Liberia: Legal Aid and Mediation
In Liberia, ABA-Africa is supporting the development of a culture of human rights. Conflict, brutality and the worst cases of human rights abuses have become part and parcel of Liberia's history. Indeed Liberia's human rights abuses began with its founding and continued with a series of increasingly violent and devastating civil wars. War has left Liberia as a failed state and created a legacy of complete lack of respect for basic rights. Widespread looting and lawlessness during the war, as well as the over-extension of Executive power during the Taylor administration, have left the judiciary completely crippled. The twin impacts of the physical destruction and the limited political space for the judiciary to carry out its constitutional responsibility will take decades to repair.
The present government, headed by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, was elected in November 2005, and the new president declared an end to the "imperial presidency" in her inaugural address, signaling support for judicial independence.
The present day rebuilding effort must be focused on establishing a basic framework for respect for human rights and support for the present peace and security. Therefore an effective means of stemming lawlessness, empowering communities to engage in dispute resolution and avoidance, as well as support for legal institutions and legal professionals, is needed to continue to lay the foundation for the long-term. To this end, ABA-Africa's efforts include the development of two legal aid centers to provide legal aid and victim witness support.
One legal aid center will be placed in the Louis Arthur Crimes Law School to provide legal aid services for the accused. 16 final year students who will serve in the legal aid clinic to provide representation to the accused as well as support administrative hearing officers in the Ministry of Labor. The goal of the legal aid clinic is to train law students to develop a commitment to public service in Liberia, and participate in the development of a culture of human rights and the rule of law in their country.
ABA-Africa/Liberia is also working to develop a national mediation training standard. To that end ABA-Africa has developed training materials and held a number of working meetings to ensure national input into the training materials. ABA-Africa has provided a sub-grant to one of its NGO partners to establish mediation centers and provide legal aid throughout the country.
The second legal advice center will be a victim/witness support center located in Monrovia. This Center will further the development of a human rights culture by providing victims: an NGO referral service; free legal advice, medical exams, access to victim/witness support specialists and the police. The Center will also provide human rights and legal education to community, traditional and religious leaders, as well as outreach to governmental actors.