The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20190615125626/https://allafrica.com/stories/201906140579.html
13 June 2019

Liberia: We've Not Violated Human Rights Law

During discussion of Human Rights pledge at the Liberian Senate, Ex-rebel leader Senator Prince Y. Johnson of Nimba County says there has been no record of any one of them in the Senate violating the International Human Rights law, for which they are asked to reaffirm or recommit the Human Rights pledge.

"I have been in this Senate for 18 years and no one had violated the Human Rights law; that human rights law that we put our signatures to as the International Declaration of Human Rights has not been violated by any senator", argues the Nimba Senator who led a vicious rebel group( INPFL) in the 90s prior to entering politics.

He continues that there should be something wrong first before they would be asked to reaffirm or recommit to the Human Rights law.

According to PYJ, who opposes calls for the establishment of War and Economic Crimes Court for Liberia, threatening to return to the bush to mobilize men with single-barrel guns, if there were attempts to arrest him for suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity, because of their belief in International Human Rights, they (Senate) invited President George M. Weah, and based on that, the recent 07 June protest was allowed and the police moved accordingly, noting that the Police gave water to protesters that their organizers failed to provide.

Senator PYJ is one of the key former rebel leaders in Liberia indicted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for heinous crimes during the Liberian Civil War.

But Senator Varney Sherman of Grand Cape Mount County, who is the crafter of the Human Rights pledge counters that reaffirming the Human Rights pledge doesn't mean one has violated it. "If I pledged my allegiance to the Flag of Liberia, [it] didn't mean that I've violated the flag of the country", Sen. Sherman notes.

Sen. Sherman along with nine other senators further counter that they see no reason why some of their colleagues, including PYJ are refusing to reaffirm or recommit themselves to the Human Rights pledge.

In disagreement to reaffirmation of the Human Rights pledge, Senators Saah Joseph of Montserrado County and Daniel Nateehn of Gbarpolu County agree with PYJ that the pledge should be rejected and trashed out of the Liberian Senate because according to them, it makes no sense to reaffirm or recommit themselves to a pledge, but rather demonstrate patriotism as Liberians. By Ethel A Tweh-Editing by Jonathan Browne

Liberia

Govt, June 7 Protest Organisers Engaged in Hate Messages - Report

The Alliance Monitoring Mission (AMM), an arm of the Alliance for Transitional Justice (ATJ), a human rights group that… Read more »

See What Everyone is Watching

Copyright © 2019 The New Dawn. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

More From: New Dawn

AllAfrica publishes around 700 reports a day from more than 140 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.

Quantcast
Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.