wr2014_web_0

WORLD REPORT 2014disproportionate appeals bonds—effectively denies media centers and journaliststhe right to appeal a defamation ruling.Human Rights and Anti-Corruption InstitutionsThe Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), which is empowered to investigateand prosecute on its own initiative, has secured only two convictions sinceit was established in 2008. The second conviction occurred in 2013 against formerLiberia National Police Inspector General Beatrice Munah-Sieh. The convictionwas appealed on the basis of jury errors. At time of writing, the case waspending before the Supreme Court. In June, the Senate rejected a bill submittedby President Sirleaf to give the LACC more freedom to prosecute corruptioncases. Currently, the LACC must submit its cases to the Ministry of Justice andwait three months for the ministry to decide whether it will pursue its own case.The General Auditing Commission (GAC), Liberia’s independent auditingagency, has completed and issued dozens of reports in the last five years withdetails of mismanagement and corruption. The Ministry of Justice has investigatedor pursued very few of these reports, but it announced in September 2013it was reviewing past GAC reports for possible prosecution of governmentmalfeasance. That same month, the Senate began to hold public hearings onpast GAC audits.The Independent National Commission on Human Rights, established in 2010and empowered to investigate and consider human rights complaints, remainsineffective and weak. While there was some progress—the commission dispatchedits first field monitors to Nimba, Bong, and Lofa—the commission hasyet to take meaningful steps toward fulfilling its mandate.Key International ActorsLiberia’s international partners, including the United Nations Mission in Liberia(UNMIL), the United States, and the European Union were more outspoken in2013 than in past years about the need to address corruption and weaknessesin the security and justice sectors.The UN Security Council extended the mandate of UNMIL until September 30,2014. UNMIL began its plan to decrease the number of peacekeepers by half—140