Enemies of State?

Ivorian Refugees in Harper Central Prison Crave Freedom from the Liberian Government. Lack of food, sleeping place, and sickness mar imprisonment.

Gboko John Stewart, Gboko.steward@frontpageafricaonline.com

Maryland-

Zulu Gaye, and 86 other Ivoirians accused by Liberian border agents of bringing munitions into the country spend their time sitting idly in the compound of the Harper Central Prison.

For more than a month now, they have been sitting on this rocky ground pondering their fate, which lies in the hands of the Liberian Government.

Looking bewildered, Gaye says he has no idea why he is in prison. He claims to have fled his native Ivory Coast for Liberia in order to escape the crisis which had engulfed it. 

Says Gaye: “I crossed on April 1^st. I came alone. At the border we were many. There were many Ivoirians when I was crossing. They [Liberian officers] told me they were carrying us to refugee camp. I’m not expecting myself to be here. I entered here [the prison] by UNHCR vehicle. When we reached to the border, we were mixed up with Liberians. They had few vehicles among us—cars that came from Ivory Coast. All these vehicles had owners...They made search on us and nothing they could see, nothing was on us. Later on, the vehicles we met there, we don’t know what going on, the security, carrying on their job, group us together and start bringing us in here.”

According to Gaye, he and others tried fruitlessly to explain to the authorities that everyone did not come together. “What did we do which you brought us inside here today?” he asked.

Protective Custody/Security Protection

The administrative assistant to the superintendent of Maryland County, Daniel Williams says the Ivoirians are not detainees but rather refugees who are under security protection. According to Williams they are “armed elements”, who pose threat to society and are not free to leave.

Says Williams: “If a criminal is arrested and we feel that it’s not safe, we can keep him somewhere. And that is not being detained; he’s being protected by the state.”

Williams says the arrest of the Ivoirians signals that people of Maryland does not want their county to be used as a resting ground for combatants. People, he claims that, once rested, will return to fight.

When quizzed by FPA on the basis for the Ivoirians’ arrest, Williams says they consulted their partners and acted within the framework of international law. “We consulted UNHCR and were told they could be held. In situations like these, the armed elements have to be separated from the civilians.”

Williams reveals that plans are underway to transfer the detainees to Grand Cape Mount County “where government is preparing a place for them”.

UNHCR’ Maryland head, Musa Konneh says as far as he is concerned, those that are detained are ‘armed elements’.

According to Konneh, arms are not allowed on the territory of Liberia and if any refugee is found with arms, they are separated from the rest of the group. He explained that his entity’s vehicle was used to transport the ‘armed elements’ based on a request from the border agents.

Countering Williams’ claim, Zulu Gaye wonders why they were brought to prison in the name of “security protection”. “What did we do before y’all brought us inside here? ...This is prison. This is no refugee area. Secondly they told us that their bringing of us here is to take the Liberians from among us.”

Six Liberians, out of the initial 93 detained were charged with being mercenaries but were later freed by the court when the state failed to produce sufficient evidence to proceed with the trial.

The county attorney for Maryland County, Aloysius Allison could not provide any information to FPA because, according to him, he has been out of the county and has no knowledge of the case.

Gaye doesn't understand how the Liberians among them could be let go for insufficient evidence and not the Ivorians. “…we are still kept here; we don’t know the reason. They are still telling us they are protecting our life—in jail,” he intones.

The freeing of the six Liberians caused discontent among the refugees as they also wanted out.

 Their discontent led to a riot on April 20, 2011 that saw a corrections officer being injured. Meeting stiff resistance from the UNMIL Pakistani contingent and the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the riot was quelled.

The Ivoirians want to know why, as “non-detainees,” they are they being entitled to have cell phones yet they languish in a crowded prison manned by heavy security presence--one which led to another colleague, Beh Paulett, to suffer from high blood pressure. As the prison has no vehicle assigned to it, Paulett was walked to the hospital that night by a corrections officer.

 At the hospital, nurses told Paulett that had he made one more day, he would have died. Confiding in a visitor, he said the presence of armed men greatly disturbs him. Moreover, he said, he misses his wife and family whom he was separated from at the border during his arrest.

Food and Shelter Brouhaha

Beh laments that since their incarceration, they are not being fed properly. According to him, they eat only one time per day.

Beh's claims were evident to a visitor when a female corrections officer brought food from the market. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, she said the government has totally abandoned the refugees. According to her, the food or money that is given to her, $40 USD per day, cannot cater to the eighty-seven Ivoirians at the prison.

Beh also mentioned that because they have nowhere to sleep, they usually sleep on the bare floor in the hallways of the prison or the rocky ground outside. Such treatment, he says, has led to the contracting of cold and pneumonia by his colleagues.

Vasco Monboe, correction officer and acting superintendent at the Harper Central Prison corroborated many of the Ivoirians’ claims. According to Monboe, upon their arrival in Liberia, they were screened by the joint security, which is headed by the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN). Monboe, however, could not confirm the veracity of the joint security claims.

Said Monboe: “There were ninety-three persons that were brought in, six were Liberians and were charged for mercenarism. Balance of eighty-seven Ivoirians are here.”

Monboe complained that they are facing logistical problem at the prison. Before the Ivoirians came the prison struggled to accommodate 40 fulltime inmates. The latrines were full. Ninety three more men added, has made life much harder for everyone.

Monboe is not the only one crying for logistical support. At the Pedebo International border in Maryland, officers of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization are also bearing the brunt.

The officers complained that they have no office and lack of communication gadgets, terming such a major setback to their work.

The officers explained that the tight building that houses them serves as offices for other government agencies including National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), National Security Agency (NSA), Ministry of National Security, Liberia National Police (LNP) and the custom department of the Ministry of Finance.

Quizzed by FrontPage Africa about the eighty seven Ivoirians that are in the compound of the Harper Central Prison, they asserted that they were found with ammunition and combat uniforms while trying to cross the border. The officers announced that they found the arms in the baggage of the Ivoirians while doing their normal routine search.

“They came in with few vehicles. When they entered here, we decided to do our registration. When we registered them and charged their loads, we suspected there was ammunition in some of the bags,” said one of officers who preferred not to be named.

The officer said that after the search, the men were turned over to the government’s joint security team.

For Gaye, Beh and the rest of their colleagues, they have been sitting waiting for a month without any clear information. They are not aware of any plans to take them to Grand Cape Mount County. Their fate is in the hands of the Liberian government as they look forward to reuniting with their families.

Behind Bars

How an FPA Correspondent was detained for nearly 16 hours at Voinjama Police cell

Barely days after the publication of a Spot News story captioned: “drunk, cheater or a thief-man, the Lofa County Correspondent of FrontPage Africa, found himself squarely in Voinjama police detention cell on various charges including disorderly conduct, defamation of character etc.

The spot News publication in the May 2, 2011 edition of FrontPage Africa showed the picture of a suspicious man who got trapped in a Voinjama dilapidated well at mid -night and was incapable of rescuing himself.

In the aftermath of the publication, the man, a popular local petroleum vendor, now claims the author of the story Journalist Stephen D. Kollie lied on him.

He denied ever being a drunk, cheater or thief-man as was captioned in question mark in the May 2, 2011 publication.

In retaliation to the article, the man only identified as Mettie, took the FPA correspondent to task by inviting officers of the Liberia National Police at the residence of journalist Kollie for his immediate arrest to justify his story.

At about 7:45 PM, on Thursday May 4, 2011, journalist Kollie was picked up from his house and taken to the Voinjama police headquarters for questioning which led to his instant detention.

Accompanied by two other colleagues from UNMIL radio, journalist Kollie was asked by police officers sitting in the charge of quarters to articulate what transpired between him and the petroleum vendor but refused to give any account.

Journalist Kollie maintained that he had been advised by his boss not to release any statement and that if the vendor has any case against him or FrontPage Africa let him file a law suit.

On the other hand, Mettie contended that he has no case with FrontPage Africa but with Journalist Kollie who was the writer of the article. He said he has been looked at hideous in the society and nearly committed suicide since the publication of the article.

After journalist Kollie refused to give out any statement to the Police investigation team headed by one Kromah, the police then charged him with disorderly conduct, defamation of characters, and perjury.

It was not comprehensible how the police resulted to the disorderly conduct charges and why the vendor did not take his case against the publisher of the paper that he claimed destroyed his character in a competent court of jurisdiction.

Just in seconds, the deputy commander who appeared very biter with the FPA correspondent ordered journalist Kollie detention for the rest of 16 hours before his release. 

Other journalist from different media institutions pleaded with the deputy commander and the Vendor not to detain Kollie and that the issue should be withdrawn from the police depot.

At about 9:45 PM, journalist Kollie was asked by police officers to take off his shoes and other personal belongings and enter the cell which is extremely polluted with stinking urine smell.

The FPA correspondent slept the rest of his night in the stinking cell and was later released by morning hours after the intervention of Mr. Rodney D. Sieh and other officials

Before the FPA Managing Editor intervention on Friday, May 6, 2011, the vendor had agreed to family members and friends of Mr. Kollie to withdraw his case from the police only if journalist Kollie was in readiness to pay what he termed as expenses and write a letter of apology to be published and broadcast in about 7 media institutions; all of which Kollie refused to do when told.

But after Mr. Sieh urged him via mobile phone to take his matter to court, he subsequently told the police to pull out the case from their record adding that he would file a lawsuit with an unspecified court in Monrovia.

MOVING THE TRUCKS

AFL Female drivers on the move, What a man can do, a woman can do even better……..

By: Mae Azango/staff writer

Standing proudly in front of a heavy duty army truck, proud women of the new Armed Forces were very happy to be moving a heavy duty truck usually driven by men.

The women were all part of the training exercise last week at the old Camp Jackson military barracks in Bellehfani Bong County. During the training exercise, it was observed that the female drivers sleep in their trucks at night because they believe that if anything should happen and they are far away from their trucks, it would be difficult to get to the trucks, unlike when they are inside the trucks. 

Private first class, Caroline Doe says driving a truck is a tedious task.  “We cover long distances if the mission cover that distance, but the AFL taught me how to manage and take care of a truck well. “

Test in jungle

Explaining some of their experiences and difficulties when driving a truck on a bad and muddy road, Doe says they usually engage the four-wheel drive to get them through. 

“I can remember the last time when we went to repair a bridge, the female drivers drove from EBK military Barack outside of Monrovia to Sinoe County in the Southeast. We had a recent test when the road we traveled, had heavy mud due to a heavy rainfall. We all were wondering how to cross the mud and we were also carrying men in the trucks on a mission. We had the confidence, so we engaged the four wheel and put our trucks in number two, and climbed the hill and through the mud.” 

The 34 year-old female officer and a mother of two said she learnt to drive a truck in the army three years ago and she is very proud to be driving a truck.

 “I feel very good about the new Army, because when the females are driving the trucks, people who come around are amazed to see women operating a heavy truck, because normally we take the lead.  We are about seven women driving these trucks and we also drive fuel tankers and Ambulance.”  

More women needed                         

The other women in the back ground said they feel very good and proud leading a convoy of Army vehicles with men in the back of the trucks. “Long ago, only men used to drive these trucks, but now we the women in the army are taking the lead to carry the men places and not the other way around.”

Private Sumo, holding an RPG says AK 47 is very small for her, so she only deals with RPG. “AK 47 is too local for me, so I leave it with the men, because I can even do it better than any of them.”

Private First Class Doe took the time to encourage her friends to join the new Army and drive trucks because they are few doing this job so they need more women to join them.

 “I would like to tell my friends out there to join the new army during the recruitment. We pray you all should come in the numbers to join us on the field.”