Liberia: U.N. Action Needed to End Rights Abuses

(New York, September 16, 2003) - Liberian government forces and rebel
fighters are committing grave human rights abuses while peacekeeping forces
remain inadequate, Human Rights Watch said today in a briefing paper.

A U.N. peacekeeping force of 15,000 has been proposed for deployment in
October, but it could take months for the force to reach full capacity.
Despite assurances by U.S. forces and the West African peacekeeping force
known as ECOMIL that the situation in Liberia has stabilized, marauding armed
bands continue to commit murder, rape, forced recruitment and looting.

Ragtag government militias and fighters from both rebel groups-Liberians
United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the splinter group of ex-
LURD members called the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL)-operate
with little discipline or command control, and loot partly because they are
hungry and not being paid.

"Government and rebel fighters continue to terrorize and abuse civilians in
Liberia," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch's
Africa Division. "This is a critical moment for immediate U.N. action in
Liberia."

Hundreds of thousands of persons are being uprooted repeatedly as they flee
from the countryside in terror and fear of these armed groups, which are
seeking to secure the last spoils of battle before the territory can be
secured by peacekeepers. Soldiers systematically extort money and other goods
from those seeking refuge and block them from moving to safety. Fleeing
civilians also fall victim to rape and abduction by the armed groups.
Thousands of people remain in hiding in the bush, where adequate food, water,
shelter and medical care are scarce or non-existent. Most of the population
remains in grave need of basic necessities, particularly outside the capital,
Monrovia.

Rape and other sexual violence against girls and women remain pervasive, and
are committed by all sides in the conflict. Sexual violence often accompanies
the widespread looting, and women and girls who resist providing sexual
services risk being shot by the armed fighters. In northern Bong County, rape
of young boys is reportedly on the rise. Rape and other forms of sexual
violence have also been reported in centers for displaced persons in
Monrovia, particularly where conditions are crowded, and food and other
necessities must be found outside the camp.

Both the government militias and rebel fighters rely on child soldiers. Most
are between thirteen and sixteen years old, but some child soldiers are as
young as six years of age. Many have been forcibly recruited. Some of these
child soldiers had fought in the 1990-97 war and were demobilized, only to be
re-recruited with the renewal of fighting in 2000.

The less than 3,000 West African peacekeepers currently deployed in Liberia
remain woefully inadequate. The signing of a comprehensive peace agreement on
August 18, 2003 included a pact between the government and rebel forces to
grant access throughout the country to humanitarian workers and
organizations. However, the persistent insecurity continues to impede the
delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in greatest need.

Protection of the civilian population is an urgent priority. All sectors of
Liberian society, from civilians and civil society groups to fighters from
all the warring parties, have repeatedly called for a prompt and more
expansive deployment of ECOMIL and other international forces.

Human Rights Watch calls on the Security Council to deploy the proposed U.N.
peacekeeping force of 15,000 to Liberia as soon as possible in order to
protect civilians, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, to
establish conditions for the safe and sustainable return of refugees and
internally displaced persons, and to support disarmament and demobilization
efforts.

The briefing paper is available online at:
http://hrw.org/press/2003/09/liberia090903bp.htm [2]