Monrovia — The National Civil Society Council of Liberia (NCSCL) has condemned in the strongest term, ill-treatment meted against protesting students of the Students Unification Party (SUP) by a group loyal to the ruling Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) under the banner of CDC Council of Patriots (CDC-COP).
It can be recalled that several members of SUP, who were about to stage a "peaceful" protest, sustained serious and minor bodily injuries, with several others humiliated.
According to reports, the SUP group gathered Tuesday Morning, July 26, 2022 before the US Embassy near Monrovia to embark on a "peaceful" parade to the Centennial Memorial Pavilion, where the indoor program of Liberia's 175th Independence Day was taking place. The group was due present a position statement to government authorities and foreign partners on what it terms growing corruption and other negative vices in the public sector.
Surprisingly, while the students were setting up for the "Fix the Country" campaign, which aimed to denounce all forms of bad governance, including corruption, poverty, insecurity, and the dire state of infrastructure, the CDC-COP loyal to the ruling establishment reportedly infiltrated the student group, thus wounding several.
Video footage on social media shows a member of the student group, Christopher "Walter Sisulu" Sivili, was stripped naked and dragged mercilessly.
Accordingly, NCSCL in a statement following the bloody riot described the action of the CDC-COP as a looming threat to the current peace and stability the country current enjoys.
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"The Council sees the action of the CDC-COP as a looming threat to the current peace and stability the country current enjoys, which came as a result of huge sacrifices made by Liberians and the International Community, who spent billions of dollars of their taxpayers' money in bringing peace," said the statement issued under the signature of the Chairperson of the Council, Madam Loretta Alethea Pope Kai.
The Council the action of the CDC-COP contravenes Articles 15 and 17 of the Liberian Constitution, which call for the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in a responsible manner, and as such, the government must take the courage to investigate.
"The Council, therefore, calls on the Government of Liberia (GoL) through the Liberia National Police (LNP) to launch an investigation and bring those human rights violators to justice. The Council, being a voice of the voiceless and hope of the hopeless, will not sit on the fence to allow the country to be ruined. Liberians cannot afford to see their country plunge into another political brouhaha as a result of injustices upon peaceful citizens by so-called favor-seeking individuals," the Council furthered.
"We also call on the International Community and Liberia's development partners to promptly intervene into this looming danger that has the propensity to derail the progress made," added the Council.
