VZCZCXYZ0014
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMV #0591/01 1381553
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181553Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8591

UNCLAS MONROVIA 000591 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W-PDAVIS 
STATE PASS TO HOUSE DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE COMMISSION-JOHN LIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID ECON LI
SUBJECT: LIBERIA: SCENE SETTER FOR HDAC CODEL 
 
¶1. (SBU) Embassy welcomes the May 31-June 2 visit of the 
House Democracy Assistance Commission (HDAC) congressional 
delegation.  Liberia is at a critical moment in its history, 
emerging from 14 years of civil war under a democratically 
elected government that has been in office a year and a half. 
 The Government of Liberia faces daunting challenges.  The 
country's civil and societal institutions, as well as its 
infrastructure, were destroyed during the conflict. 
Rebuilding Liberia involves reestablishing the rule of law, 
recruiting and training a new police force, standing up a new 
army, rebuilding procedures and institutions for sound 
economic governance, controlling rampant corruption, and 
putting in place infrastructure to provide basic services. 
In addition to rebuilding infrastructure, the issue of social 
relationships and reconciliation, including coming to terms 
with the atrocities of the war, are all part of the agenda 
facing the new government and are essential to moving Liberia 
from being a failed state to becoming functional once again. 
 
 
Political Overview 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Liberia, Africa's oldest republic, is located on the 
West Coast of Africa, along the Gulf of Guinea, and shares 
borders with Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d'Ivoire. 
Liberia is a member of the Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU), the Mano River Union 
and the United Nations.  Liberia's population is estimated to 
be 3.4 million with a population growth rate of 2.5 percent. 
Approximately 1 to 1.5 million persons live in greater 
Monrovia, the country's capital, while the rest of the 
country is sparsely populated. 
 
¶3. (U) Peace was restored to Liberia after a fourteen-year 
civil war with the signing of the Accra Comprehensive Peace 
Agreement (CPA) in August 2003.  The CPA established the 
National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL), which was 
constituted by representatives of former warring factions, 
former Government of Liberia political parties, and civil 
society.  The United Nations stationed 15,000 peacekeeping 
troops in Liberia and initiated a disarmament and 
demobilization program in which 103,000 ex-combatants 
enrolled.  Over the course of 2003 to 2004, the United 
Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) expanded its deployment to 
all of Liberia's fifteen counties and is still primarily 
responsible for security throughout the country. 
 
¶4. (U) As specified by the CPA, national elections took place 
on October 11, 2005 to choose Liberia's President, Vice 
President, Senate, and House of Representatives.  Thirty 
political parties were recognized for the election and 22 
candidates ran for the Presidency. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of 
the Unity Party (UP) was elected President in a November 8 
run-off election against former soccer star George Weah of 
the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party.  Johnson 
Sirleaf was inaugurated as Africa's first female head of 
state on January 16, 2006.  The executive branch has 20 
ministries and approximately 15 parastatal companies or 
state-owned enterprises. 
 
¶5. (SBU) There are 11 political parties represented in 
Liberia's legislature.  The CDC party has the largest single 
block of representation in the House of Representatives with 
16 elected members out of a total of 64 members (one seat is 
currently vacant following the death of the sitting 
legislator).  The Coalition for the Transformation of Liberia 
(COTOL) has the largest single block of representation in the 
Senate with 7 elected members out of a total of 30 Senators. 
The Liberian legislature has been ineffectual during its 
first year and a half, passing no more than a handful of 
laws.  Members of the House of Representatives spent the 
first month of the current session, which began January 15, 
mired in a crisis brought about by an attempt to unseat 
former Speaker Edwin Snowe.  Some members of the House 
refused to sit under Snowe's gavel and held plenary sessions 
at a separate location and passed a resolution removing 
Snowe.  Snowe responded by alleging that his colleagues had 
accepted bribes in exchange for ousting him and lodged a case 
before the Supreme Court alleging that his constitutional 
right to due process and his rights under the Standing Rules 
of the House of Representatives were violated.  The Supreme 
Court decided that the acts taken to remove Snowe were 
unconstitutional and vacated his removal from office.  Snowe 
ultimately resigned as Speaker on February 15.  While 
Liberia's citizens waited for legislation to provide them 
with basic services, jobs, and an improved quality of life, 
their elected representatives squabbled. Alex Tyler of COTOL 
was elected Speaker of the House on April 5, with a small 
margin of 32 votes out of a total of 60. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Liberian judiciary is divided into four levels: 
justice of the peace courts, magistrate courts, circuit 
courts, and the Supreme Court.  Judges and magistrates are 
assigned throughout Liberia's 15 counties, but not all 
counties have a courthouse and many lack furniture and basic 
supplies.  Judges are subject to political, social, and 
financial pressures and corruption exists.  Trials are public 
and juries are used in circuit court trials, but not at the 
magistrate court level.  Under the law, defendants have the 
right to consult with an attorney in a timely manner and to 
have access to government-held evidence relevant to their 
case.  However, in practice these rights are not always 
observed.  There continue to be long delays in disposition of 
cases and most prisoners are in pre-trial detention. 
 
Economic Overview 
----------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Liberia's abundant natural resources make it a country 
with great potential for investment, though civil unrest, 
insecurity, and corruption have stymied this potential in the 
last 15 years.  Liberia's infrastructure was destroyed during 
its civil war, leaving it with a limited transportation 
network, scores of broken down or half-finished buildings, no 
central electric power, no piped water system, and no 
landline phone system.  Poor infrastructure makes it 
difficult for Liberians to conduct business and even more 
difficult to attract much needed foreign investment. 
 
¶8. (U) Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world 
with a per capita GDP of US $407.  Estimates of unemployment 
and illiteracy range from 75 to 85 percent.  Liberia's 
largely unskilled labor force works as rubber tappers, petty 
traders, seafarers, miners, and agricultural workers.  The 
government has prepared an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy 
Paper (IPRSP) as part of its strategy to address economic 
development. Downsizing of the civil service and raising 
salary levels are government priorities.  The legislature 
passed forestry legislation in September 2006, which provides 
the legal framework for the development of this sector of the 
economy and resulted in the lifting of UN sanctions on the 
export of timber.  Liberia was deemed compliant with the 
Kimberly Process in May 2007, allowing it to begin exporting 
rough diamonds.  Liberia was designated AGOA-eligible on 
December 29, 2006 and the Ministry of Commerce is 
aggressively seeking ways to take advantage of AGOA 
acceptance.  The high price of rubber is encouraging 
development of that sector after years of neglect and 
Bridgestone/Firestone, the country's largest rubber exporter 
and largest private employer, is pursuing a multi-year 
investment and replanting program. In the iron ore mining 
sector, Mittal signed an agreement on December 28, 2006 to 
rehabilitate the Yekepa mine, rebuild the railroad between 
Yekepa and the Port of Buchanan, and renovate the Port of 
Buchanan.  The estimated investment is one billion dollars 
and the project is expected to stimulate corollary 
developments in housing, power generation, and agricultural 
production, and will create over 3,500 direct jobs. 
 
USG Programs in Liberia 
----------------------- 
 
¶9. U.S. Mission strategy for Liberia is based on staying 
deeply engaged on a variety of issues including reintegration 
of ex-combatants, reform of the security sector, 
establishment of peace and security, community reintegration, 
encouragement of the rule of law and respect for human 
rights, promotion of transparent government, and expanded 
access to health care and education. Establishing rule of law 
is one of Liberia's most important remaining challenges. The 
U.S.-funded Justice Sector Support-Liberia (JSSL) program is 
helping rebuild Liberia's justice system by improving the 
quality of criminal investigations and prosecutions, 
improving coordination among police and prosecutors, 
strengthening the capacity of public defenders, improving 
court administration and criminal case management procedures, 
and developing the institutional capacity of the Supreme 
Court and Ministry of Justice to develop and manage budget 
and finance functions.  The U.S. is taking the lead in 
Liberia's security sector reform by managing the 
restructuring of the Liberian armed forces and supporting 
UNMIL in restructuring the national police. 
 
¶10. USAID manages a range of activities including vocational 
skills training; education; health; community development; 
capacity building; rebuilding infrastructure; literacy; radio 
programs; support for democratic and transparent elections; 
economic development initiatives; improving transparency and 
accountability in government entities; strengthening the 
legislature, political parties and elections systems, and 
improving civil society's capacity to hold government 
accountable; supporting increased agriculture productivity 
and market development; increasing access to justice through 
the establishment of legal aid clinics, victim abuse centers 
legal internships, and public outreach.  Throughout FY 2004 
and 2005, USAID implemented a nationwide public works and 
skills training program that employed up to 34,000 
ex-combatants and other war-affected Liberians to 
rehabilitate urban and rural roads and water systems, 
community buildings, hospitals, clinics, schools, and 
community offices.  In FY06, USAID funding created more 
sustainable jobs and increased farmer incomes by 
resuscitating the agricultural sector with a focus on 
improving production of cocoa and rubber.  In FY07, USAID 
programs are focusing on basic community infrastructure, 
maternal and child health, primary education, improving 
public sector executive functions, sustainable natural 
resource development, promoting economic development and 
agricultural sector productivity, expanding energy services, 
and improving roads and facilities at Roberts International 
Airport, the country's only international airfield.  In 
December 2006, President Bush announced that Liberia would be 
added to the list of focus countries that will receive 
assistance under the $1.2 billion President's Malaria 
Initiative (PMI). 
Mazel