Impoverished Liberia is still facing major human rights problems as it struggles to deal with the aftermath of 14 years of conflict but notable progress has been made, a United Nations official in Monrovia said today, voicing confidence that the country's new government has the political will to achieve further advancement.
A recent report issued by the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), said the country "continues to face serious challenges to upholding, protecting and respecting the human rights of its citizens." It points to the priority need for the Government to get enough competent judges and magistrates in place throughout the country.
"The major difficulty in human rights work here in Liberia results from what the High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour described during her visit as the 'dysfunctional judiciary,' the problem is that the courts are not operating properly," Dorota Gierycz, director of UNMIL's human rights and protection section, told the UN News Service.
"I know that many international institutions stand ready to assist but I think that it requires very basic reform of the judiciary in all its aspects," Ms. Gierycz said by telephone from Liberia, adding she was confident the new Government has the will to improve the situation.
"We believe that with the new democratically elected president and parliament and very strong commitment by the president to the rule of law and fighting corruption, I think that this issue -- which is so critical to the rule of law -- will be at the centre of government efforts," she said, noting that the country has already made progress.
"After one year of being here, I can see how despite all these negative indicators there is a lot of potential, there is a lot of change," Ms. Gierycz said, citing as one example the outcome of the elections that recently brought President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to office last month, when she became the first woman elected to lead an African nation.
The establishment of a democratically elected Government in the country also culminated a peace process envisaged in the Accra Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 18 August 2003.
Another success was the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which helped in particular to bring people together after the devastating violence suffered in the country, said Ms. Gierycz.
UNMIL's human rights director also highlighted the increasing role of women in Liberian society as a further example of progress in the human rights field and a positive indicator for the future.
"The mobilization of women and their conscious participation in the second phase of the election, and the state of a society that makes this possible, I think this illustrates positive developments in the area of human rights," Ms. Gierycz concluded.