LIBERIA: CRIME RATE STEADY BUT PUBLIC'S UNEASINESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MONROVIA 000446

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEC KCRM EAID LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA: CRIME RATE STEADY BUT PUBLIC'S UNEASINESS
GROWS

Classified By: Ambassador Booth for reasons 1.4 B and D.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Liberian public has grown uneasy about
a rumored increase in violent crime since the beginning of

2008. While crime continues at a high rate, UN crime
statistics do not indicate a sharp increase. The public
perception continues, however, because of frequent media
coverage of violent crime incidents, especially armed robbery
(the "arm" is usually a knife/machete rather than a gun).
Distrustful of the police and the judicial system, Monrovia
neighborhoods have resorted to vigilante justice on several
occasions this year in attempts to apprehend alleged
offenders. UNMIL and the Liberia National Police (LNP) have
recently concluded "Operation Thunderstorm," a series of
raids that led to the arrest of 16 of Liberia's most wanted
criminals. Although the operation was successful, it
underscored the weakness of LNP command and control. While
the public's attention is on armed robbery, rape is the most
prevalent crime. The public widely supports a bill the House
passed May 6 that would make armed robbery that results in a
death a capital offense (by public hanging),but mistakenly
believes that it would apply to all armed robberies. END
SUMMARY.

PUBLIC PERCEIVES INCREASE IN CRIME


2. (C) The level of violent crime in Liberia, and
particularly in Monrovia, has been consistently high since
the end of conflict in 2003. But, according to UNMIL
security statistics, violent crime has not increased
significantly over the last year and therefore the public
perception of a recent "crime wave" appears to be unfounded.
The Deputy Commissioner of LNP's Crime Service Department,
Sam Saryon told PolOff May 29 that crime had actually
decreased over the past year but that a wide media campaign
to encourage better citizen reporting of incidents had kept
the statistics high. He said LNP radio, print, and sign
campaigns aimed at increasing reporting were part of a wider
LNP effort to regain the trust of the citizenry and build
better officer-community cooperation.


3. (C) UNMIL statistics on crime seem to bear this out, as
incidents of armed robberies have risen only slightly from
the previous year. However, UNPOL officers have noted that
the gangs seem to be better organized and more aggressive
than in the past.

CITIZENS STILL DISTRUSTFUL OF POLICE AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM


4. (C) The publicity has done very little to improve the
LNP's public image. Continued police corruption at the
street level gives the public an "us versus them" mentality
with respect to the LNP. A few recent press editorials
alleged that high ranking police officials have cooperated
with and protected criminals so that they could both reap the
gains of crime. The public is also frustrated to see
criminals released on bail and never tried because of
Liberia's weak judicial system. A recent indictment of three
LNP officers for torturing a detained prisoner may also lead
to increased skepticism. (Note: The indictment is the result
of increased capacity of the LNP Professional Standards
Division, under the mentoring of U.S. advisors. End note.)

SKEPTICAL CITIZENS TURN TO VIGILANTE JUSTICE


5. (SBU) Because of the lack of confidence in Liberia's legal
and judicial institutions, there have been several instances
of vigilante justice in various Monrovia neighborhoods since
the beginning of the year. On April 1, the body of a
suspected criminal was found on a city beach. On April 18, a
mob captured and killed two suspected robbers in the Vai Town
borough. The following day, an angry mob stormed the New Kru
Town Magisterial Court and demanded that two armed robbery
suspects be turned over to them for mob justice. The mob set
the building on fire after LNP officers guarding the court
refused to let them enter. UNMIL intervened and used live
bullets to disperse the crowd. Five people were injured from
gun shot wounds. Police had to protect two other robbers who
were hiding from a mob inside the Liberian Petroleum Refinery
Corporation. Vigilante groups have formed in some
neighborhoods to guard and patrol areas at night.

LNP's "OPERATION THUNDERSTORM" SUCCESSFULLY NABBED CRIME
KINGPINS


6. (C) In an attempt to gain the public's confidence and
lessen the instances of vigilante justice, the LNP cooperated
with UNMIL in late April to fight violent crime through an
initiative called "Operation Thunderstorm." Saryon told
PolOff that the offensive included significant intelligence
operations and wide-spread use of community informants inside
the neighborhood watch (vigilante) patrols. In all, the

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operation was quite successful in that 16 of the LNP's most
wanted criminals were arrested. Saryon said that all were
wanted for armed robbery and drug offenses. Most had been
previously arrested but then got bailed out and then "bribed
their cases closed." He expressed pride that this was the
first time that so many "kingpins" had been incarcerated at
the same time and noted that reports of violent crime have
decreased significantly since their capture. He also pointed
out that the new-arrestees come from all four of Monrovia's
major gangs and therefore feels confident that Liberia's
criminal agents are "handicapped" for the moment.


7. (C) UNMIL agrees that Operation Thunderstorm has
temporarily slowed crime, and will do an after action review
to determine what factors led to its success. However, our
UNMIL contacts are less positive about the LNP role. The LNP
was largely absent in the first phase, and at times Operation
Thunderstorm was a unilateral UNMIL endeavor. The MOJ
advisor assigned to the task of coordinating the Liberian
response was suspended for not following through in providing
LNP officers proper support. He has since returned to work,
but President Sirleaf has removed him from any operational
role. UN Special Representative to the Secretary General
(SRSG) Ellen Loj was extremely critical of the LNP in a
recent International Contact Group on Liberia meeting, saying
that the lack of performance "showed a lot of weakness in the
command structure, including between the LNP and the Minister
of Justice." She said that a UN Judicial Sector Assessment
Team has concluded that "the police and justice systems are
not functioning." The SRSG said that UNMIL will develop a
three-year plan to strengthen LNP command and control as part
of its drawdown.

USG-FUNDED TRAINING HELPING LNP CONDUCT BETTER INVESTIGATIONS


8. (C) Saryon expressed frustration that too many arrested
criminals were let out almost immediately by judges "who are
too lenient with bail or who accept bribes." He was
particularly upset that armed robbery was a bailable offense
and hopes that the Legislature will move to change that soon
(see paragraph 9). Saryon said he instructed his
investigative officers in cases of violent crime to "find the
tiniest shred of evidence" that could possibly point to rape
(a non-bailable offense) so that suspected criminals would
not get out of jail so quickly. He also complained that the
average LNP line police officer was not capable of putting
together enough evidence to present a case to the court
within the statutory limit of 72 hours. He lauded the
USG-funded JSSL program and the U.S. CivPol officers for the
training they have given some of his staff in how to meet
that 72-hour deadline and said the LNP Criminal
Investigations Division was already doing a better job in
that regard.

BILL UNDER CONSIDERATION TO TOUGHEN PENALTIES FOR ARMED
ROBBERY


9. (U) In late April, the Liberian House of Representatives
unanimously passed a bill making armed robbery, hijacking and
kidnapping non-bailable offenses. The bill, which is now
under consideration in the Senate, would make the sentences
for these crimes between 15 and 20 years. If the incident
resulted in serious bodily harm, the sentence would be life
imprisonment. If a death actually occurred during the crime,
the penalty would be execution by hanging. The public has
praised this bill through radio talk shows and editorials but
appears to mistakenly think that all armed robberies would
carry a possible death sentence.


10. (SBU) Despite the public focus on armed robbery,
criminal justice experts agree that the single most prevalent
crime facing Liberians is rape. The UN police commissioner
said in a meeting recently that reports of rapes is
increasing dramatically, but that this is more of a
reflection of peoples' willingness to report the crime, and
that the numbers are "only the tip of the iceberg." U.S.
advisors to the Ministry of Justice concur and are focusing
their efforts on gender based violence. All are concerned
however, that the judicial sector's inability to process
cases means that many of the accused languishing in prison
may in fact not be guilty of rape.

COMMENT


11. (C) The public perception of a 2008 crime wave is not
supported by either LNP or UNMIL statistics. Yet, as long as
the police and the judicial system are perceived as being
part of the problem, either by outright collusion with
criminals or by their inability to protect citizens,
communities will continue to take justice into their own
hands. Operation Thunderstorm only slightly improved the
public's perception of the police. The LNP needs to continue

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its community outreach and help the citizens form effective
(not vigilante) neighborhood watch systems. The public will
be less likely to resort to mob violence if the judicial
system functions well enough to fully prosecute the accused
and sentence defendants found guilty. Until then, the GOL
needs to worry that the increase in vigilantism could lead to
greater insecurity for Monrovia and the rest of Liberia. We
agree that the fundamental issue is the lack of command and
control within the LNP, and this must be addressed before
UNMIL withdraws. While police ineffectiveness is a major
problem, the entire judicial sector needs overall in order to
create meaningful rule of law.
BOOTH