-To Break Stalemate on Human Rights Defenders Policy
By: Sampat JMB Kpakimah
MONROVIA – A coalition of human rights actors in Liberia is advancing a strategic advocacy roadmap aimed at securing government endorsement of the long-stalled National Human Rights Defenders Policy of Liberia. The Liberia Coalition for Human Rights Defenders (LICHRD) convened a two-day capacity-building workshop at the Corina Hotel in Monrovia, designed to sharpen members’ skills in campaigning for the protection of human rights defenders across the country.
Speaking to journalists after the session, LICHRD National Chairperson Niedoteh Boyd Torber said the group has developed a new, proactive engagement strategy to press the government on the urgent need to endorse the policy. “We have a document called the National Human Rights Defenders Policy of Liberia, drafted to protect human rights actors in general and defenders in particular,” Torber said. “Since its presentation to the government more than a year ago, this document has been abandoned and not attended to. We need the government to endorse it as a member of the comity of nations.”
Providing background, Torber noted that human rights campaigns in Liberia have long been a fight for social justice, with activists remaining vulnerable in their communities without any legal framework to ensure their safety and wellbeing. He explained that the proposed policy is intended to safeguard the continued campaign for human rights by providing a working protection document endorsed by the state.
Despite being drafted with support from international human rights organizations, the policy has lingered before the government without meaningful engagement toward endorsement. “This workshop was intended to bring the different actors in the Coalition for Human Rights Defenders to the table, with technical support from our international partner, to draw a new roadmap for stronger advocacy of this policy,” Torber said.
The two-day working session was facilitated and funded by the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and implemented by LICHRD, with dozens of stakeholders in attendance. Antoine Tremblay, ISHR’s Africa Program Coordinator, expressed the organization’s admiration for committed Liberians championing human rights despite the absence of an endorsed government policy.
Tremblay said ISHR has worked with LICHRD for years to bring the document to its current stage, and the organization now hopes the recent engagement will produce a strong roadmap featuring proactive strategies for government engagement. “Human rights defenders and government are collaborative partners in protecting citizens,” Tremblay said. “That makes it very important to call on the government to stand by the defenders and endorse this instrument.”
If endorsed, the actors believe the policy will provide civil society and human rights campaigners with a more protective space to continue pushing for better living conditions for ordinary Liberians—without fear.
