Press union, rights advocates worried about abuses

The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has expressed concern at human rights abuses by state security forces which, a senior official of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission told IRIN, have been occurring frequently. Star Radio quoted PUL President Suah Deddeh as saying on Thursday at a forum marking his union’s 35th anniversary that the large number of unsolved crimes, including murders, and rights violations in Liberia had a negative effect on the government’s image and created insecurity in society. James Cervier, assistant director of the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, told IRIN his organisation had received several complaints of abuses by Liberia’s security forces. The Commission sometimes receives two or three complaints of arbitrary arrests per month, Cervier said. Other reported abuses include police brutality and forced disappearances, he said. According to Cervier, the Commission is now looking into a report that young men from the minority Krahn ethnic group picked up two weeks ago were being held in the Barclays Training Centre military barracks in Monrovia and that they had been flogged during their detention.