[allAfrica.com] [celtel.com] 17 Ghost Courts in Town The Analyst (Monrovia) NEWS June 30, 2004 Posted to the web June 30, 2004 Concern Mounts Within Human Rights Circles; Temple of Justice Prefers No Involvement. The Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) of the United Nations Security Council, Mr. Jacques Paul Klein, told the United Nations Security Council on June 3, 2004 during his 3rd briefing of the Council that UNMIL has assisted in establishing 17 courts in Monrovia and its environs and assisted in training 50 correctional officers to help improve prison conditions at the Monrovia Central Prison. The Council apparently swallowed the report bait and hook and so did most Liberians. But in a paper published to coincide with the visit of a 14-man UN Security Council Commission to Liberia last week, the consortium of human rights organizations in Liberia believes the report is not in touch with reality and that it is likely to create the false impression that there is a reform process ongoing within the judiciary when the fact is nothing or very little has been initiated in terms of judicial reforms, considered basic to lasting peace and security in Liberia. The Analyst Staff Writer has been looking at the report, the claims and findings, and public fears. A consortium of human rights organizations in the country has challenged the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations Security Council to show the 17 courts he reported to have been reconstituted in Monrovia and its environs as part of UNMIL's judicial reform effort. The consortium which comprises the National Human Rights Center of Liberia (NHRCL), Foundation for International Dignity (FIND), Association of Environmental Lawyers (Green Advocates), and the Liberia Democracy Watch (LDW), posed the challenge recently in a paper titled, UNMIL: A Trust Betrayed? A Civil Society Assessment of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) - December 2003 to June 2004." Delivering the 3rd Progress Report to the UN Security County on June 3, 2004 pursuant to paragraph 19 of resolution 1509 (2003) which requires the Secretary General to make a formal quarterly report, SRSG Jacques Paul Klein noted: "Since we last briefed the Council, there has been considerable progress in the area of security sector reform and the rule of law. UNMIL has assisted the restoration of the judicial system. Seventeen courts are reconstituted in Monrovia and its environs. Furthermore, we have assisted in collaboration with ICRC in the improvement of facilities and conditions of the Monrovia Central Prison and have trained 50 correctional officers. "Additionally, the UN Civilian police component has made considerable progress in the restructuring and retraining of the Liberian National Police. A Rule of Law Implementation Committee has been established to coordinate the reform of the police, judiciary and correctional institutions, as indicated in the report." But the group believes that such statement coming from a high profile UN figure at such a world forum is likely to seal the tomb of reforms within the judiciary which they consider pivotal to the restoration of lasting peace, security, and democracy in post-war Liberia. The Security Council, during its 4830th meeting, adopted Resolution 1509 (2003) which mandates UNMIL in Paragraph 2q to amongst things, "assist the transitional government in conjunction with ECOWAS and other international partners in developing a strategy to consolidate governmental institutions, including a national legal framework and judicial and correctional institutions." SRSG Klein claimed that part of the process has begun and that much progress has been made in reconstituting the courts and reforming prison administration at the nation's largest prison facilities in Monrovia. Observers say this leaves the impression at this rate of reform and reconstitution - seventeen courts in Monrovia alone in just under seven months - lower courts in Liberia will be rendering transparent justice within the next few months. But the human rights consortium contends that impression is baseless and premature as paragraph 2q is yet to be implemented in Liberia, at least as far as the reconstitution of lower courts of record is concerned. According to the group there is no available public record to indicate that 17 courts have been reconstituted in the last three months in Monrovia and its environs or anywhere else in Liberia through the assistance of UNMIL. "Except for declarations in the SGSR June 3, 2004 3rd Briefing Paper Report to the SG that UNMIL has assisted in the restoration of the Judiciary system with the reconstitution of 17 courts in Monrovia and its environs much needs to be verified and desired as to the locations of these 17 courts revitalized by UNMIL," the group that is made up entirely of active legal practitioners in Liberia noted. According to the group, instead of assisting any ongoing system of judicial reforms in Liberia, an UNMIL contingent in the provincial town of Gbarnga in Bong County has commandeered the offices of a lower court in the town thereby making it difficult for it to operate properly. It notes: "At present the courthouse in Gbarnga, Bong County is occupied by UNMIL with no inclination to relocate, and instead, the Judge is to be accommodated in 'other public buildings,' rather than the reverse, which, by all considerations, is preferable." The group expressed regret that at the time reforms were said to be ongoing in Liberia, no effective transitional plan has been put into place to "complement the restructuring program, a big, big, security vacuum has been created in the country, especially in the Capital City, Monrovia." Blaming the current wave of crimes in the capital on the lack of serious coordination between the NTGL and UNMIL to control the rising incidence of crime that is the direct result of the ongoing DD program, the group said: "Rising crime rate, poorly equipped police with only four vehicles, unsecured prisons ensures that hard core criminals are recycled from prison to the community and then back again; only when rearrested." In an effort to put a lid on the uncertainty generated by Mr. Klein's report and the human rights group's challenge, our reporter visited the Temple of Justice and talked with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, Justice Henry Reed Cooper who insisted that the court would rather not discuss its works in the media. "It is not good for the work of the court to be in the newspaper," he said without commenting on whether or not UNMIL has reconstituted or helped to reconstitute 17 courts in Monrovia and its environs. Pressed to help erase the emerging uncertainty about ongoing judicial reforms especially with regards to the reconstitution of 17 lower courts, he retorted: "Why don't you ask Jacques Klein to show where the 17 courts are? Myself underscored the statement which was published in your newspaper." He said as far as he was concerned, UNMIL and the Government of Liberia were "assisting the court" and that their efforts were "highly appreciated". Another justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia who preferred not to be named because the "Chief has spoken" told our reporter: "Eh you and I are here? Ehn you Liberian, you can't bite the person you asked to help you even if you have not got the help." Analysts say the justice's comment which he refused to clarify could mean that the Temple of Justice has made a request to UNMIL for a reform package that probably has not been delivered. They say it is perhaps this request that UNMIL is using as a success story. Whatever the statement means, according to observers, judicial reforms is one of the pillars of the ongoing peace process, next to the DDRR programme in terms of priority and necessity and that failure to execute it to the letter is more than liable to render the whole peace process vain. "More than half of what was pledged in New York or what is being sent to Liberia by the international community for Liberia goes to UNMIL to, amongst other things, help restructure the security forces and the elections commission, reform the judiciary and ensure that free and fair democratic elections are held. These are serious pillars of the peace process that cannot be handled with rhetoric and chicanery. From what I see, Jacques Klein's 17 reconstituted courts are ghost courts that do not exist. The challenge is now his to show journalists the courts as proof of his claims. Otherwise, the NTGL will have to watch his activities and reports very carefully," said Junior Thomas of Carey Street. He said it would be unfair for anyone to take credit for the resumption of legal activities through the circuit, justices of the peace, magisterial, and other lower courts in Monrovia shortly following the cessation of hostilities. "The resumption of legal activities were spontaneous; they have always been spontaneous and it will be a sad development in the peace and reconstruction processes and a betrayal of trust for anyone in the NTGL or UNMIL to claim credit," he insisted. Mr. Thomas' comments cut across the spectrum of public opinion vis-à-vis the authenticity of Mr. Klein's Security Council report. Whether it holds the implementer of the Liberian peace process and whether it sees things his way is yet another thing. UNMIL public relations officer, Michael Saah, could neither confirm nor deny the existence of the courts UNMIL reconstituted even though claim of their existence has been in the media since June 7. He however suggested an audience with Mr. Klein to clarify the issue, suggesting that it is only he that bears the burden of proof.   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2004 The Analyst. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================