Liberia: US Ambassador McCarthy Calls for Concrete steps to Tackle ‘Numerous’ Human Rights Violations
Monrovia – The NAYMOTE partners for democratic development in Liberia Wednesday hosted US Ambassador to Liberia Mr. Michael McCarthy at the 12th edition of its Democracy Lecture Forum in honor of Carl Gershman for his dedicated role in defending the cause of democracy.
The Carl Gershman Democracy lecture forum is hosted quarterly by NAYMOTE and its partners in recognizing the pivotal role of Carl Gershman, an American civil servant and former US Ambassador to UN Human Rights Council in democracy around the World.
At the event, Ambassador McCarthy called on the Liberian government to strengthen its security forces against human rights violations; attends NAYMOTE 12TH Edition of ranging from lack of independence with the judiciary system, restriction of freedom of the press, and the lack of proper investigation from gender-based violence cases among others.
He said Liberia should now take concrete steps to tackle the numerous human rights violations and end the culture of impunity and identify ways to make improvements.
“We seek to provide support to the Liberian government to combat corruption, the culture of impunity and to drive economic growth and reduce poverty in Liberia,” US Ambassador said.
According to him, in order for Liberia to be on par with other countries, it first needs to strengthen its democracy and foreign policy on human rights and rule of law which remain a fundamental principle of democracy for Liberia to emulate.
The event brought together several youth leaders to inspire them to be committed to the principles of democracy and understand their roles and responsibilities in a democratic society.
NAYMOTE Executive Director Eddie Jarwolo, for his part, lauded the US government for its role in building the capacity of several Liberians through an international development fellowship of which he’s one of its many beneficiaries.
“The Carl Gershman Democracy Lecture Forum was birthed by NAYMOTE and its democratic partners after I got chased out of Liberia falsely and lied upon that I ran into President Weah convoy and I went to Ghana for some time and came back to Liberia and established this forum to teach Liberians in being political tolerance and as well educate them about the principles of democracy,” Jarwolo said during his remark.
