BY: Shallon S. Gonlor
NIMBA COUNTY — Attorney Tonieh A. Talery-Wiles, Chairperson of the Women’s Human Rights Defenders Network of Liberia has underscored the significant need for confidentiality and protection of sex victims, emphasizing the importance of in-camera trials for sexual offense cases.
At a day refresher awareness campaign and training workshop on ‘MOBILE IN-CAMERA SCREEN FOR THE TRIAL OF SEXUAL OFFENCE CASES’, the Liberian gender specialist told participants comprising of the Ministry of Justice Victim Support Officers (VSO), Prosecution and Defense Counsels, and Staffers of the Sexual Offenses Court in Sanniquellie, Nimba County to ensure confidentiality and protection for SGBV Survivors as they appear to testify in court to prevent stigma during and after court hearings.
An initiative of the Ministry of Justice, supported by the Sweden Government to promote confidentiality, access to basic services in courts, and also increase confidence in the Justice System by the Liberia people drove attendees through a Manuel Titled “PROCEDURE ON THE USE OF THE MOBILE IN-CAMERA SCREEN FOR THE TRIAL OF SEXUAL OFFENCE CASES, which contained ten pages.
Held Friday, 9 February 2024 at POST Academy Hall in Sanniquellie, Nimba County, the Legal Counsel said most victims of sexual violence fear to testify against their perpetrators, especially in court where their identity is not concealed, putting their life in danger.
She further contested that under the adversarial system of litigation, victims of sexual and gender-based violence are not shielded from the public or their attacker.
She added: “Whether or not a trial is heard in camera depends on the goodwill of the judge handling the matter or how persuasive prosecution is, but it should be made a mandatory requirement in cases of sexual violence for trials to be held in camera.”
The human rights defender also contended that SGBV victims create more fear to come to court due to both the Prosecution and Defense Counsels’ embarrassing questions they ask during direct and cross-examinations in court, the public and party litigants’ overcrowdedness of the courtroom during trial proceedings.
She disclosed that all Sexual Offenses Courts in the Republic shall allow not more than five permanent persons on each side (victim’s family and defendant’s family in compliance with the law, adding that these family members shall not be allowed to alternate during the trial of the cause before the court.
Counsel Tonieh A. Talery-Wiles also contended that victims face stigma, adding that many fear reporting their perpetrators on grounds that society will think ‘bad’ about them for being immoral or provocative.
Attorney Tonieh Wiles is the Chairperson of the Women’s Human Rights Defenders Network of Liberia, a network established to provide safe space for women and girls who advocate and fight for the rights of other women.
The network collaborates with various human rights organizations and institutions, including the United Nations, human rights groups, and other international non-governmental organizations to provide security, protection, and human rights monitoring.
Speaking further, the human rights defender noted that the act creating Criminal Court ‘E’ now Sexual Offenses Court also provides that except for cases of rape, which is under Section 14.70 of the Penal Code are required to be held in camera.
The trial of sexual offense cases where the alleged victim is under 18 years of age and the protection of the victim warrants an in-camera trial; provided that other sexual offense trials may be held in camera where the court determines that the victim or a witness warrants protection.
Reiterating the importance of the Sexual Offence Courts in Liberia dealing with victims of sexual crimes in a sensitive manner, she said the Supreme Court has issued a slew of directions to the trial courts to avoid agony and harassment for women who file complaints of sexual harassment.
The high court directed that in-camera trials should be allowed in all cases relating to sexual offenses as per Section 5(a) of the New Rape Law, which provides that the trial of all cases under Section 14.70 shall be held in camera.
The Supreme Court’s intent of in-camera testimony is to protect the identity of a sex abuse victim. The procedure seeks to remove the actual and psychological fears associated with a child abuse victim facing an alleged perpetrator.
The Supreme Court opinions authorized in-camera trials when required by the state where the court determines that the victim/witness warrants protection.
In-camera trials are intended to remove the grave prospect of easy identification with the risks of making the victim a community stigma and a subject of public scandal.
The Supreme Court has further said that the names of sex victims may be removed from the minutes of court to ensure strict confidentiality and non-recognition of victims.
Backed by the high court, an in-camera trial is a judicial proceeding conducted in a Judge’s Chamber away from the public with sealed records that may be expunged.
The In-Camera Screen is a special partition made to fit within the courtroom to provide a shield to victims testifying during the trial of SGBV cases. It is constructed of wood with wheels attached to allow sex victims to move it around in different locations. Its components consist of a one-way mirror that allows only the victim/witness to see the defendant and the rest of the court from behind the screen.
As per testament, the specialized; Sexual Offenses Court of the 8th Judicial Circuit in Nimba County has a one-stop center to provide medical, legal, and justice support for survivors of SGBV and an equipped courthouse with in-camera (closed door) victim protection room on the court premises, protecting survivors privacy during trial proceedings.
As a result, the specialized court now better handles SGBV cases, upholds the rights of survivors, and holds perpetrators to account, where citizens are now eager and satisfied to come to the court with SGBV cases.
Currently presided by its esteemed Resident Judge, Musa S. Sidibey, the Sexual Offenses Court in Sanniquellie, Nimba County is extremely effective and proactive, proceeding on the path of dispensing transparent and fair justice without fear or favor.
The commissioned and assigned resident circuit judge further promised to deliver on the rule of law, transparent and equal justice for all, committing to a collective task force with justice actors in making the county’s justice system and the rule of law sector more vibrant, credible, and independent.
In fulfillment of his commitment aimed at ensuring speedy and transparent justice, Judge Sidibey continued to prove beyond expectations, assuring the public, and party litigants a diligent service with due process of law and would do nothing to undermine the judiciary’s ethics, admonishing the public to seek redress at the court whenever aggrieved of the law.
Sitting in its November 2023 Term, the court received nine new SGBV cases from five magisterial courts in Nimba County, which were forwarded to the office of the County Attorney of Nimba County for a grand jury proceeding, while a total of seven cases are docketed for the February Term, A.D, 2024.
Notably, the court recorded thirty-one (31) pre-trial detainees at the Sanniquellie Central Prison during the term under review, which at the end of the November Term, the number of pre-trial detainees dropped to eighteen based on nolle prosequi, jail delivery, dismissal, acquittal, and/or conviction.
