—Gongloe Urges Lawmakers to Ratify African Human Rights Protocol
Monrovia, Liberia – July 16, 2025 – A Renowned human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate, Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe, has issued a compelling call to action for the Liberian Legislature to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, stressing that Liberia stands at a defining moment in its long and complex human rights journey.
Speaking as chair of a high-level panel during a one-day National Stakeholders Dialogue held under the theme “The Influence of Human Rights Courts on the Protection of Human Rights at the Domestic Level,” Gongloe described the ratification as indispensable to changing Liberia’s human rights trajectory.
“Liberia should have become a human rights paradise,” Gongloe declared. “It is a historic failure that we must do everything to correct.”
The Protocol, which has already been formally submitted to the Legislature by President Joseph Boakai, would enable Liberians to take human rights complaints directly to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Arusha, Tanzania. The Court, along with the African Commission in Banjul, serves as the enforcement mechanism of the African Charter first adopted in 1981.
Gongloe highlighted Liberia’s troubling recent record of human rights violations and mysterious deaths, referencing the unresolved deaths of Harry Greaves and several government auditors, as well as the forced deportation of asylum seekers under both the previous CDC government and the current Unity Party-led administration.
“We must never again be associated with such tragic and suspicious incidents,” he said. “No one should believe that a man can shoot himself three or six times and call it suicide. These stories insult our collective intelligence and stain the values upon which Liberia was founded.”
The legal luminary emphasized that the protocol, once ratified, would enhance accountability, strengthen civil liberties, and bolster investor confidence by aligning Liberia with international human rights standards. He also stressed the protocol’s role in preventing torture, discrimination, and arbitrary detention.
Tuesday’s event brought together stakeholders from across society—government agencies, civil society, academia, traditional leaders, and the private sector—to generate practical recommendations for legislative adoption of the protocol.
“If you forget everything else I’ve said today,” Gongloe concluded, “remember this: Liberia was founded as a refuge from injustice. We must become the human rights paradise we were meant to be. The time to begin is now.”
The forum ended with a resounding consensus among participants: ratification is not just a legal obligation, but a moral imperative for a nation that aspires to reclaim its founding promise.
