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
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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
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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

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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

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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