MONROVIA – At a national stakeholders’ forum held at the Carina Hotel in Sinkor on July 16, 2025, prominent human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate, Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe, made a compelling call for Liberia to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Gongloe, who chaired the one-day forum under the theme “The Influence of Human Rights Courts on the Protection of Human Rights at Domestic Level,” emphasized that Liberia’s founding principles are rooted in justice and human dignity. He lamented the country’s failure to live up to that vision, describing it as a “historic failure” that must be urgently corrected.
“Liberia should have become a human rights paradise,” Gongloe told a packed room of government officials, civil society leaders, traditional authorities, academics, and private sector actors. “We must make it happen. It is a collective responsibility, and the time to begin is now.”
The forum comes on the heels of President Joseph Boakai’s formal submission of the Protocol to the Legislature for ratification. Gongloe explained that the protocol, which evolved from the 1979 Monrovia Summit of the Organization of African Unity and was adopted in 1981 in The Gambia, establishes the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. While the African Charter has been in force since 1986, Liberia has yet to ratify the court protocol that grants individuals and NGOs direct access to the court in Arusha, Tanzania.
He argued that Liberia, given its unique history and moral obligations, should be at the forefront of human rights protection across Africa. “We must not delay in signing and ratifying any human rights instrument,” Gongloe declared. “This Protocol is not just legal paperwork. It offers victims of injustice a powerful tool to seek redress when national systems fail.”
Gongloe condemned past incidents that he said continue to stain Liberia’s human rights record, citing the mysterious deaths of Harry Greaves and government auditors, and controversial claims that a presidential security officer and an AFL soldier both committed suicide after multiple gunshot wounds. “Such narratives undermine our moral authority,” he said.
He also criticized the past and current administrations for forcibly returning individuals fleeing persecution to their home countries. “Whether it was a Sierra Leonean police chief deported under the CDC government or a Guinean refugee sent back this year under the Unity Party government, it is a betrayal of Liberia’s founding promise.”
The ratification of the Protocol, Gongloe said, would not only strengthen civil and political rights but also improve investor confidence, reinforce accountability, and enhance the country’s adherence to international human rights standards. He urged the Legislature to act swiftly and decisively.
“This is about ending impunity. It’s about access to justice. If you do not remember anything that I have said here today, please remember that Liberia was meant to be a human rights paradise. We must make it happen,” Gongloe concluded to resounding applause.
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