Monrovia — The U.S Department of State through its Secretary General Mr. Antony Blinken has honored and awarded Bong County's Criminal "Court E" resident Circuit Judge Cllr. Cornelius Flomo Wennah and five others around the world as its "Trafficking in person Heroes for 2022.
The award is in recognition of their effort towards the fight against human trafficking and was presented at the launched of the 2022 Traffic in Person report on Tuesday in Washington D.C. The honorees were drawn from Poland, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Thailand, Jordan and Liberia.
According to the U.S. state department, Cllr. Wennah and his colleagues have demonstrated exemplary leadership and professionalism over the years during the discharge of their duties, noting that the need to recognize their efforts can't be overlooked.
The State Department pointed out in a post-conflict country facing resource challenges and weak rule of law, Judge Wennah has demonstrated tireless devotion to improve Liberia's anti-trafficking record.
Judge Wennah was sworn in as a Residential Judge early this year. Prior to this position, he was Head of Felonious Crimes and a prosecutor in the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), investigating, prosecuting, and advising on anti-trafficking matters and other crimes.
He is distinguished for developing anti-trafficking training curricula and serving as a trainer on a country-wide project. In his last four years as a prosecutor, he prosecuted seven trafficking cases, winning five and losing one, with one remaining under appeal.
These numbers, the State Department noted, are significant given Liberia's overall low number of trafficking cases prosecuted in the past few years.
He also advocated for the inclusion of traditional leaders and civil society organizations in Liberia's National Anti-Trafficking Task Force. Since 2020, he has assisted the International Development Law Organization to develop international standard-level human trafficking training curriculum for judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel, all to raise awareness and strengthen justice sector actors' capacities to prevent and address human trafficking.
In addition, he was "instrumental in the development and adoption of a trafficking bench book for judges and a handbook for law enforcement and prosecutors-- harmonizing international standards and local practice--without compromising on best practices, lessons learned, or international standards."
Other honorees include Mohammed Tariqul Islam of Bangladesh, Major Mohammad al-Khlaifat, Jordan, Ms. Dawid-Olczyk, a Polish human rights activist, Ms. Apinya Tajit of Thailand and Kateryna Cherepakha of Ukrainian who was unable to travel to Washington to form part of the ceremony.
The 2022 TIP Report Heroes are currently participating in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State's premier professional exchange program.
The Heroes are attending professional meetings in Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, PA; and Reno, NV and forging connections with U.S. community leaders with the shared goal of combating all forms of human trafficking.
The meetings are focused on the integral themes of prosecution, prevention, protection, and partnerships. The Heroes are also examining the compounding effects of the pandemic, exploring concerns related to racial equity and justice, and highlighting effective survivor engagement.
Ranking Liberia in Tier 2, the State Department said although the Government of Liberia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, it is making significant efforts to do so.
"The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared with the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Liberia was upgraded to Tier 2."
These efforts included passing and enacting a new trafficking law with provisions that removed the means element for child sex trafficking crimes; increasing investigations, prosecutions, and convictions; and allocating more funding to NGOs to conduct awareness raising campaigns, it added.
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Meanwhile, back in Liberia, the U.S. Embassy streamed live the event which was attended by Deputy Chief of Mission Joel Maybury and an array of Government officials including Justice Minister Musa Dean, Labor Minister, Cllr. Charles Gibson and the Deputy Foreign Minister Cllr. Deweh Gray.
The TIP Report is the U.S. government's principal diplomatic and diagnostic tool to guide relations with foreign governments on human trafficking.
It is also the world's most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-trafficking efforts and reflects the U.S. government's commitment to global leadership on key human rights, law enforcement, and national security issue.
As required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the TIP Report assesses government efforts around the world to combat human trafficking and highlights strategies to address this crime and protect the victims.
