By Gibson W. Jerue
Journalist/Author
Our country was broken into piece due to unquenchable and insatiable desire of a cartel of vicious, callous and power thirsty politicians who wanted a taste of the national booty. They succeeded in breaking down the social, political and economic drapery of the nation in their demonic search for political and economic statuses. They found alibi in the wanton disregard to human dignity and fundamental rights against the Liberian people.
Think about the thousands of natives Liberians who were slaughtered by Americo-Liberians during the battle of Crown Hill; Don’t forget the thousand others who were killed at one blow when Matilda Newport shot Cannons that ripped apart the bodies of natives who carried bow and arrows, sticks and spears made of wood to fend of bloody power hunters. When the blood of our forefathers flowed in the gutters, the settlers laughed and drank champagne on the carcasses of their victims. Think about the tens, perhaps hundreds of students and civilians shot and brutally murdered in the streets of Monrovia on April 14, 1979 by the Tolbert regime. The wanton killing of civilians and innocent people did not started with the Taylor regime, not even with Samuel Doe’s People’s Redemption Council (PRC) Government that metamorphosed into civilian administration in 1986.
But there was one thing that was not missing during all those years—a voice screaming for freedom, human rights, rule of law, good governance, and respect for human dignity. It was Edward Wilmot Blyden standing between death and life to speak out; it was D. Tweh braving the storm to give a voice to the voiceless; it was Albert Porte accepting the reality of making prison his home for the regime of the day to listen to the cries of the people. And in the immediate paste, the likes of Gabriel Baccus Matthews was the beckon of hope; the Tipotehs, Sawyers, Fahnbullehs, and host of mixed character “progressives” were the voices that echoed in the wilderness.
There was one female, whose name became an icon, earning her the name “Iron Lady” from her eloquent speeches, hardcore human rights advocacy, determination to challenge the power that be for the right thing—Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Gola-German progeny. Although she helped to milk her gluttonous cousins and uncles and aunts in the late 1978 and early 1979, circumstances recreated her and suddenly she became one of the most influential females of our time. In her advocacy, every leader before her was corrupt, uncouth, ruthless, draconian, disrespect of the rights of the people, disrespectful of the Constitution and laws of Liberia. She called them “tyrants”. And for her none before her was competent to serve in the number one spot of the nation job market—the Presidency.
Soon she emptied her lifesavings to support a rebellion that she and her cartel of power greedy politicians residing in the United States and elsewhere masterminded and nurtured. They put Taylor on the hot line, not because they believed in him but because they thought they could use him as a means to an end. Unfortunately, Taylor was a con artist himself. Soon he screwed her and then Madam Sirleaf and her cohorts remodeled their strategies. Today, the most recalcitrant, grumpiest, most avaricious, most vindictive, and most egomaniac of our female population, Madam Sirleaf is at the helm of authority. And the dagger in her hand is raise high hovering over the people she hates most—Grand Gedeans. Already, she has either disgraced or victimized 13 Grand Gedeans and counting, to include Andrew Dorbor (jailed six months without charges), Charles Julu (jailed three months without trial), Benson Bah (dismissed initially for corruption and never gave him his day in court), Chris Bailey (declared wanted for corruption charges from the audit reports that Madam Sirleaf condemned), William Karyee (nominated, sanctioned by the Senate but withdrawn for alleged corruption act), Amos Cheayee, Ofori Diah, Abednego Zweh and five others declared most wanted criminals only to realize they are innocent.
And since June this year the clamp down on Grand Gedeans continued with the illegal arrest and detention of seven (7) sons of Grand Gedeh County. The motives are unambiguous. Madam Sirleaf has her unswerving hit men who are ready to execute her orders. All they needed was a spark of trouble and an alibi and they would unleash their dragnet for any and all in their way. So, for the seven men to be arrested and detained for more than four weeks without charges was a full blown conclusion—that a prey is just a prey. I had clearly established recently in a ten-part article how and why Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, is witch-hunting Grand Gedeans. I chronologically narrated how and why she hated the people of Grand Gedeh and how and why she does even now.
There were several reasons why we were worried about those seven detainees, now suspects. See the charges that the government levied on them on August 30, 2012: “Murder, rape, illegal possession of firearm, arson and theft of property against peaceful civilians” .Murder and Rape are first degree felonies and not bailable, while the rest are second and third degree felonies that are bailable offenses. The argument is not whether or not those seven men are innocent or guilty. We cannot determine before the law takes its course. What we are aware of is the burden of proof rests with the Government, and under the Liberian jurisprudence, they should prove beyond all reasonable doubt. Any doubt created in the trial will operate in favor of the defendants. Lest we forget how the Sirleaf administration sometimes ago heralded locally and internationally that Dorbor and Julu plotted to overthrow her government. It turned out the government lied. We remember how the government promised several people, including Grand Gedeans, money to testify against Julu but that did not work. In fact, Julu’s companion in detention, Dorbor, was promised money to testify against his brother and he refused.
We were particularly concerned that President Sirleaf took an oath to protect the Constitution and laws of Liberia but she chose to violate them. That alone constituted probable cause for impeachment, according to the Constitution; but that is a different argument. Not only that the President of Liberia and her national security flouted the constitution, but they also violated the fundamental rights of the seven Grand Gedeans. What are those rights? Article 21 (f) states: “…Every person arrested or detained shall be formally charged and presented before a court of competent jurisdiction within forty-eight hours…” In the case of the seven Grand Gedeans, they were detained for 1,176 hours without charges. That is not just a violation it was persecution. Another reason is those detainees were tortured, which the constitution frowns on. Article 21 (e) also says, “…No person charged, arrested, restricted, detained or otherwise held in confinement shall be subject to torture or inhumane treatment…” Again in the case of the seven Grand Gedeans they were denied food; they were physically and psychologically tortured by the Government of Liberia security forces. They tried to force confession out them against their will. That again grossly undermines the Constitution.
Come to think about it that why those people were detained without charges, anything could have happened. They could have been poisoned or secretly killed; since their families did not know which detention facilities they were being held. The begging question is how could Madam Sirleaf, the person who spoke against social justice, democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and dignity, stoop so low to allowing her followers to maltreat fellow human beings like that. What happened to all the advocacies of yesteryear? It was just simple if the government did not have evidence to prosecute them—Let them go! The government cannot keep them in jail and begin to look for evidence to prosecute them, especially torturing some of them to say something against themselves. Now that they are charged, we look forward to seeing the evidence the state has against them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gibson W. Jerue is a pro-democracy, human rights and social justice advocate. He has stood up to several past regimes and presidents dating back to his junior high school years in the mid-1980s. He has written two books, and he is a journalist of 24-year experience. He can be reached at mongboe2002@yahoo.com, zokowleah@yahoo.com, monzoko67@gmail.com, or visit his blog at dailypalaverhut.blogspot.com for more articles and series.
