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Amnesty International Human Rights
October 2001
Letters To The Editor |
LCA-DC Leadership Crisis and the Destructive Liberian Politics I have often told friends and acquaintances that politics is a dirty game that doesn't necessarily have to be criminal. And you know as much as I do that politics is a dirty game because it thrives on manipulations and exaggerations to succeed. Any politician with great skills at manipulating facts and circumstances to suit his whims and caprices is likely to succeed... "Steal from Steal, Makes God Laughs" As I was surfing the Internet the other day, I came across an article published by The News newspaper in Monrovia in which it was reported that the offices of the "Liberia for Jesus Crusade" had been burglarized, and that the Crusade's National Coordinator, Rev. Kortu Kaye Browne had complained that the burglary created a major setback to the information and data system of the Crusade because "all information and data about the ...crusade, from last year to last weekend, were taken away during the commission of the crime." The Peter Principle Revisited The Peter Principle (Why Things Go Wrong) is a best selling book by Lawrence J. Peter, a professor of education, in collaboration with Raymond Hall, an author and journalist. It's a fascinating and humorous yet pessimistic book that expounds on the theories of "Hierarchiology" -defined as "a social science, the study of hierarchies, their structure and functioning, the foundation for all social science." Tribute to Harry A. Greaves Sr. As his lifeless body descended beneath the earth on May 4, 2002, at Ewing cemetery in New Jersey, I could not believe what was happening. Several questions raised through my head like waves of ocean. Was this the same man who has had so much impact on my life? What impact will I have on the lives of others during my lifetime like Mr. Greaves, Sr.? Will I define success by how much wealth I amass personally or how I help to mode other Liberians into successful citizens? The Liberian Crisis - When Did It Begin? I remember watching the CBS evening news shortly after the coup d' etat that toppled the Tolbert government and ushered in the PRC, headed by Sergeant Samuel K. Doe, when I learned the horrible news of the execution of thirteen former cabinet members and officials of the deposed government. According to the news story, they had been charged, tried, found guilty and executed in such a rapid fashion that many were convinced that justice was not served. Corporate Activists Promoting Condoms as Panacea to HIV/AIDS ZAMBIA's founding father and first President Dr Kenneth David Kaunda recently sparked off a storm of criticism from church leaders in his country when he urged promiscuous Zambians to use condoms in order to stay clean from HIV/AIDS infection... "We are still impure. The church has not succeeded in making us pure yet. I would advise our church leaders to reconsider the stand on the use of condoms," Dr Kaunda was quoted by the local media as having said. Is LURD Ready for Peace? The Liberian dissidents group fighting to oust Charles Taylor from power says it is ready for peace, but it wants Mr. Taylor out. Pat Robertson's Quest for Eternal Life (Fortune Magazine) He's making bets to ensure that his evangelical empire outlasts him. His portfolio so far: a gold mine in Liberia, a mothballed oil refinery, and $78 million in losses. US to Provide $1.45 Million for Upcoming Elections In preparation for the holding of "credible free and fair" elections in Liberia in 2003, the United States (US) government will provide a total of some $1.45 million to support a number of specific independent media projects in the country. Independent Media: Liberia’s Key to Peace and Reconciliation In my January 19 remarks to the annual convention of the Movement for Democratic Change in Liberia (MDCL), I noted that "Liberia deserves a fresh start," and today I would like to build on that theme. Given the current state of events in the Mano River region, we certainly have our work cut out for us! The US and EU Challenged to Provide Leadership in Geneva Sixty Blind and a White priest It has been almost 10 days since LURD "captured" and lost the NPFL capital and "launched" attacks on the President's hometown and other places. During that time, the spokesman of the dissidents William Hanson spoke to BBC, claiming that his people had taken a white man, who he thought, could be Garry Jenkins, the priest who disappeared with the 60 blind people he cared for. African Leaders Should Stop Brouhaha and Move on to AU WHEN Ghana's first President and perhaps Africa's greatest statesman Kwame Nkrumah proposed prior to 1963 for the world's second largest continent to have a union with single currency, bank, judiciary and parliament, many, including Tanzania's founder President Julius Kambarage Nyerere were opposed to the idea and instead favoured forming regional sub-groupings as a way towards gradual integration. LURD's Phantom War For a long time, I have known that there was one distinct and glaring characteristics of deceit in the Liberian people, called "intellectual dishonesty". What I did not realize, however, is that there were so many Liberians then as well as today, who are in denial. Ghanaian Police Chief Inspector's VOA Interview Left Many Unanswered Questions In an interview with VOA's James Butty earlier this month, Mr. Emmanuel Amaning, Chief Inspector with the AWWTU of the Ghanaian Police in the Central Region, concluded that General Alfred Glay died in a car accident. The car involved in the "accident" was being operated by two other Liberians. Mr. Amaning's statement conflicts with everything that we have heard from family and independent sources concerning the circumstances surrounding the death of General Glay. Blazing the Trail When I was awarded a full scholarship by the German Government in 1969 to study architecture, an eye opening experience occurred when I began my studies as the only person of African descend in the Architectural department at the University of Kassel. "I Am Not Seeking A Public Exchange With Mrs. Johnson- Sirleaf," Says Ambassador Streeb An Appeal for Father Jenkins' Safety Unless one is absolutely dedicated to a particular cause, it is highly unthinkable that he or she would remain in an area where a rather strange and brutal civil war is said to be raging once again. And so, when the now missing Catholic priest, Father Garry Jenkins, resolved some twenty years ago to stay in Liberia no matter what and care for the war-ruined nation's most needy, especially, the blind, it must have been his natural calling in this life. "Kicking Over The Pail ... The liberian Scenario" A young cow had difficulties in milking for the first time. After the application of several treatments to induce milking, to the amazement of the husbandman, the cow milked a pail (bucket) of milk. In excitement the husbandman ran to the farmer (the owner of the ranch) and broke this long expected news. ECOMOG will Maintain President Taylor in Power It is not surprising that Liberia's Foreign Minister Monie Captan stated during a PANA interview last Friday that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) may intervene in Liberia if the rebels fighting to unseat Liberia's kleptocratic ruler, Charles Taylor do not agree to a negotiated political settlement. EU Required to Stop One Million Euros in Fishing Subs Taylor and Kabbah no comparison: Johnson-Sirleaf Tells Ambassador Streeb Liberian Opposition politician Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has taken former U.S. Ambassador Gordon Streeb (Ambassador Streeb works with the African Governance Program at the Carter Center/Emory) to task for attempting to compare the 1997 Special Elections in Liberia that brought Charles Taylor to power with last weekend's General Elections in Sierra Leone in which incumbent president Tejah Kabba was re-elected. Wag the Dog, Liberian Style Elections In Sierra Leone: A Step Towards Regional Stability?(ULAA's Statement) West Africa is among the world's most unstable sub-regions. In the last decade, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been embroiled in protracted Civil Wars. Liberia and Guinea continue to accuse each other of launching border raids. Liberian Leadership Forum: A Network to Promote Peace and Democracy in Liberia Gripped by Fear and Opportunism The Liberian economic crisis is being compounded by a synergy of fear and opportunism. The general climate of fear in the country, nurtured by constant acts of political repression and rebel warlordism, has provided a platform and pretext for economic opportunism. Confronting The African Gimmicks Some how, the dictators of Africa and their partners in the continued destruction of African lives and properties have craftily figured out that the best way out of the African predicament is to blame Europeans and some well intentioned Africans who now believe that the vast majority of Africa's problems are self inflicted. Chasing Enemies Back into their "Mothers' Wombs" As a child growing up in Africa, the only fight I remembered fighting, which did not warrant the pretence of taking my adversary's hair, placing it on my head and in my rear end and blowing it into the air, or drawing a territorial line and daring my adversary to cross it before engaging him into a FIGHT, was when he "cursed my mother." Liberians Brace for More Rights Violations As GOL Extends State of Emergency to Private Home Searches The government of Liberia (GOL) has extended the country's state of emergency to include private home searches by the notorious Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) and other state security apparatus in the wake of reported military gains last week by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), over-running Gbarnga, the political capital of president Charles Taylor's erstwhile NPFL rebel group TI Rules out Possibility of Publishing TNCs Bribe Payers List BACKING down criticism of targeting governments mainly from developing countries with its annual corruption perception index (CPI) reports, global anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) has ruled out the possibility of publishing a 'name and shame' transnational corporations (TNCs) bribe payers list for fear of possible libel suits in case of mistakes. Brumskine Praying? Why Now? Due to the fighting in Liberia and in response to Abraham Massaley's request addressed to Liberian journalists in the Diaspora to pray for their homeland, Counselor Charles W. Brumskine recently wrote: "I like to join Abraham in beeching all of us to pray for our country and our people back home. That is exactly what my household and I are doing." In reaction to Counselor Brumskine's call, asking the Liberian people to pray for peace, J. Nagbe Sloh sent the following comments to The Perspective. An Interview with William Hanson, Senior Spokesman of LURD The war between the Taylor regime and the Liberian dissident group known as Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) intensified during recent days. There were attacks in Palala, Gbarnga, Klay, Tubmanberg and Arttington. On Tuesday, May 14, 2002, The Perspective (TP) conducted an interview with Mr. William Hanson, senior spokesman of (LURD), the dissident group that is waging war against Mr. Taylor to oust him from power. http://wwvicioussystem.htmlrgLiberia in a Vicious Political Industrial System Liberians are being sacrificed in a kind of political industrial system in which their lives are viewed by political-ego chasers as mere raw materials consumable in the process of manufacturing and safeguarding state power. Just as in a typical economic industrial manufacturing process, where certain goods are used up as intermediate inputs to produce others, in the Liberian political manufacturing system the lives and wellbeing of human beings are treated as intermediate, disposable raw materials. Liberia: A New Paradigm in Youth Education The Free Trade Hypocrisy In pursuance of global economic liberalization governments of the developed capitalist countries and the major international economic institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), have been pressuring developing countries to desist from economic intervention and allow global markets to determine their national policies. No Excuses - Let Tiawan Saye Gongloe Go! With rebels of his arch enemy, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), once again on the move in their declared attempt to oust ONLY Mr. Taylor from power by force, one would think that the government in Monrovia already has its hands full. But probably not! Rise Above Thyself The excessive desire for Liberia's wealth is taking tolls. You don't need to go to neighboring refugee camps to see the suffering of Liberians. Just stand in the main districts in any part of Liberia and look around. You will see troubled adults, barefoot boys begging for a few coins, young girls selling their bodies, and the like. Why is there such darkness over our land? LURD: Moving at the Speed of Lightning The first part of the year was rocky for the Liberian dissidents group fighting the Mr. Taylor to oust him from power. They got themselves entangled in the Taylor's game - took claims for every gimmick Mr. Taylor designed just to make the group seem credible. It was a PR disaster of LURD. Happy Mother's Day, Liberia To paraphrase someone, 'a people deserve the government they get'. However, the conventional thought pattern is to blame bad governments on 'bad leaders'. In recent times, we have done our share of Taylor bashing and still do for the unfortunate and sad ride the country is taking under his brutal and uncivilized stewardship. Are we still mischievous? LURD Forces in Control of Taylor's Wartime Stronghold? According to reports from Liberia, forces of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) are in control of Gbarnga, President Taylor's wartime stronghold. Students from Cuttington University College near Gbarnga have already been trucked to the Liberian capital - about 140 miles from Gbarnga, while displaced people who fled the fighting in Lofa last year are said to be on the run again. Casualty figures are not available. "Putting Liberia First" - A Call to go Back to the Drawing Board In the early 70s, I was privileged to have served as General Farm Manager of the WILORIA Estate of President William R. Tolbert, Jr. After little over two years of service, President Tolbert was approached by the Ministry of Agriculture requesting that I be relieved of that assignment, be returned to the Central Agricultural Research Institute in preparation for graduate studies. The President asked for my decision. Key Liberian town under attack (BBC) Rebel forces in Liberia are now in control of many areas of the strategically important town of Gbarnga, including the police station. Africa does not need Foreign aid but Committed Leadership RECENTLY a family of one of Africa's most notorious military dictators, the late General Sani Abacha reached an out of court deal with Nigerian government by accepting to pay back $1bn in hard cash out of an estimated $4bn which the deceased ruler and his cronies embezzled from state coffers during five years in power between 1993 and 98. Civilians Flee Fighting in Liberia (AP) MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) - Panicked, wounded civilians struggled Thursday to flee one of the bloodiest outbreaks of fighting of a 3-year-old insurrection in Liberia, as government forces battled what they said was a rebel attack on Gbarnga, President Charles Taylor's central stronghold. Unity Party Refutes and Condemns Allegations The Unity Party refutes and condemns in the strongest terms possible the erroneous Statements, Press Releases and Reports regarding events at Roberts International Airport on the arrival of Unity Party Standard Bearer, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Monday 6 May. Gen. Glay's Family Members Call for President Kufuor's Intervention The Glay family of Liberia has requested an official investigation into the assassination of their brother, Major General Alfred T. Glay, on April 25, 2002 in Ghana. Reasoning Together to Move Beyond Our Physical And Psychological Injuries The Ongoing Pursuit of Liberty and Freedom in Liberia I am filled with feelings of passion and frustration when it comes to the ongoing pursuit of liberty and freedom in Liberia. Once again, I am reaching out to the Liberian people through this article calling for action. It is unbelievable that after more than 150 years of independence, our own political leaders have stolen our freedom, and God only knows whether we will ever win it back as long as Charles Taylor is head of the republic. The Need For Change In Liberia - My Observations About three weeks ago, I was compelled to write an open letter to ECOWAS through its Secretary General, Dr M. I. Chambas, only to let that honorable body know that Liberians are unhappy about the way and manner ECOWAS handles the Liberian crisis. East Africa's Privatisation Geniuses should turn to State Houses UN Slaps Taylor with Renewed Sanctions Regime The sanctions regime imposed on Liberia on May 7, 2001 by the UN Security Council has been extended for another year. Last year, Taylor and company launched a misinformation and propaganda campaign against the UN sanctions, implying that the sanctions regime was hurting "ordinary Liberians" more than its intended target. An Advice to Taylor's Supporters "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." This time honored quote is being made manifest in Liberia every day. The more recent one is the arrest and brutal victimization of human rights lawyer Tiawan Gongloe and Mabutu Kromah, the brother of opposition leader Alhaji Kromah. Barrick and Tanzania Government Muzzling Evidence On Bulyanhulu Murders FINALLY Tanzania Government has formally charged opposition leader Augustine Lyatonga Mrema and two leading environmental lawyers, Tundu Lissu and Rugemereza Nshala of Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT) on four different counts related to allegations of extrajudicial killings of artisanal miners in 1996. LURD Welcomes Mediation Efforts The Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), which has engaged the Liberian government forces in an intermittent war in order to unseat the Taylor regime, has welcomed the mediation efforts of the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia. In a letter addressed to the President of the Inter-Religious Council, Archbishop Michael Francis, LURD wrote; A Proposal for the Opposition in 2003 I would like to join the debate again, this time from another point of view. Different because it is a progression from positions held earlier, the specifics of which are now needed. Several commentators, including myself, have written about the need for the Liberian opposition to confront politics in Liberia with a unified stance. Silencing Liberia's Voices (Washington Post) CHARLES TAYLOR wears the title of president, but he still can't shake his warlord ways. Repression is what the Liberian ex-rebel leader knows best, especially when confronted with calls for change in the country he controls and bleeds. The Liberian Constitution: The Biggest Joke of them All It is mind bungling that in the late 20th century, a group of so called Liberian intellectuals could have written a document, called the Constitution of Liberia, which is binding on all Liberians today as well as future generations, so devoid of thoughtfulness, reasonableness, legal implications, and foresightedness. Thrusting Leadership On Tiawan Saye Gongloe, Et Al The Taylor Regime and ECOWAS: An Unholy Alliance Politicians, Please Listen to Me! Stop the Persistent Barbaric Treatment of Peaceful Law-abiding Citizens (MDCL's Statement) Liberians Deserve Peace, not Turmoil (ULAA's Statement) Wotorson's Belated Call for Opposition Unity Grand Gedeh Association Condemns the Assassination of General Glay Cllr. Gongloe Violated the Taylor Codes LDI Calls for the Release of Tiawan S. Gongloe and the Resignation of President Taylor Ethnic Cleansing: Taylor's Unending Quest PUL "Taken Aback by the Closure of the Analyst Newspaper" |
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