(This report covers the period January-December 1997)   At least nine possible prisoners of conscience were briefly detained. There were reports of torture and ill-treatment by both Liberian police and regional peace-keeping forces. At least one person died in custody, allegedly as a result of ill-treatment. An opposition figure and three relatives were reportedly extrajudicially executed. The security situation in the country improved during the year and there was a corresponding decline in human rights abuses committed by warring factions. However, outside the capital, Monrovia, there were no judicial institutions in place. The peace agreement which ended Liberia's seven-year civil war laid down a timetable for disarmament, demobilization and general elections (see Amnesty International Reports 1996 and 1997). Although there was progress in each of these areas, the timetable was not maintained. To support the implementation of the agreement, the Economic Community of West African States (ecowas) Cease-fire Monitoring Group (ecomog) deployed about 11,000 troops in most parts of the country Elections originally scheduled for May were postponed until July. Thirteen political parties contested the elections, three led by former leaders of warring factions. During the election campaign, there were numerous reports of intimidation and harassment by former combatants, particularly in the north and the southeast of the country and by former members of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (npfl). Both were accused of threatening civilians and some returning refugees. Former npfl leader Charles G. Taylor and his party, the National Patriotic Party, won more than two thirds of the vote. In August he was sworn in as President, replacing Ruth Perry, who had been Chairperson of the Council of State. Liberia's third National Transitional Government was dissolved. The 1985 Constitution was reinstated and the Supreme Court reconstituted Voluntary disarmament, which had started in November 1996, was completed on 7 February 1997. However, several caches of weapons were found after the deadline. More than 20,300 combatants, including 4,306 minors, were disarmed from an estimated total of 33,000. ecomog had originally estimated the number of combatants to be 60,000 (see Amnesty International Report 1997), but it later claimed that the total had been exaggerated by former faction leaders. The repatriation of refugees, due to be completed by 21 January, was also delayed. In the southeast, ecomog reported that former npfl combatants were hampering the return of refugees. During the election campaign, the various political parties assisted in the repatriation of about 50,000 refugees from neighbouring West African countries to participate in the elections. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (unhcr), there were still about 600,000 Liberian refugees in neighbouring West African countries at the end of the year. The majority came from Lofa and Nimba counties in northern Liberia. In May unhcr embarked on an 18-month voluntary repatriation program. However, adequate legal structures were not yet in place to address human rights issues which might arise from their return In October the government established a National Human Rights Commission to promote and protect human rights in Liberia. It had not started work by the end of the year. There was concern that the Commission had no powers to initiate investigations and that it was specifically prohibited from influencing legislation. The mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Liberia (unomil) expired in September; all unomil military observers and all but one of the human rights monitors left the country. The UN agreed with President Taylor that it would provide advisory and technical assistance to the Liberian government on issues relating to post-conflict peace building; two human rights officers were assigned to a UN Peace-building Support Office. ecomog continued to perform the function of maintaining law and order, but was responsible for abuses (see below). In August ecowas extended ecomog's peace-keeping role in Liberia until August 1998, although it was not clear whether President Taylor had agreed to this extension Relations with neighbouring Sierra Leone deteriorated during the year. In October the government sealed its borders with Sierra Leone and sent troops to the border area Journalists were harassed and subjected to short-term arrest (see below) after covering stories of a politically sensitive nature. One newspaper with a reputation for critical analysis, New Democrat, was refused permission to relaunch itself, apparently on the grounds that it had not submitted its request in time At least nine possible prisoners of conscience were arrested and held without charge. In September Philip Wesseh, managing director of an independent newspaper, The Inquirer, questioned police methods in dealing with alleged armed robbers. He was arrested and interrogated for several hours. In December, seven journalists with The Inquirer were taken to the President's residence, the Executive Mansion, in connection with an article about the killing of Samuel Dokie (see below). They were questioned for two hours by members of the Special Security Services, who reportedly told them that some journalists might be killed if they did not improve their work. Later in December Alex Redd, a journalist with Radio Ducor, was abducted by plainclothes security officials, apparently in connection with interviews he had carried out while covering Samuel Dokie's funeral. He was abducted some 150 kilometres outside the capital, Monrovia, but was found two days later in police custody in the city. He had reportedly been beaten and bore knife wounds. His captors had apparently abandoned him in the capital with his arms still tied behind his back and he had been handed over to the police. He was held for questioning and charged with treason, but after six days in formal police custody the charges were reduced to felony and he was released on bail There were reports of torture and ill-treatment by both Liberian police and ecomog soldiers. Between February and May, ecomog forces undertook cordon-and-search operations to find hidden weapons. More than 70 people were arrested and held in secret detention camps on suspicion of possessing weapons. Most of them were tortured or ill-treated. In February an ecomog patrol arrested 25 suspected former combatants in Grand Cape Mount county, took them to Monrovia and held them in a secret cell at the ecomog base. They were reportedly beaten with electric wire. Also in February, four dock workers suspected of being former United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy– Johnson branch (ulimo-j) fighters were arrested in Sayontown and taken to the ecomog base in Monrovia. There, three ecomog soldiers reportedly beat them with wire on the back, shoulders and legs and kicked them. All those detained were believed to have been released after 14 March, when Alhaji Kromah, former leader of the defunct ulimo–Kromah Branch (ulimo-k), apologized for an arms cache found in his home. In May ecomog soldiers based in Fendu travelled to Grand Cape Mount county to conduct a cordon-and-search operation at Lajoy goldmine. During interrogation, six former fighters and three civilians were reportedly beaten with wooden sticks and electric wire and one civilian was reportedly slashed with razor blades One former combatant died during the night following the beating. The other victims reportedly had swollen faces, injured eyes, slash wounds and hearing problems. In September Liberian police and ecomog soldiers assaulted a group of some 500 employees of the Firestone plantation company in Harbel, near Monrovia, who were demonstrating peacefully for the release of four colleagues held by the company's security staff. Police and soldiers reportedly beat the workers with batons and gun butts, then opened fire, injuring seven people. Four people were killed in circumstances which suggested that they may have been extrajudicially executed. In November Samuel Dokie, former deputy speaker of the recently dissolved transitional legislative assembly and a former minister of Internal Affairs, his wife, Janet Dokie, and two other relatives were arrested by officials of the Special Security Service. In early December their bodies were found in a burned car; Samuel Dokie had reportedly been beheaded. Five people, including two senior security officials, were arrested in connection with the deaths and were in custody at the end of the year awaiting charges. Samuel Dokie had been a close associate of Charles Taylor within the npfl until 1994, when they became political rivals. In May Amnesty International delegates visited Liberia and met the Council of State, ministers of the National Transitional Government, leaders of political parties, and of former warring factions, and representatives from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations. Amnesty International expressed concern about human rights issues, including the future of human rights in Liberia, both during and after the elections, and impunity. They stressed the necessity of bringing to justice those responsible for past human rights abuses. In October Amnesty International delegates again visited Liberia, where they launched a report, Liberia: Time to take human rights seriously – placing human rights on the national agenda. The report made specific recommendations which the organization believed could form the basis of long-term protection of hu-man rights in Liberia, by creating a human rights culture and building institutions to uphold the rule of law and international human rights standards. In particular, the report urged the new government to investigate as a matter of urgency human rights abuses which took place during the civil war.

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.