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DE RUEHMV #0701/01 2561844
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FM AMEMBASSY MONROVIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0346
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

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