We Came, We Saw It, We Declared It And We Were Detained!

April 24, 2018

We were 6 young, smart and astute students graduating high school between 1978 and 79. Two of us were juniors and the other four were seniors. We attended The Bishop Ferguson Episcopal High School in the outskirt of Harper City, Maryland County, Republic of Liberia. Maryland, sits deep in the belly and keyhole of the southeastern region of the country. So, it's a faroff land in Liberia. And that speaks volumes!


Ourstory (not history) that I'm about to bring into your presence is of epic proportion. It took place in 1979. It is very long. But I will give you a short version. Because FB has limited space.
Besides myself, the other five includes, Bhofal Chambers (Now Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Liberia), Czaar Freeman, Jerry Nyepon, Burgess Tubman and Stanley Bedell (deceased) may his gallant and militant soul rest in peace as he joined our martyrs. Six of us were detained briefly by the late President William R. Tolbert government.
Here how it started:


We were in class that morning when a Military truck arrived on Campus. Our classrooms had glass windows. And they were always kept very cleaned everyday by the sanitation engineer. So our outside view from our classrooms was always unhindered. Everyone could clearly see the Military truck that arrived on Campus that morning. It came with well-armed military men. Even though at that time, the entire nation was tensed and gripped with fear, as progressives criticized the OAU summit, which made the Government nervous, students naturally have had certain vibes that are always correct in these sort of situations. That day, the students proved it. Every student in the junior class with Jerry and I, began to point to us (Jerry and I). Because they had the feeling that we were the ones the Government was after due to involvement in politics.


The arrest started from the Senior class. They picked up Czaar Freeman, Burgess Tubman, Bhofal Chambers and Stanley Bedell. Then to the Junior class. They picked up Jerry Nyepon and I. After the pickups were done, the entire school turned upside down. It was disrupted for more than a week. Because students painfully witnessed their classmates, comrades and friends being taken away by the power-that-be. And that wasn't a good feeling!


When we arrived at the Administration Building, (a two-minute driving time from our Campus) offices of the Superintendent and Local government, where a council of men were well seated and well-dressed, noticeably the yard was packed to overflow. The news had already spread all over the City. Market women, students and parents, gathered in the yard. Some were already in tears and others beginning to mourn. Because, these were dangerous times in the country. And thinking of what the Government was saying and could do to us, scared every parent.


Why did the Government arrest and detained us, you may ask?
Simple! We authored a weekly magazine called, "The Voice of The People" in which we openly condemned the hosting and the unnecessary expenses of the OAU summit. Looking at how the Government was reacting to these criticisms around the country, we also openly declared an impending declaration of a generalized anarchy of violence in the not-too-distant future, if the Government failed to exercise restraint in those troubling times.


Our Declaration and Forecast provoked the Government into reactionary measures. And so it detained us! It brought us before a council of great men (I don't remember seeing a woman on that Council) to quiz and interrogate us. The exercise was excruciating. But we protruded. The experience was priceless. But we admired our courage. The test to our young souls and hearts were tantamount to a "Wilderness Experience." And we embraced it with fearlessness!


We build an unshakable and incomparable internal resolve in maintaining our Declaration and Forecast. Even how fruitlessly hard the Government tried to psychologically torture us, we were resolute!


Few months later, the April 14, 1979 Rice Riot took place. One year later, the Military ousted the Civilian government and instituted a military regime. Consequently, tens and tens of innocent men and women lost their lives as many others gnashed their teeth. Time and conditions proved us right. For our Forecast and Declaration had come to past. Liberia, a one-time peaceful nation, will never be the same ever again!


There's more to come. Go to the thomasbedell.blogspot.com
I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell, a volunteer worker, social justice advocate, victim of police brutality and political persecution, speaking and working on the ground pro bono in Liberia.

Bedell Speaks And Works!

thomasbedell.blogspot.com

TRC: My Testimony and Recommendation

May 1,2018

When all the hallubaloo was going on in Liberia reference the generalized anarchy of violence that paralyzed all socioeconomic and political institutions in Liberia, I was in the United States of America writing and criticizing the situation in the country. I was so audible, people began to challenge me to come on the ground in Liberia, if I meant what I was saying.


I took the challenge and returned to Liberia. In 2008, I appeared on the stand at the TRC to offer issues and reconciliation.


So far, as far as I know, my Presentation is only one that was posted and then deleted on the TRC website.


Why? Just follow me and you'll find out.


After presenting what I still believe was and is the problem in Liberia provoking generalized anarchy of violence, I made the following recommendations:


1. The USA must pay reparation in the tone of US$21.7 billion dollars to Liberia for her role in provoking war in Liberia. For example, the US released Charles Taylor from her maximum prison in Boston, Massachusetts into Liberia to launch a military offensive. Also, US helped to split Taylor and Prince Johnson. And this prolonged the war and caused tens and tens of hundreds of innocent Liberian men, women and children to lose their lives while others fled to camp of refuge around the world to find food in desolate places. Not only that, the US sponsored the castration, bludgeoning and subsequent murder of Samuel Kanyon Doe, a sitting president of this great Republic. There's more!
2. Sierra Leone must pay US$30 million dollars for opening a corridor for rebels to illegally and unlawfully enter Liberia thereby provoking war and terror responsible for the deaths of over ten thousand innocent Liberian men, women and children and the subsequent overthrow of a democratically and constitutionally elected government.


3. Libya must pay US$10 billion dollars in reparation for training and supporting rebels and insurgency in Liberia responsible for the deaths of tens and tens of thousands of innocent Liberian men, women and children.


4. England must pay US$27.5 billion dollars in reparation for supporting war and terror in Liberia through rhetoric and personal support for insurgency in Liberia because they thought President Taylor interfered with their Diamond deal from the Congo thru Sierra Leone.


5. Burkina Faso must pay reparation to Liberia in the tone of US$10 million for harboring rebels to enter Liberia to remove legitimate government causing the deaths of thousands and thousands of innocent Liberian men, women and children


6. Ivory Coast must pay reparation to Liberia in the tone of US$17 million dollars for opening a corridor thru which insurgents entered Liberia unhindered causing the deaths of thousands of poor and innocent Liberian people.


As for Liberians who were used as vehicles by America, England and other European countries to sustain and execute the war, terror and generalized anarchy of violence, for example, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Prince Johnson et al, must be compelled to construct vocational schools, 21st Century state-of-the-art recreational centers and ball parks for young people in the 15 counties each. Secondly, they must be barred from participation in politics and governance in the country for ten unbroken years each.


When I submitted this Recommendation, suddenly, fear gripped most Liberians in the US who felt at first, I was afraid to come to Liberia and criticize on the ground. Some began to ask me to be nice on the US. Because the US could go after my life. Interestingly, my Presentation was never seen again. Up to the moment we speak and opine, my Presentation at TRC is only in my possession and nowhere else.


In conclusion, it has been my sole belief that the TRC recommendation and Report will only remain a memory! It is dead! Unless...



I am T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell, volunteer worker, victim of police brutality and Liberian government political persecution, speaking and working on the ground pro bono in Liberia.

Dedication: Mother's Day - Liberia 2018

May 13, 2018

...

From the beginning, our Ancestors acknowledged the primacy of the Female as the source of creation. True to this tradition and belief, I wish to dedicate this Mother's Day to the creative Forces of Humanity and mine,


My own two deceased Mothers, Eliza N. Bedell (biological) Esther W. Bedell (adopted). May their souls rest in perfect peace as their labor and sacrifices to Liberia and mankind are being realized and practiced!


My Eldest sisters, Gertrude Bedell Merriam and Cecelia Bedell Howe including Elder sister, Esther Bedell Conteh, who's now being honored today at The Effort Baptist Church, Monrovia, Liberia, as Mother of the Year 2018,


My revolutionary friend and comrade, Mother and General, Lydia Jones,


And to my Revolutionary Mother of Afrocentric, who was, without her knowledge, destined by the God of our people to become an embodiment of those revolutionary ideas and values that transcend politics in the creation of humanistic revolution, Her Excellency, Madam Mother Alicia Quire-Yancy,
I am not leaving out the last, but not the least, the two outstanding Mothers of our Liberian state today, Their Excellencies Mothers Clar Weah and Jewel Howard Taylor. In their hands, rest the future of the State!


And to my lovely and most beautiful daughter in Liberia, the Nurse and humble servant of the Poor, Odell Bedell Kooker,


Happy, Happy Mother's Day, 2018 to all women everywhere on Mother earth! Continue to be SOURCE OF CREATION!


Yours Very Kindly,


T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell, a volunteer worker, social justice advocate, victim of police brutality and Liberian government political persecution, speaking and working on the ground in Liberia

I Am Not Alone; God Is With Me: A Response To My Friends On The Other Side The Roosevelt Henderson Concerns and Questions On The Appointment of Dr. Elliott Wreh Wilson President of Tubman University

April 9, 2018

Our objection to the appointment of Dr. Elliott Wreh Wilson as President of The William V. S. Tubman University in Harper City, Maryland County, by President George Weah, is simple and clear. The man has the academic credentials. But his morals let him down.

In mid-2017, he physically attacked another professor who works at the same university. Both men are Marylanders. This incident occurred in the open on the same University campus. It was violent and provocative. It attracted the attention of tens and tens of students who assembled and watched him try to humiliate Dr. Gardiner. Essentially, physical violence replaced academic application!

We hail Science and technology today. It is a giant medium of communication. It makes the process 10 times easier in academia. By so doing, it consolidates the foundation for the growth and development of any civilized society. So when violence occurs on a university campus between learned men, academic priests become hooligans of the worse grade. That being the case, in academia, violence is a “no, no!”

What happened on the University Campus was morally wrong! Dr. Wilson’s physical attack was unwarranted, unacceptable and uncivilized! Besides being a professor at the University, Dr. Gardiner is a husband, father, uncle, nephew and cousin.  

From this ridiculous situation, several questions abound: Could Dr. Wilson not resolve a misunderstanding between him and Dr. Gardiner through intellectual exercise via scholarship? What would have happened if at all there was bloodletting or a family person of Dr. Gardiner taking Dr. Wilson up to task? Would this not be a proliferation of violence? Certainly, it would be!

To comprehend this, one has to revisit history.

Samuel Kanyon Doe was President of Liberia when Dr. E. Segbe Boley complained to him. Dr. Boley informed him that Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh was in the “habit” of “undermining” him (Boley) through his authorship. President Doe understandably was shocked. And so he asked Boley if he and Fahnbulleh had the same level of academic degree. Boley answered in the affirmative. President Doe then advised Boley to take on Fahnbulleh through the same academic fashion: write and defend himself. For this is what scholarship and academic inquiries is made of; not physical violence.

All things considered, Dr. Wilson has no excuse to physically attack Dr. Gardiner or any student or faculty member of the University.

The story is clear: Dr. Wilson is as wrong as he can be to physically attack another professor! So my friends on the other side need to understand that the suspension of Dr. Wilson was by his peers at the University. And unless in a military coup d’état where decrees are issued, Dr. Wilson cannot return to the same university while suspension still hangs over him to become its President. It beats every ounce of the University Policy Procedures.

To say a victim of Dr. Wilson’s violence is not your friend or relative and so you care less, is a sham! That could be Mr. Roosevelt Anderson’s attitude. I guess that’s why he asked if the victim cannot speak for himself and why others, besides me, are not saying much. Maybe Mr. Henderson has forgotten or maybe he doesn’t know, we are social justice advocates. And many and oft a time we are “watch dogs” and “whistleblowers.” And so, when we act, we do so purely on seeking justice. Without a doubt, if this were the other way around and Dr. Wilson was violently attacked by Dr. Gardiner, we would be defending Dr. Wilson as we do now for Dr. Gardiner. So there’s no prejudice here! Both men are Marylanders, humans, professors and an integral part of our society. So social justice advocates have the right to come in.

Social justice advocacy is the best thing that has ever happened to democracy. Its purpose is to influence public policy outcome with and/on behalf of a vulnerable group or community or indeed the wider public good.

Therefore, our appeal to our Legislature is resolute! The appointment must be rescinded. Sen. J. Gble-Bo Brown who now heads the Caucus has his first greatest task. He must take us seriously our lose our support!

We seek nothing personal. We have a record of advocacy that is unflinching and unbeatable: we were not wrong when we sought justice for Sen. Morais et al when the Liberian government imprisoned them on charges of ritualistic killings. We took the Liberian government up to task to produce evidence or set the prisoners free. When the Government could not provide any shred of evidence, it set them free. In 2009 we were not wrong when we filed a case of Reparation for shipwreck victims. Some men, women and children died in three shipwrecks. They were not our relatives. But were humans!

Our advocacy was robust and undiminished. In 2011, for the first time in the history of Liberia, the Government paid Reparation to poor women and men some of whom lives and revenue sank in the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. We felt justice was partially served. The same applies to 2010 when Dr. Elizabeth Davies Russell’s administration paid Honorarium to former William V. S. Tubman College of Technology workers who escaped and returned after the war. We also felt justice was served! When the Ivorian Refugees damaged 16 sugar cane farms belonging to the poor people of New Half Graway and we took The United Nations Commissioners for Refugees (UNHCR) to task including the Liberian government, reparation was paid. Justice was also served! When in 2010, we help resolve troubling issues between the Kudemoweh and Numoweh chiefdoms that had been in conflict for decades and reunited them, our advocacy had reached the greatest height of God’s work.

Our friends on the left, including Mr. Henderson, should not ask victims to speak when they don’t have to. The trauma is enough for them to deal with as a consequent of the result of violence against them! So Henderson et al must know we are not alone; God is with us! For all those on whose behalf we stand are not related to us as family or friend. They are God’s children like all of us! And we represent them pro bono! We will not relent until justice flows like a mighty stream throughout this country, even with guns at our breasts.

Dr. Wilson must resign or we appeal to our pro poor President, H. E. George Weah, to withdraw the appointment!

But if Dr. Wilson must lead the University that he claims is named after a Congau man that he dislikes, and that some of his victims at the University are Congau people who he claims were hired by their Congau relative, Dr. Elizabeth Davies Russell, then he must first come to grip with his violent and discriminatory behavior by attending and graduating Anger Management classes and Sensitivity training.

There’s where we stand!

We hope we don’t have to address Mr. Henderson and our friends on the left again!

T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell

REQUEST FOR PERMIT TO PEACEFULLY DEMONSTRATE AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY ON MAY 24, 2013

July 11, 2013

Thomas G. Bedell

SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE/COPRESIDENT/KNPIF

Harper City, Maryland County

C/O Maryland Congressional Caucus

Capitol building, Monrovia, Liberia

Ministry of Justice

Ashmun Street, Monrovia, Liberia

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

RE: REQUEST FOR PERMIT TO PEACEFULLY DEMONSTRATE AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY ON MAY 24, 2013

I, the supra mentioned, a social justice advocate, founder & copresident of KudeNumo Peace Initiative Foundation, Inc. (KNPIF) – the author of peace in the Glebo Peninsula in Maryland County, founder & chair of The Shipwreck Victim Action Committee of Maryland County that won REPARATION from the Liberian government in 2012 for poor women & men, cochair, Concerned Citizens Action Committee of Maryland, and a volunteer worker from the US to Liberia as an answer to President Sirleaf's call for Liberians to return home and help in the reconstruction effort, do HEREBY HUMBLY REQUEST a PERMIT  to carry on a PEACEFUL, NONVIOLENT PROTEST MARCH on Monrovia on Wednesday, July 31, 2013 from Downtown Monrovia to The American Embassy, Capitol Building and other key locations including UNMIL offices to seek assistance in addressing and resolving my case of police brutality.

This POSITIVE ACTION will begin Friday, May 24 with an issuance of STATEMENTS. I begins from Downtown Monrovia to the American Embassy, UNMIL offices and ends at The Capitol Building when I interface with The Maryland CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS.

I do not desire police escort and/or protection during this Peaceful March; I am a serious victim of police brutality and a trauma patient as a result. Therefore, police presence could trigger a flashback.

I am not against the police. But you can rest assure I am against police brutality! It is a VIOLENT ACT; more so, when the Government supports and endorses  such violence against citizens and residents alike! It is UNHEALTHY to our National Patrimony!

Thanks for your anticipated PERMISSION for me to EXERCISE one of my CONSTITUTIONAL and DEMOCRATIC FREEDOMS and The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights to EXPRESS my DISCONTENT and PAIN to cry out to a CIVILIZED world, call on all international governments, nongovernmental organizations on human rights to help others and I who have been brutalized by the police out of my misery.

We will summon all peaceloving and anti police groups and persons and those who have a practical nature, all who possess idealism, dynamism and immense sense of patriotism and human rights, all who believe in goodness, truth and beauty, to unite to support my antipolice brutality campaign and call for justice so together we can built a new society where each of us will have a peaceful and tolerant future.  Intent in this new society for us to work for ourselves and enjoy what the Creator has bequeathed to us, those things that until now we have been deprived of by the Government of Liberia which holds judicial power in its hands. We have arrived at a decisive moment in time when it is no longer possible to go on sustaining injustice.

We have the right to live without the fear of injury or being killed by the police. Our peaceful demonstration will compel the Justice Ministry that it MUST quit distorting and hiding from the truth and depriving people of justice. For Truth is the most important Core Democratic Value. Because our democracy depends on truth, our government and its citizens MUST tell the truth and establish a bond between the citizens and its leaders. Truth MUST be the glue of that bond.

The right to live is a human right. The Government's primary responsibility is to protect lives and safety of its citizens not destroy it.

I look forward to your response as soon as possible. I am,

Thomas G. Bedell a volunteer worker, speaking and working on the ground in Liberia and a victim of police brutality.

CC:         Maryland Congressional Caucus

                Superintendent of Maryland County

                Maryland University Students

                Independent National Human Rights Commission (INHRC)

                UNMIL

                Media

                Human Rights Watch (USA)

                Liberian Human Rights Groups

                American Embassy

                European Union

Position Statement

                                             Presented to Hon. Alfred T. Thompson                                            

District Commissioner, Harper District, Maryland County, R. L.

By The Leaders, Women, Men, Youth & Farmers of The Half Graway Ferguson Community, Cape Palmas

Harper City Hall, June 18, 2012

Hon. Commissioner, March, 2011, Refugees emerging from the Ivory Coast that were placed on The Bishop Ferguson High School Campus by The Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) headed by Cllr. Wheatonia Y. Dixon Barnes, destroyed eleven (11) sugar cane farms within the Ferguson Belt with impunity. These farms belonged to eleven tax-paying and law-abiding citizens residing in the Ferguson Belt. Several complaints were filed to the office of Superintendent J. Gble-Bo Brown. Additions to that, complaints were also filed in the offices of LRRRC both in Monrovia and Harper respectively. One year and three months ago today, both LRRRC and the Superintendent’s office fail to produce positive response. As you know, the destruction of the farms was astronomical. As such, it has been an economic burden on us. The damage in terms of dollars and cents is equal to Sixty-six thousand ($66,000.00) United States dollars. After intensive Positive Action mounted on the Superintendent’s office from us and our friends, children and other social justice advocates, the Superintendent’s office was forced to establish a “Commission of Inquiry” to investigate the matter. Even though we are not satisfied with the composition and Report submitted by the Commission which was headed by The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, its formation and activities justifies our legitimate claims. Page 3, Item Number three (3) on the “Introduction” page of the Report, our Case is clearly substantiated. It reads:

“Assessment and Finding:”

“Below are the following findings the committee would want to share in this report”

1.      “The committee identified 8 small farms that were destroyed and not 11 farms”

2.      “The 8 small farms are observed by the committee are being used for defecation by the refugees”

3.      “That the farms destroyed have started growing due to heavy rain falls…”

                                                                        `                                                                                  

Hon. Commissioner, having inherited the area from our Foreparents who inhabited the area for more than 100 years before us, we have done all that is required under our Organic Laws to maintain and protect the area. When the Refugees were brought into the area, we, as custodian of the area, were not informed. Yet and still, as a decent people, we gave our fullest support. But our generosity and hospitality was and continues to be abused by both LRRRC and the comity of refugee management.  

Hon. Commissioner, the failure of LRRRC and the local government of Maryland, yea Liberia, to recognize the Report of its own “Commission of Inquiry” which confirms the destruction beyond human imagination, is a clear and deliberate violation of our Rights as law-abiding and tax-paying citizens of the Republic of Liberia.

Therefore, based on the supra mentioned undisputable facts, the Superintendent’s office and LRRRC denied us the ability to obtain our full human conditions. It is under this vein we hereby declare and register our distaste and disdain and thereby DEMAND reparation; otherwise we will resolve into NONSTOP and continuous peaceful and nonviolent street demonstrations in order to capture the undivided attention of the Liberian government. This will include and not limited to “Sit-ins,” passive resistance and PROLONG marches along the streets of Harper and maybe transfer our activities to Monrovia to meet with Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia to submit our legitimate claims.

We have called on all international and local government and nongovernmental organizations to help us out of our misery, but none came to our rescue. Even The UNICEF which is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential, continues to sit on the proverbial fence watching our children being kicked out of their class rooms only to make room for refugees. Consistent with The UNICEF Mission Statement, it is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with disabilities. But when the Refugees launched an unprovoked attack on our children and their parents, UNICEF has been sitting by and watching. Are our children considered children of a lesser god?

Hon. Commissioner, we want to summon all of you who have a practical nature, all who possess idealism, dynamism and immense sense of patriotism, all who believe in goodness, truth and beauty, to unite to support our reparation demands so that we and the Refugees can built a new society where each of us will have a peaceful and tolerant future. In this new society we will work for ourselves and enjoy what the Creator has bequeathed to us, those things that until now we have been deprived of by the LRRRC and Refugee management who hold economic-financial power in their hands. We have arrived at a decisive moment in time when it is no longer possible to go on sustaining unnecessary economic pains as a result of Refugee violence.

We are calling on you and all others to bring about a change that is in the interest of the refugees and citizens of this country. We are calling on you to turn this economic bankrupt situation around, to disinvert it and head it in the right direction. We want to live life; we want to produce for ourselves and our fellow men and our children; we want to live in peace with everyone. Nor can we let anyone go on exploiting us and destroying our children’s future. We

intend to put a stop to all of this because we want to live in a time of peace now — that peace we have always desired but which has been denied us.

Hon. Commissioner, we are greatly disturbed by this broad daylight violence against us. And so we are now prepared to take matters to the Liberian government. And if need be, we shall take this matter to The United Nations for redress.

Our children have been denied schooling and we, as their parents, have been denied economic progress. Therefore, we unequivocally, with all we can command from the roof our tongues, demand reparation!

We look forward to your immediate response to this human catastrophe.

Attached is a copy of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry set up by your office and headed by The Catholic justice and Peace Commission. The Report is captioned,

“The Committee Report

Eleven Sugar Farms reportedly destroyed at Bishop Ferguson Community in Harper by Ivorian Refugees

Harper City, Maryland County

Republic of Liberia

Prepared and Submitted on behalf of the Committee:

Thomas B. Mawolo

Chairman

The Catholic Peace and justice Commission

Cape Palmas Diocese”

Signed - Victims:

1.       Monday Howe

2.      Alexander Harris

3.      Perry Harris

4.      Thykindon Harris

5.      Quiah Harris

6.      William Harris

7.      Nyemande Elizabeth Harris

8.      Martha Harris

9.      Victor Harris

10.   

11.   

Approved:                                                                                                                   

                        Victor Wade Harris/CLAN CHIEF/HALF GRAWAY CLAN

Attested:                                                                                                                     

                T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell/Founder/Operations/CCAC/Social Justice Advocate

cc:       Superintendent, Maryland County

            Ministry of Internal Affairs

LRRRC            

Legislative Caucus

KudeNumo Peace Initiative Foundation, Inc. (KNPIF)

File

Position Statement Presented to Hon. Alfred T. Thompson District Commissioner, Harper District, Maryland County, R. L. By The Leaders, Women, Men, Youth & Farmers of The Half Graway Ferguson Community, Cape Palmas Harper City Hall, June 18, 2012

Position Statement

                                             Presented to Hon. Alfred T. Thompson                                            

District Commissioner, Harper District, Maryland County, R. L.

By The Leaders, Women, Men, Youth & Farmers of The Half Graway Ferguson Community, Cape Palmas

Harper City Hall, June 18, 2012

Hon. Commissioner, March, 2011, Refugees emerging from the Ivory Coast that were placed on The Bishop Ferguson High School Campus by The Liberia Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) headed by Cllr. Wheatonia Y. Dixon Barnes, destroyed eleven (11) sugar cane farms within the Ferguson Belt with impunity. These farms belonged to eleven tax-paying and law-abiding citizens residing in the Ferguson Belt. Several complaints were filed to the office of Superintendent J. Gble-Bo Brown. Additions to that, complaints were also filed in the offices of LRRRC both in Monrovia and Harper respectively. One year and three months ago today, both LRRRC and the Superintendent’s office fail to produce positive response. As you know, the destruction of the farms was astronomical. As such, it has been an economic burden on us. The damage in terms of dollars and cents is equal to Sixty-six thousand ($66,000.00) United States dollars. After intensive Positive Action mounted on the Superintendent’s office from us and our friends, children and other social justice advocates, the Superintendent’s office was forced to establish a “Commission of Inquiry” to investigate the matter. Even though we are not satisfied with the composition and Report submitted by the Commission which was headed by The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, its formation and activities justifies our legitimate claims. Page 3, Item Number three (3) on the “Introduction” page of the Report, our Case is clearly substantiated. It reads:

“Assessment and Finding:”

“Below are the following findings the committee would want to share in this report”

1.      “The committee identified 8 small farms that were destroyed and not 11 farms”

2.      “The 8 small farms are observed by the committee are being used for defecation by the refugees”

3.      “That the farms destroyed have started growing due to heavy rain falls…”

                                                                        `                                                                                  

Hon. Commissioner, having inherited the area from our Foreparents who inhabited the area for more than 100 years before us, we have done all that is required under our Organic Laws to maintain and protect the area. When the Refugees were brought into the area, we, as custodian of the area, were not informed. Yet and still, as a decent people, we gave our fullest support. But our generosity and hospitality was and continues to be abused by both LRRRC and the comity of refugee management.  

Hon. Commissioner, the failure of LRRRC and the local government of Maryland, yea Liberia, to recognize the Report of its own “Commission of Inquiry” which confirms the destruction beyond human imagination, is a clear and deliberate violation of our Rights as law-abiding and tax-paying citizens of the Republic of Liberia.

Therefore, based on the supra mentioned undisputable facts, the Superintendent’s office and LRRRC denied us the ability to obtain our full human conditions. It is under this vein we hereby declare and register our distaste and disdain and thereby DEMAND reparation; otherwise we will resolve into NONSTOP and continuous peaceful and nonviolent street demonstrations in order to capture the undivided attention of the Liberian government. This will include and not limited to “Sit-ins,” passive resistance and PROLONG marches along the streets of Harper and maybe transfer our activities to Monrovia to meet with Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia to submit our legitimate claims.

We have called on all international and local government and nongovernmental organizations to help us out of our misery, but none came to our rescue. Even The UNICEF which is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential, continues to sit on the proverbial fence watching our children being kicked out of their class rooms only to make room for refugees. Consistent with The UNICEF Mission Statement, it is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with disabilities. But when the Refugees launched an unprovoked attack on our children and their parents, UNICEF has been sitting by and watching. Are our children considered children of a lesser god?

Hon. Commissioner, we want to summon all of you who have a practical nature, all who possess idealism, dynamism and immense sense of patriotism, all who believe in goodness, truth and beauty, to unite to support our reparation demands so that we and the Refugees can built a new society where each of us will have a peaceful and tolerant future. In this new society we will work for ourselves and enjoy what the Creator has bequeathed to us, those things that until now we have been deprived of by the LRRRC and Refugee management who hold economic-financial power in their hands. We have arrived at a decisive moment in time when it is no longer possible to go on sustaining unnecessary economic pains as a result of Refugee violence.

We are calling on you and all others to bring about a change that is in the interest of the refugees and citizens of this country. We are calling on you to turn this economic bankrupt situation around, to disinvert it and head it in the right direction. We want to live life; we want to produce for ourselves and our fellow men and our children; we want to live in peace with everyone. Nor can we let anyone go on exploiting us and destroying our children’s future. We

intend to put a stop to all of this because we want to live in a time of peace now — that peace we have always desired but which has been denied us.

Hon. Commissioner, we are greatly disturbed by this broad daylight violence against us. And so we are now prepared to take matters to the Liberian government. And if need be, we shall take this matter to The United Nations for redress.

Our children have been denied schooling and we, as their parents, have been denied economic progress. Therefore, we unequivocally, with all we can command from the roof our tongues, demand reparation!

We look forward to your immediate response to this human catastrophe.

Attached is a copy of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry set up by your office and headed by The Catholic justice and Peace Commission. The Report is captioned,

“The Committee Report

Eleven Sugar Farms reportedly destroyed at Bishop Ferguson Community in Harper by Ivorian Refugees

Harper City, Maryland County

Republic of Liberia

Prepared and Submitted on behalf of the Committee:

Thomas B. Mawolo

Chairman

The Catholic Peace and justice Commission

Cape Palmas Diocese”

Signed - Victims:

1.       Monday Howe

2.      Alexander Harris

3.      Perry Harris

4.      Thykindon Harris

5.      Quiah Harris

6.      William Harris

7.      Nyemande Elizabeth Harris

8.      Martha Harris

9.      Victor Harris

10.   

11.   

Approved:                                                                                                                   

                        Victor Wade Harris/CLAN CHIEF/HALF GRAWAY CLAN

Attested:                                                                                                                     

                T. Gbuo-Mle Bedell/Founder/Operations/CCAC/Social Justice Advocate

cc:       Superintendent, Maryland County

            Ministry of Internal Affairs

LRRRC            

Legislative Caucus

KudeNumo Peace Initiative Foundation, Inc. (KNPIF)

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