The Inquirer (Monrovia)
Melissa Chea-Annan
27 March 2008
The Liberian government, civil society and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) on Wednesday held a one-day forum on the incessant attacks on officers and assets of the Liberia National Police (LNP) at the Monrovia City Hall in Sinkor.
The forum was intended to stem the tide of attacks on the LNP through out the country by helping to create public understanding of the process of rule of law and the extent of the responsibility of LNP in the dispensation of justice.
The forum, which brought together several officials of government, human rights activists and officials of UNMIL and the civil society among others, devised ways of conveying effective public education on the implications of destroying landmark institutions during protests and further emphasized the position of the law on mob actions and other extra-judicial practices.
During the forum that was moderated by the Solicitor General of Liberia, Cllr. Taiwan Gongloe, the participants in separate views pointed out that the government needs to give more attention to the LNP to empower them withstand the test of time.
The participants observed that the police that are responsible to protect the citizens are not fully empowered because they lack logistics to carry out their duties and worst of all most of the police sub-stations do not even have electricity at night, while at the same time their salaries have to be attractive to prevent them from being bribed.
Some of them expressed the views that the police needs to be armed in order to combat crimes and criminals, and that whenever a police officer goes wrong, he/she should be dealt with to serve as deterrent for others.
Sharing their views on why there is an increase of mob violence on police stations and officers throughout the country, the participants stated that it is sometimes due to the manner in which police officers handle cases. They pointed out that the delay in deciding cases most often led to mob violence.
Others shared the view that in order for the rule of law to take effect, the Ministry of Justice needs to revisit and review the justice system of the country, and moreover, the LNP needs to improve on their relations with the various communities.
Giving a statistics on mob violence in the country covering the period from January 2007-February 2008, the Deputy Head of the UN mission in Liberia, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu said a total of 56 attacks on police officers and police stations were recorded.
She observed that some of these attacks were due, not to the shortcomings but the lack of understanding and mistrust of the justice system and to the impatience of the public with the procedural steps involved in criminal justice administration.
Following series of interactions amongst participants, Cllr. Gongloe reminded them that the war is over and peace and stability should be the focus of all Liberians and so everyone must support the work of the police to make Liberia a better society in which no one would live above the law.
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