Morlu's Arrest Is A Disgrace That Shouldn't Be Repeated

THE ARREST AND brief imprisonment of a human rights campaigner, Mulbah Morlu, at a time a team of democracy campaigners was in town is a total disgrace of our national pride and dignity. The act must be condemned in no uncertain terms by all free people. Indeed, the arresters of Morlu, be it political zealots or Government itself, have clearly proven that Liberia 's human rights credential are still critically uncouth and unkempt. It was a sheer demonstration of overzealousness that unfortunately portrays Government's pettiness and lack of commitment to human freedoms and civil liberties.

ONE WONDERS WHY the Government allowed itself to be consumed by baseless fanaticism with the arrest of Morlu and the subsequent obviation of his pro-war crimes demonstration, which the Americans themselves had welcomed. What did the Government want to prove by the cowardly arrest of Morlu and the disruption of his planned demonstration when those for whom the crackdown was meant hail from a country where peaceful demonstration and petitioning of leaders are as real as a nose situated on a human face? Or is it to prove critics right that the incumbent government has much to hide, particularly when it comes to setting up war-crimes court in Liberia as being proposed by Morlu and his followers?

WHATEVER THE CASE, the government or whosoever that arrested Morlu has brought untold repudiation and shame upon our democratic credential as a nation and people. Indeed, those who orchestrated the obstruction of a peaceful citizens' assembly with the arrest of a war-crimes court campaigner has grossly contracted the perception that the visits have had about our country and its commitment to democracy. Because, while Morlu was being whisked off to involuntary state custody, President Bush and entourage were describing Liberia as a beacon of hope and liberty for Africa and the world. How, for God's sake, can Liberia be deemed a beacon of liberty in Africa, let alone the world, when the government is grabbing and imprisoning citizens demanding greater freedom and liberty; when it cannot allow even a small gathering of people? What if it were a landmark opposition protest against Bush's visit, as we have seen and heard done several times in Europe and Asia ? Wouldn't the government have shot and killed a mass of people? Wouldn't the government have triggered a national stampede capable of consuming the peace and harmony of the country?

DESPITE THE AGE, status and caliber of the victim of Government's abuse of power yesterday, and the size of his constituency, the arrest and imprisonment drive not only prove critics right that Liberia would have witnessed the worst of human rights violations under Sirleaf had she had the opportunity to command an armed Army and security forces, the incident also cast a dark shadow over our fledgling democracy. It has brought untold embarrassment upon the nation and trepidations in many quarters about the state of freedom and civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of Liberia.

WE CAN ONLY hope that this unruly display of sheer power, this fragrant abuse of citizens' natural and constitutional rights, would never be repeated. Liberians have suffered too much and too long under autocratic rules; our people spared so much in the bank of freedom and liberty to be subjected to the orgy of raw power. The victimization of Morlu, and the resultant aspersion it cast on democratic deportment of our nation state, must be the last. The Sirleaf Government must allow Liberians and Liberian residents to gather and petition their leaders at all times. Article 17 of our Constitution instructs and affirms that the people have the right to peaceful assembly. Let Government heed this provision of the organ law now and henceforth.