The number of people waiting for trial in Liberia’s jails has been a major problem for some time.More than three thousand four hundred people – who have not been convicted of any crime –are now in pretrial detention nationwide, according to the Bureau of Corrections. Pretrial detainees account for seven in every 10 prisoners in…
Liberia Prepares for Deadly Strain of Mpox
COUNTRIES ACROSS AFRICA ARE CLOSELY MONITORING CASES OF AN OUTBREAK OF MPOX DISEASE. THE DISEASE HAS LONG SICKENED PEOPLE IN WEST AFRICA BUT IT HAS BEEN FAIRLY MILD WITH JUST ONE IN ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE DYING AFTER INFECTION. THAT HAS CHANGED IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO WHERE MORE THAN THIRTY THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE…
With Boakai’s Assets Recovery Team Under a Cloud Activists Call for a Reset in Corruption Fight
At his inauguration in January this year President Joseph Boakai became the latest Liberian leader to announce bold new initiatives to end corruption at the start of his administration. But Liberians have seen decades of endemic corruption, with few attempts to hold accused officials accountable. So most took a wait and see approach at this…
Poverty Forces Children into Dangerous Jobs
By: R. Joyclyn Wea with New Narratives Todee, Liberia – Fourteen-year-old Emmanuel Yarsiah would rather be on the football field, playing with his friends. But instead, he’s working long hours as a coal burner with his mother, toting heavy logs in excessive heat. “I suffering to haul water, cut grass, haul the coal, dig it,…
Poverty Forces Children into Dangerous Jobs
The long‑standing practice of forcing underage children into hazardous labor continues to endanger young lives across Liberia, with little accountability for those responsible. As highlighted in a report by Tetee Gebro in collaboration with Okay FM, the issue persists despite clear data from international partners showing its severity. While the impacts on children are profound…
Adoption Home Shut Down as Arrest Warrant Issued for Staff Over Child Abuse Charges
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives PAYNESVILLE, Montserrado —A local adoption agency with partners in the United States has been shut down and an arrest warrant issued for its Liberian and American heads and four local staff, according to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. The ministry, which supervises adoption agencies and orphanages…
ECOWAS Court Postpones Historic Hearing of Lutheran Church Massacre Case After Liberian Gov. Asked for More Time To “Prepare”
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA – A historic trial between survivors of the infamous St. Peter’s Church massacre and the Liberian government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria, has again been postponed after the Liberian government asked for more time to prepare for the case. This is third the…
Advocates Ask US Congressional Committee For Funding For War & Economic Crimes Courts as Dispute Spills into Open
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Liberian human rights advocates have told a US Congressional committee that it is crucial that the US government take the lead in funding war and economic crimes courts for Liberia. The advocates, including Dr. Alan White, a former chief investigator of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, Elizabeth Evenson,…
Advocates Condemn Pres. Boakai’s Pick to Head War Crimes Court Office – Say Relationship with Rebel Faction Leader Will Undermine Public Trust
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia— Justice activists have expressed anger and disappointment at President Joseph Boakai’s appointment of Jonathan Massaquoi as head of the Office for War and Economic Crimes Courts for Liberia. They said Massaquoi’s role as lawyer for former warlord Agnes Reeves-Taylor in cases against justice activists will undermine public…
“Living in Hell” – Experts Alarmed at a Dramatic Increase in Street Children and Child Sex Workers as Government Struggles to Respond
By Nemenlah Cyrus Harmon with New Narratives DUPORT ROAD, Paynesville – For the last three years 17-year-old Lusu has been living a hellish existence, trying to keep herself and her two babies alive, by selling the only thing she has of value: sex. Like a growing number of children living on Liberia’s streets, Lusu…
Outgoing Finance Minister Admits to a Mental Health Illness in Closed Door Donor Meeting; Experts Commend His Disclosure, Warning Against Stigma
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—Finance Minister Boima Kamara has said health issues were the cause of his absence from duty over recent months leading President Boakai to request his resignation as reported by Front Page Africa on Monday. Front Page Africa/New Narratives have learned that in a closed-door UN donor meeting on July 3…
After a Mysterious Press Release and Bad Start for The Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts, Advocates Demand a Reset
Leading human rights lawyer Tiawan Gongloe has condemned the process for selection of the head of the Office for the War and Economics Crimes courts By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—After a bad start to the launch of the Office for the War and Economics Crimes courts human rights advocates are demanding President…
Government Asks ECOWAS Court to Dismiss Lutheran Massacre Case
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives In a hearing at the Ecowas Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria, the Liberian government has asked the court to dismiss a $US1.5 million lawsuit accusing it of dereliction of duty by not investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church massacre in Monrovia, committed by…
UN Receives Boakai’s Letter Requesting War and Economic Crimes Courts Support as Major Donors Express Concern Over Process for Appointment of Courts Chief
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Monrovia – President Joseph Boakai has taken the first step in inviting international support for the establishment of Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Courts by sending a letter to António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, requesting financial and technical assistance for the courts. Requesting UN support is a crucial…
Bar Adds to Condemnation of War and Economic Crimes Courts Process, Says it Was Not Consulted
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—The leader of Liberia’s powerful National Bar Association, the professional organization of the nation’s lawyers, has joined the growing list of civil society and victims’ groups that have condemned the process by which President Joseph Boakai appointed Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi as executive director of the Office of War…
US War Crimes Ambassador Warns ‘Unsubstantiated Allegations Put Civil Society Actors at Risk’
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives Monrovia – The US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice has condemned Mr. Alan White, an American former investigator for the Sierra Leone Special Court, and a group of activists for making unsubstantiated allegations against leading human rights activists in a Congressional committee hearing in Washington D.C. last month. Mr….
Finland Awards More Than $US426,000 in Compensation to Acquitted Sierra Leonean Warlord Massaquoi
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The Finnish government has awarded €390,000 ($US426,00) in compensation to Gibril Massaquoi, the former Sierra Leonean rebel leader acquitted in January of war crimes and crimes against humanity prosecutors said he committed during Liberia’s second civil war between 1999-2003. The payment covers Mr. Massaquoi’s loss of liberty and income during the…
Human Rights Activists Welcome Orator’s Criticism of War Crimes Court Office Appointment
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia— Leading advocates of war time justice for Liberia have welcomed criticism by Dr. Robtel Neajai Pailey, in this year’s Independence Day oration, of the process to appoint Cllr. Jonathan Massaquoi as executive director of the War and Economic Crimes Courts Office. Dr. Pailey called on President Boakai to…
President Boakai Withdraws Appointment of War and Economics Crimes Office Head After Widespread Condemnation from Human Rights Groups and Lawyers
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—President Joseph Boakai has withdrawn his appointment of Liberian lawyer, Jonathan Massaquoi to head the newly constituted Office of War and Economic Crimes Courts following nearly two months of public condemnation from almost all leading victims and human rights advocates and the umbrella body for lawyers in the…
At U.N. Liberian Government Seeks Endorsement of War and Economic Crimes Courts; Commits to Government Apology and Reparations
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives The Liberian government sought the endorsement of its war and economic crimes courts from the United Nations in a meeting on Tuesday. The meeting comes three months after President Joseph Boakai quietly sent a letter to the U.N. Secretary General, asking for technical and financial support for the courts. Though the…
Boakai Government Risking Cuts in US Aid Because of Failure to Act on Anti-Trafficking Cases
By Anthony Stephens with New Narratives MONROVIA, Liberia—In December 2022, after 10 months of abuse and exploitation as a housemaid in Oman, Kemah was excited to hear that the Liberian government was finally coming to her rescue. Kemah was one of more than 300 women allegedly duped into traveling to Oman under false promises of…