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Testing Freedom of Information in Liberia a Scoping Paper on The Testing Freedom of Information in Liberia A Scoping Paper on the laws, policy and practice on the right of the people to know versus the Protection of National Security in Liberia Presented by Tiawan Saye Gongloe At West and Central Africa Consultation on the Draft Best Practice Principles on National Security and Freedom of Information Jointly Convened by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) And the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) Novotel, Dakar, Senegal, 01-03 October, 2012 I. Introduction I want to begin this presentation with a story that I told the Liberian people during the celebration of the second anniversary of the Freedom of Information Law at the Monrovia City Hall on Friday, September 28, 2012. This story is about the close relationship between the free flow of information and national security. In March 1980 a group of opposition political leaders of the Progressive People’s Party led by G. Baccus Matthews were arrested and detained for what the government of President William R. Tolbert considered to be a treasonable act1. G. Baccus Matthews had, a year earlier, on April 14, 1979 led a very popular public protest against a proposed increment in the price of rice, Liberia’s staple. In April 1980, around the April 8th or so, there was a dangerous rumor in Monrovia that the entire members of the leadership of the Progressive Peoples Party led by G. Baccus Matthews who were at the time in detention would be executed on April 14, 1980, the first anniversary of April 14, 1979, while President William R. Tolbert was attending the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Harare, Zimbabwe. Amongst the prisoners in detention at the time were Dr. George Seigby Boley, a Krahn man from Grand Gedeh County and the only person from that county at the time with a PhD, Oscar Jaryee Quiah, a Sarpo man from Sinoe county and at the time considered the leader of the Sarpo people, and D. K Wonseleay, a Gio man from Nimba County and at the time the most outstanding young political leader of the 1 They were not formally charged with treason. young people of Nimba County. The detail of the rumor was that the leadership of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Branches of the Liberian Government and the True Whig Party had signed a resolution for the execution of the detainees. The rumor was transmitted by whispers from one person to the other and in a short time became information known to everyone, in Monrovia. On the issue of the increment in the price of rice, the Government of Liberia should have been the first to reveal information about its decision to increase the price of rice to the Liberian people. Perhaps government’s justification for the increment in the price of rice would have convinced the people, thereby making the demonstration unnecessary and unpopular. But the government miserably failed to do so. Therefore, when Baccus Matthews came out to the urban poor and told them that government was about to increase the price of rice and that this would bring hardship to the poor, they believed him. Tens of thousands of people came out in the streets of Monrovia to demonstrate against the increment in the price of rice. The government panicked and ordered the police to shoot at the unarmed demonstrators. Hundreds of demonstrators were killed and buried in mass graves. It was about a year after April 14, 1979 that G. Baccus Mathews and others were again jailed for what government termed treasonable acts and rumor spread that they would be summarily executed. During that period there was a strong division between the Americo-Liberians and the indigenous people of Liberia. Therefore, the common concern among most people was that the Americo-Liberian leaders wanted to kill the leaders of the natives. This rumor was very popular and spread in every nook and corner of Monrovia like a wild fire. Some of those spreading this dangerous rumor worked with the security service. Yet the Government said nothing to the Liberian people about the fate of the detainees. Monrovia became tense and people were worried and praying quietly in every corner in Monrovia. People believed the rumor because President Tolbert had two years earlier executed a close family member with the same first and last name, William Tolbert. Also, a year before this rumor, Tolbert had executed seven persons, one of whom was James Anderson, the Superintendent of Maryland County and a son of the Chairman of the ruling True Whig Party. The silence of the government at the time with such a dangerous rumor that was believed to be known to everyone, made people to believe that there was truth to the rumor and that the government was determined to executive those political detainees. What was on the minds of most people at the time was how to rescue the political detainees, most of whom were “native boys” that the “Congo people” wanted to kill.2 On April 12, 1980, 2 The expression “country people or native people” was used before the 1980 military coup to refer to descendants of the indigenous people of Liberia as opposed to Congo people which refers to the descendants of freed slaves who were repatriated to Liberia and former slaves from the Congo basin that were recaptured and just before President Tolbert’s planned departure to Harare, Zimbabwe, the President was assassinated by soldiers assigned at the Executive Mansion to protect the life of the President, the political detainees were released and the True Whig Party Government was overthrown. It should be noted that Master Sergeant Doe, the leader of the coup was a Krahn from Grand Gedeh, like Dr. George Boley, Staff Sergeant Thomas Wehsyen, the deputy to Doe was a Sarpo from Sinoe, like Oscar Quiah, and Staff Sergeant Thomas Quiwonkpa, who became the Commanding General, then known as strongman was a Gio from Nimba County like D.K. Wonsehleay. From the assassination of President Tolbert and the overthrow of his government until today, nobody has seen a copy of the resolution that was allegedly signed for the execution of Baccus Matthews and others. The military coup was therefore a rescue mission based on a false rumor. Yet Liberia’s democratic, social and economic progress was delayed by ten years of military dictatorship and fourteen years of violent civil conflict as a result of this rumor. Here lies the danger of shrouding the process of governance in secrecy and keeping information away from the people. This one example is enough for everyone to play his or her role in making the Freedom of Information Law, a living instrument in the governance of Liberia. Liberians, from April 12, 1980 suffered ten years of military dictatorship, followed by fourteen years of a violent civil conflict that took away the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, simply because the government refused to give information to the people about its decision to increase the price of rice and failed to clarify that the rumor that Baccus and others would be executed without trial was untrue. This story shows that a government that refuses to disclose information to the people threatens its own security and existence. More information about the government and the processes of governance removes suspicion over government actions and therefore, strengthens public trust in government and national security. The converse threatens national security The burden of implementing the Freedom of Information Law is on the President of Liberia, the Chief Justice, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and all functionaries of the Government of Liberia who serve under their various authorities. The Freedom of Information Law is not one of those laws the Executive alone is required to enforce. It is a law that every branch of government is required to enforce because the people are entitled to information about their governance from every branch of government. Information is only useful, meaningful and effective if it is given on time. Therefore, except for information exempted by the Freedom of Information Law, such as information on national defense and security, settled in Liberia following the abolition of slavery. The settlers from the Americas were referred to as Americo- Liberians, but over the years the expression Congo people was largely used to refer to both settlers. information on Liberia’s external relationship that is required to be kept secret and trade secrets, every competent functionary of government should be ready at all times to give information about government and the process of governance within reasonable time. This is necessary because Liberia needs no other lesson to learn than the one presented by the April 12, 1980 military coup. This experience alone is instructive. The Freedom of Information law intends to remove unnecessary and unreasonable secrecy in the process of governing Liberia. The Liberian story shows that a government that promotes high degree of secrecy in the process of governance, unknowingly and unintentionally casts doubt and suspicion about its policies, plans, programs, decisions and actions. More secrecy in the process of governance undermines public trust in government. If functionaries of government refuse to give true information to the people and on time, others will give some kind of information to the people and most often the unofficial information may be false or untrue. Sometimes the failure of government to give information to the people on time can lead to the downfall of a government. The April 12, 1980 story about Liberia is a clear example that national security is better and stronger when there is unhindered flow of information from the government to the people.
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