Rights lawyer free but in court

Human rights lawyer Tiawan Gongloe was released from detention in Liberia on Wednesday, through the intervention of Roman Catholic Church Archbishop, Michael Francis.

Humanitarian sources in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, told IRIN on Thursday that Gongloe was released from his hospital bed at the City's S.D.A. Cooper Clinic, where he had been receiving care after beatings in jail. "He was beaten and still suffers external and internal pains," one human rights worker told IRIN.

The source said Gongloe's injuries were to the eye, ear and other parts of the body and that he was urinating blood. After his release Gongloe told AllAfrica.com, an Internet service provider, "Even after one week of medical treatment, I am still feeling pains in my legs and back. Hearing in my left ear is poor, my right eye is still bad and my body is still covered with bruises."

Police detained Gongloe on 24 April without charge. After his release he told humanitarian workers that police disguised as inmates, one of whom he recognised, beat him in his cell. The government claims inmates beat up Gongloe in an attempt to extract unofficial "prison fees".

"He believes the orders to beat were given by the police," a humanitarian worker told IRIN.

The Liberian Bar Association and certain groups have filed a writ of habeas corpus, requiring Gongloe to appear in court so that it may ascertain the legality of his detention. Humanitarian sources said Gongloe appeared in court on Thursday.

Human Rights Watch reported recently that Gongloe appeared to have been arrested because of a speech he gave at a March 2002 conference in Guinea on peace in the Mano River Union. The speech - available on http://www.newdemocrat.org - was on ways civil society could help achieve peace among the union's three members: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In the speech, Gongloe condemned the use of violence as a means to achieving state power.