Public to help spot criminals amid new army recruits

Pictures of the first 110 recruits to join Liberia’s new army are to be published in the press to allow members of the public to come forward and identify possible wrongdoers among the would-be soldiers. "This government, along with our international partners, does not want anybody with criminal records to be enlisted in the new Armed Forces of Liberia and this is why we are starting a vigorous public vetting process of the past records of those recruits," said Defense Minister Brownie Samukai. Anyone in Liberia would have the right to contest the new recruits on the basis of their human rights records, he said, but an investigation would be carried out following any allegations of misconduct. "A recruit would only be disqualified based on concrete facts and evidence of a bad human right record. We need credible individuals in our new army," the minister added. Following the public vetting exercise, the first batch of recruits to sign up for the 2,000-strong national army will begin a 35-week course of intensive training in July, Samukai said. He said the government would ensure the new army reflected the country’s geographical, gender and cultural balance. Twenty percent of the first class is university graduates and 11 percent of the class is female. The average age of a recruit is about 28 years. “There is a great ethnic diversity in that no tribe is represented by more than 20 percent and that all of the main Liberian ethnic groups are represented," Samukai said. Liberia’s army in the past was dominated by tribesmen or by people from the same region of the president. The new army is to be a combination of former soldiers and young recruits who must have completed secondary school and have no criminal past or a poor human rights record. ak/ccr/cs