STAFFDEL SMITH LOOKS AT RULE OF LAW AND SECURITY IN

UNCLAS MONROVIA 000701

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON EAID LI
SUBJECT: STAFFDEL SMITH LOOKS AT RULE OF LAW AND SECURITY IN
LIBERIA


1. (U) SUMMARY. Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff members
Shannon Smith (Biden) and Sarah Margon (Feingold) visited Liberia
August 20-22. Their visit, which focused primarily on rule of law
and security issues, included meetings with the Deputy Special
Representative of the UN Secretary General for Rule of Law issues
Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Minister of Defense Brownie Samukai, and
Inspector General of the Liberia National Police Beatrice Monah Sieh
Brown. Their visit also included a trip to Kakata to see the
INL-funded Justice Sector Support for Liberia Program. They
discussed the ongoing work and funding crisis of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission with TRC Chairman Jerome Verdier and
visited an International Rescue Committee gender-based violence
project. Though most of the trip was positive, members of the
Liberian Senate Foreign Relations Committee told the StaffDel how
the United States should have done more to prevent the war in
Liberia. END SUMMARY.

RULE OF LAW: "LIBERIA'S BIGGEST CHALLENGE"


2. (SBU) Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General
for Rule of Law issues Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu told the StaffDel that
rule of law, and specifically getting the legal system to work, was
"Liberia's biggest challenge" and therefore one of "UNMIL's biggest
priorities." She said that from the beginning of Liberia's history,
the judicial system was never designed to work for everyone. It was
intended to be used by the settlers with the understanding that
rural inhabitants would continue to use their traditional justice
systems. Now that the system is supposed to cover the entire
country, there are far too few courts and a serious lack of trained
legal personnel. She said UNMIL will build eight magistrate courts
as "Quick Impact Projects" throughout the country, provide
motorbikes to Sheriffs in outlying areas, and look at the
possibility of sending career magistrates to Ghana for a two-year
training program.


3. (U) Representatives from the U.S.-contractor PAE working in the
Justice Sector Support for Liberia program took the StaffDel up to
Kakata, Margibi County to demonstrate how they are training county
attorneys, public defenders, and working with the police to boost
their investigative and evidence gathering techniques. Officials at
the police station and courthouse in Kakata explained that it is
difficult for the authorities to apprehend suspects or get witnesses
to court because of a lack of transport. They also explained that
they suffer from an overwhelming backlog of cases. The prison was
overcrowded (mostly with pre-trial detainees) but the warden said
they receive support from UNMIL and that they are starting a program
to have the prisoners grow their own food on prison grounds.

SECURITY: SUCCESS FOR THE AFL, SOME PROGRESS MADE FOR THE POLICE


4. (SBU) Minister of Defense Brownie Samukai thanked the StaffDel
for continued U.S. support of the Security Sector Reform Program,
and particularly for leadership training for officers. He stressed,
however, that the MOD no longer wanted to work with U.S. contractors
and reiterated several times that he would appreciate if all future
projects were done with active-duty U.S. military personnel. When
asked if there had been any problems with the current contractors,
the Minister said "No, they're doing a good job," but then went on
to say that he thought the U.S. could have more of an on-the-ground
impact in Liberia using relatively cheaper and more flexible
soldiers over expensive and contractually-bound outside firms "that
really only want to make money." He also lamented that the GOL was
not consulted as the original contracts were being drafted or the
MOD would have pushed to have done things differently. He did not
specifically elaborate, however, on what the MOD would have done.
After the meeting with the Minister, the StaffDel attended an Armed
Forces of Liberia (AFL) officer commissioning ceremony and toured
the Edward Binyah Kesselly (EBK) military barracks that the U.S.
renovated as part of our contribution to the Security Sector Reform
program.


5. (U) The StaffDel also visited the headquarters of the Liberia
National Police and observed training for the new Emergency Response
Unit at the Police Academy. Inspector General of the Liberia
National Police (LNP) Beatrice Monah Sieh Brown told the StaffDel
her biggest priority was to improve the LNP's community policing
programs. She would also like to completely renovate the LNP
headquarters building, or at least get electrical power.

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FACES FUNDING CRISIS


6. (U) Chairman of the TRC Jerome Verdier told the StaffDel that the
TRC had applied for an extension of its mandate from September 2008
to June 2009 in order to conduct more public thematic hearings and
organize a national reconciliation conference to coincide with the
release of the final report. He explained, however, that the GOL
had yet to provide any funding for the extension and that the TRC
would face serious difficulties funding basic operations in the
coming months if donors could not help contribute soon. Kristen
Cibelli, representative of the U.S. NGO Benetech, told the StaffDel
about her work with the TRC to code and statistically analyze

approximately 17,000 TRC witness statements in order to study who
committed what kinds of human rights violations during Liberia's
14-year civil conflict.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE STILL A PROBLEM


7. (U) The StaffDel visited an International Rescue Committee (IRC)
project in a village near Monrovia that grouped together
neighborhood men and women into "action committees" to stop domestic
violence and rape in the area. The villagers recounted how their
action committees had intervened on several occasions when women
were being physically abused by their husbands. They also explained
how pressure from male members of the group on male-offenders was
particularly effective in changing behavior. The IGP explained how
the Women and Children's Protection Section of the LNP was working
harder to stop gender-based violence (GBV) and the JSSL team
explained the GOL's plans to dedicate a new criminal court solely to
hearing cases on GBV.

LIBERIAN SFRC: U.S. SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE TO PREVENT WAR


8. (SBU) The StaffDel's meeting with the members of the Senate
Foreign Relations committee was unlike the others in that the
Senators expressed slight dissatisfaction with the United States'
relationship with Liberia. Chairman Abel Massaley expressed
displeasure that the U.S. failed to intervene militarily earlier on
several occasions to prevent Liberia from falling in to war. He
said this showed that Liberia was the "bastard" child of the U.S.,
but that the U.S. could make up for its mistake by hosting AFRICOM
in Liberia. Senator Ballout from Maryland County was upset that
much of Africa was divided between the British Commonwealth and la
francophonie and that Liberia had no equivalent membership because
it was a U.S. colony. Several of the Senators complained that it
was too difficult for their family and staff members to get a visa
to go to the United States.

COMMENT


9. (SBU) The StaffDel's trip highlighted both the successes Liberia
has achieved and the challenges it still faces related to security
and rule of law at all levels. In each meeting except the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, the Liberians were quick to offer their
sincere gratitude for U.S. assistance in these areas and then
suggest ways in which additional support would benefit existing
programs. The two members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
who were the most negative about Liberia's relationship with the
United States were also the two that were most upset about recently
refused NIV cases they had tried to "sponsor." Legislators have
increasingly weighed in to try and obtain visas for unqualified NIV
applicants, either as purported staff or family members, for travel
to the United States.


10. (U) This message has been cleared by StaffDel Smith.

THOMAS-GREENFIELD