LIBERIA: GIRL'S DEATH REVEALS STRAINS WITHIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MONROVIA 000050 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC KJUS LI SUBJECT: LIBERIA: GIRL'S DEATH REVEALS STRAINS WITHIN JUSTICE SYSTEM, CAUSES STUDENT PROTESTS Classified By: Ambassador Booth for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Around 150 students peacefully demonstrated outside of Embassy Monrovia January 11, calling for the USG to pressure the Government of Liberia (GOL) to reinvestigate the suicide of 13-year-old Merideh "Angel" Togba. The girl was found hanging in her guardians' bathroom November 30. The case caused a media frenzy questioning the cause of death with allegations that she was sexually abused before her death -- something that is thus far unsubstantiated scientifically. The Liberian National Police (LNP) did an initial investigation and forwarded its report to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) without the clearance of its Inspector General (IG) because she was out of the country. Under intense media pressure, Solicitor General Tiawon Gongloe announced that the case had been ruled a suicide and that there had been no evidence of foul play. Minister of Justice Philip Banks, also out of the country when the report was released, later publicly criticized the Solicitor General for making conclusive statements from an "incomplete" investigation. Political tensions are high within MOJ and LNP over this case and some have called for Gongloe to step down. As there are limited technical resources and forensics expertise in Liberia, the GOL has brought in a chief investigator, a security officer, a doctor, and a pathologist from Ghana to continue the case. END SUMMARY. STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE; PASS POSITION STATEMENT TO EMBASSY -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Approximately 150 students from the National High School Student Union of Liberia (NAHISSUL) demonstrated peacefully outside of Gate 1 of the Embassy compound January 11 to call for reinvestigation into the death of 13-year-old Merideh "Angel" Togba who was found hanging in her guardians' bathroom November 30. The students presented their position statement to PolOff asking the Embassy and UNMIL to mount pressure on the GOL to reinvestigate the case, that the GOL put Angel's guardian Hans Williams under surveillance as a possible suspect, fund a second independent autopsy, assign the Women and Children Protection Section of the LNP to the case, and remove Solicitor General Tiawon Gongloe from office for his handling of the autopsy report. The students also sang songs, waved banners supporting Angel, and read the position statement aloud for the press. Angel's biological parents, her former teachers, RSO, an LNP detachment, and local guard force were also present. The group departed without incident. POLICE RULE ANGEL TOGBA'S DEATH A SUICIDE -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Thirteen-year-old Merideh "Angel" Togba was found hanging from a sash/ribbon in the shower of her guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Hans Williams on November 30. (Mr. Williams is a well-to-do former Deputy Managing Director of the National Port Authority and took in Angel so she could attend private school.) Angel was pronounced dead on arrival at JFK Hospital. ¶4. (SBU) Dr. Anthony S. Quayee, a medical examiner working for the LNP, did the first autopsy of Angel's body after it had been frozen for about one week. Quayee's report was criticized because he is not a licensed pathologist. (There are no licensed pathologists in Liberia.) The Criminal Investigative Division (CID) of the LNP continued the initial investigation and sent a draft report to the MOJ indicating that "suicide" was the cause of death and that there was no evidence of foul play. Inspector General Colonel Beatrice Muna Sieh, the Head of the LNP, was out of the country at the time the report was finished so it was sent over to the MOJ with the approval of Deputy IG Gayflor Tarpeh. ¶5. (SBU) Minister of Justice Philip Banks was in the United States at the time so Deputy Minister Sienneh Clinton Johnson received the report. Under pressure from the press, Johnson instructed Solicitor General Tiawon Gongloe to make a public statement from the report that suicide was the cause of death and that there had been no foul play. Gongloe's statement implied the investigation had been completed and the report had been finalized. The students and press editorials have called for Gongloe to step down. Gongloe maintains that he acted under instructions from Johnson and that the report had received all the necessary clearances from the LNP given the Inspector General's absence. ¶6. (SBU) When Banks returned from the U.S., he criticized Gongloe for his statement and publicly called the report "incomplete." He said the report contained medical terms that "only doctors could understand" and said that, as doctors had not yet explained the terms to the MOJ, no one could conclusively establish that Angel had hung herself. He MONROVIA 00000050 002 OF 003 maintains that the investigation was never finalized and is still ongoing. ¶7. (SBU) To appease an increasingly skeptical public, President Sirleaf called for further investigation to be carried out and for the case to be judged on its scientific merits. She requested a second autopsy to be done on Angel's body, specifically to analyze whether she was sexually assaulted and/or whether there is evidence of foul play. The MOJ arranged for a four-member Ghanaian forensics team, including a pathologist, to reassess the case. It is unclear yet, however, if a second autopsy will yield any fruitful results given the first autopsy may have spoiled the corpse as biological evidence. The Ghanaians, however, may attempt to do DNA analysis, something that the Liberians did not do during the first autopsy. MEDIA SENSATIONALIZATION ADDS FUEL TO FIRE -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Angel's case became sensationalized in the media and gathered a strong public interest as it relates to two issues very much on the mind of the Liberian public, trafficking and gender based violence. Journalists irresponsibly mixed up facts (calling the sash a belt and then speculating that it belonged to her sexual attacker),published rumors, and quoted doctors from JFK Hospital that had nothing to do with Angel's case. Press reports claimed that a 13-year-old -- especially one who was well-off, got good grades, and always seemed happy -- would be neither physically nor psychologically capable of killing herself. Other reports claimed that there was evidence to suggest that Angel had been sexually assaulted within 48 hours prior to her death. Reports speculated that the cause of death was not consistent with hanging, implying that she was killed and the body later placed to look like a hanging. The Women's Initiative for Peace Network (an NGO) claims that it did its own investigation and concluded that Angel had semen in her ripped underpants and bruises on her private parts. EVIDENCE TO DATE POINTS TO SUICIDE -------------- ¶9. (C) An American Justice Sector Support for Liberia Program (JSSL) advisor who has reviewed the file told EmbOffs January 14 that despite the misinformation in the press reports, she believes the evidence to date points to a suicide. The ligature was a thin sash/ribbon of material, and the marks on Angel's neck were consistent with suicide by hanging. The tear in Angel's underwear was from regular wear at the seam and was not consistent with that of a sexual assault. Further, the police interviewed Angel's family, classmates, and school officials, and discovered that she was troubled and had shown indications of suicidal ideation. She had once asked a friend to pull a cord tightly around her neck and pretended to be "dead" during her last visit to her hairdressers. She also got into trouble recently for misspending some of her tuition money. However, there were serious weaknesses in the GOL's investigation. The first autopsy and gynecological report were "not up to standard" and used "unacceptable methods." Not only was Dr. Quayee not a licensed pathologist but he had apparently lost his privileges to work at JFK Hospital before. The examinations were done after the body had been frozen for a full week. The LNP never involved its Women's and Children's Unit (WCU) in the investigation, even though it claims that this special department was set up to specifically handle these kinds of cases. (The students' position statement requested the WCU be included.) If NGOs examined Angel's body as they claimed to have done in the press, they should not have been allowed to as they may have tampered with the corpse. Despite these weaknesses, the LNP appeared to have performed credibly. The police responded immediately to the call of the hospital on November 30 and then secured the scene at the Williams' bathroom. COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) The Togba case has added to the strains within the Ministry of Justice and the LNP, with the Minister using the case to undercut his Solicitor General who, we understand, the Minister sees as too independent and not politically savvy. We also understand that LNP IG Sieh does not get along at all with her CID director, and is using this case to embarrass him. That the GOL (presumably with President Sirleaf's accord if not her instigation) would bring in outside experts is politically astute even if unnecessary for the criminal investigation. It allows time to let the situation calm down, and avoids having the President get in the middle of these personality clashes. It is not clear why the anti-trafficking, anti-gender based violence movement in MONROVIA 00000050 003 OF 003 Liberia has coalesced around Togba case in particular. Perhaps because the girl's guardian Hans Williams is a particularly unsavory character, there is an element of power and corruption beyond the salacious details. Weak LNP and MOJ public relations skills have added to the problem. END COMMENT. Booth