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OO RUEHPA
DE RUEHMV #0050/01 0161518
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O 161518Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9656
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

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 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶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 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶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