Amnesty regrets court ruling on rights defender

The human rights organisation Amnesty International has expressed dismay at a recent court decision that human rights defender Sheikh K M Sackor be tried under military jurisdiction. "This ruling displays complete disregard for human rights provisions of the Liberian constitution and blatant interference in the judiciary by the government," Amnesty stated in a news release on Thursday. Sackor, Executive Director of Humanist Watch, a Liberian nongovernmental human rights organisation, has been detained incommunicado since his arrest on 25 July, it added. Although Sackor has not been charged, government lawyers have accused him of belonging to the armed opposition Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), and argued that the case should be handed over to a military tribunal, according to Amnesty. A judge had earlier ruled that the case was within civilian jurisdiction, quoting Article 19 of the Liberian constitution which states that: "No person other than members of the Armed Forces of Liberia or of the militia in active service shall be subject to military law, or made to suffer any pains or penalties by virtue of that law, or be tried by a court martial." This ruling had now been overturned and the case passed over to military jurisdiction, Amnesty reported on Thursday. "It appears that the government may have unduly influenced the judge to change his ruling in this matter and that this is just the latest in a series of attacks on human rights defenders and members of the Mandingo ethnic group," it said. "The detainees are being presumed guilty until proven innocent," the organisation added. Amnesty's statement expressed concern that there were fewer fair trial guarantees under military than civilian jurisdictions, and that government interference was likely to be greater. The establishment of a Court Martial Board under military jurisdiction was subject to the discretion of the president Liberia and could result in unacceptably long periods of pre-trial detention, it said. The government has used the military jurisdiction to justify the continued detention without charge or trial of human rights defender cum journalist Hassan Bility and two others, Ansumana Kamara and Mohammad Kamara, since 24 June. The practice of trying civilians in military courts, while not expressly prohibited by international standards, raised issues about the fairness of trials, according to Amnesty. In the two cases, it said, the government had failed to produce the detainees in court as required by writs of habeas corpus ('produce the person') submitted by defence lawyers. This was in violation of Article 87 of the Liberian constitution which states that: "The writ of habeas corpus shall remain available and exercisable at all times and shall not be suspended on account of any state of emergency." Since President Charles Taylor declared a state of emergency in early February 2002, there has been increased repression of government critics and those under suspicion of being dissidents or dissident collaborators, Amnesty said on Thursday. The government has repeatedly accused Liberian civil society and international human rights groups of spreading false information intended to tarnish the image of Liberia within the international community, it added. Full statement is available at http://www.amnesty.org