Human rights lawyer detained

Human rights lawyer Tiawon Gongloe was arrested and detained without charge on Wednesday and subjected to brutal treatment while in police custody, humanitarian sources in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, told IRIN. Gongloe, who was taken to the SDA Cooper hospital in Monrovia on Thursday for treatment, was reportedly severely beaten, had bruises all over his face and complained of pains in his back and sides, the sources said. In a news release on Wednesday, the Monrovia-based Movement for the Defence of Human Rights (MODHAR) condemned Gongloe's detention. It said "this common trend of arbitrariness, intimidation, mental torture, molestation and hasty detention (without the benefit to be investigated) characterising recent waves of arrests by the Liberia National Police against peaceful Liberians, is a blatant violation of the fundamental freedoms of speech and of the press as guaranteed under Article 15 of the Liberian Constitution." Meanwhile, sources in Monrovia told IRIN on Thursday that the authorities had reportedly closed the offices of the Analyst newspaper and its staff were in hiding. However, there was no immediate official confirmation or denial of this. The sources said the paper was closed by virtue of a state of emergency declared on 8 February after claims by Liberia's government that armed fighters were moving close to the capital, Monrovia, with the intention of overthrowing President Charles Taylor.