On 26 March, reports emerged from Sinoe County, Liberia of protests and violence in the Golden Veroleum palm oil plantation. First-hand accounts of events have been difficult to obtain, but Global Witness has received reports that a number of local community members have been injured and arrested, that general unrest continues in the region, and that special police units have been sent from Monrovia by the Government.
On 29 March, a coalition of Liberian NGOs – the National Civil Society Council of Liberia – issued a statement condemning the violence in the Golden Veroleum plantation. Global Witness supports this statement and echoes the Council’s call for an immediate investigation by the Liberian Government’s Independent Commission National Human Rights.
/ ENDS
Notes to editor:
Copies of the Council’s statement and letter are attached below:
National Civil Society Council of Liberia Press Release.
National Civil Society Council of Liberia letter to Human Rights Commission.