukai, is to ensure that future Liberian military is governed by laws.
Within the new defense act, the importance of maintaining the Coast Guard and the Liberian Air wings were accentuated during the briefing.
Minister Samukai explained that the Coast Guard and Air wings will provide Liberia surveillance capabilities to navigate its territories with no intent to attack.
With specific reference to the Coast Guard, Minister Samukai said once the act is passed into law, it would allow Liberia to tap into the U.S. Defense Department foreign military funding.
According to him, the U.S. government is enthusiastic about providing support to the Liberian Coast Guard.
However, the Minister declined to comment on other essential issues of the new defense act fearing that it could have consequential effect if he went into them.
The submission of the defense act comes at the time when members of the Liberian parliament, security agencies and civil society representatives concluded a four day seminar on Defense Budgeting and Governance held at the conference room of the Governance Commission (GC).
The seminar was intended to prepare members of the legislature on their role in drafting a defense act and preparing a defense budget.
Some of the issues discussed during the seminar include the process of writing a defense act, budget process and defense procurement, the Sierra Leone experience, defense reforms in post war period; using Mozambique as a case study, and promoting effective security sector budgeting: the role of civil society, among others.
The seminar was facilitated by the African Security Sector Network (ASSN) in collaboration with the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and Conflict, Security and Development Group, King's College London.
The defense act comes at the time when the restructuring of the army is well into advanced stages. The United States Government and other friendly nations are supporting the restructuring process. So far more than 1,130 soldiers have completed training.
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The training of the security sector was initiated at a peace conference in Accra, Ghana, by stakeholders and the international community who thought that the Liberian security sector was fragmented along factional and tribal lines.
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