Government denies Amnesty’s report

The Liberian government has denied claims by Amnesty International in a 1 August report that government forces fighting armed groups in the northern county of Lofa have perpetrated human rights abuses against unarmed civilians, including women, the Panafrican News Agency (PANA) reported. Information Minister Reginald Goodridge said on Wednesday, the same day AI released ‘Liberia: Killings, torture and rape continue in Lofa County’, that the report was “a malicious lie and an attempt to tarnish the image of Liberia”. Goodridge accused the Amnesty researcher who conducted the investigations of being “an agent working for detractors of the Liberian government”, PANA reported. Amnesty said government forces and armed opposition groups had been conducting a “widespread and gross” campaign of killings, torture, detention and rape in Lofa.