MONROVIA – The Enough is Enough Protest Coalition — led by the Solidarity & Trust for a New Day (STAND) and WE THE PEOPLE Movement —welcomes the U.S. State Department’s 2024 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Liberia, which confirms persistent human rights abuses, entrenched corruption, and systemic violations of fundamental freedoms.
STAND Chairman Mulbah Morlu said the latest report delivers a damning verdict on Liberia’s worsening human rights crisis, bluntly concluding that no significant progress has been made during President Joseph Boakai’s first year in office.
Morlu narrated, “This is not merely a policy failure, but a moral indictment of the so-called ‘Rescue Agenda,’ exposing its emptiness and the administration’s inability—or unwillingness—to break Liberia’s entrenched culture of impunity.
“For example, as prices soar and hospitals collapse, President Boakai is squandering taxpayer dollars on a 23-40-person entourage to Japan. The same man who once condemned wasteful foreign travel now indulges in it with reckless appetite.”
Morlu stressed that Liberians are suffering under rising prices, unemployment, and a failing healthcare system, yet millions are wasted on a foreign junket that delivers nothing—no jobs, no trade, no meaningful investment.
The U.S. State Department’s assessment is accurate: “There has been no significant change.” Boakai’s actions prove Liberia remains trapped in the same destructive cycle of waste, arrogance, and contempt for its people.”
Returning to the report’s findings, while the broader security apparatus bears responsibility for abuses, the spotlight falls sharply on the Gregory Coleman-led Liberia National Police, documenting violations so severe they cannot be ignored. This is not mere criticism, but a call to urgent action.
These findings reinforce STAND’s core demand: the immediate dismissal of the current Inspector General of Police to restore credibility, integrity, and public trust in the LNP.
According to Morlu, STAND and its partners have “under Boakai’s leadership, impunity thrives, abuses persist, and ordinary Liberians remain unprotected.”
He further stated that the report exposes a nation gripped by extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions without trial, a silenced-threatened, intimidated & censored press, torture, inhumane treatment, rampant gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and systemic discrimination.
“At its core is a deeply corrupt government machinery that emboldens lawlessness and strips ordinary Liberians of justice and dignity.”
These abuses violate Articles 6 and 7 of the ICCPR, Articles 4, 5, 6, and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Articles 11, 15, and 20 of the Liberian Constitution, all of which guarantee life, liberty, due process, freedom of expression, and human dignity. Such violations are not only unlawful—they are an attack on the principles of justice, democracy, and humanity.
Alarming allegations from senior officials of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) and the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) reveal direct involvement of government officials in the drug trade. This hypocrisy—by some of those (officials) who paraded in recent anti-drug campaigns—demands an urgent, transparent, internationally monitored investigation, fully compliant with Liberia’s obligations under the U.N. Convention Against Corruption and ECOWAS protocols.
“Therefore, considering:
• The Boakai administration’s refusal to address the just demands of the July 17 “Enough is Enough” protesters;
• The grave human rights violations documented in the U.S. report;
• The continued failure of all three branches of government to uphold their constitutional obligations to the state;
• The mounting economic hardship crushing ordinary Liberians and threatening national stability;
• President Boakai’s outright rejection of the 13-Count Petition arising out of the July 17 protest;
And given the U.S. State Department’s assessment that “Nothing has significantly change in Liberia,”
“The ‘Enough is Enough’ Nonviolent Coalition of the willing declares Phase II of a sustained mass protest, beginning December 17, 2025, when Liberia will witness a fearless, nationwide wave of nonviolent resistance shaking every major city—holding leaders accountable, demanding justice, and reclaiming the nation’s future from decades of corruption and neglect.
“Unlike July 17, the December 17 protest will be held squarely within the perimeters of the Executive Mansion, which is always open to the public and commercial vehicles. As the property of the people, any attempt to block or intimidate peaceful citizens demanding accountability will be futile. Reactionary and excessive security forces are hereby warned: this movement will not bow, break, or bend until the Boakai government LEADS or LEAVES.”
To coordinate this movement, a 15-member Citizens Engagement Board (CEB), representing all 15 counties, has been established. Within 30 days of its launch, the CEB will engage citizens’ opinion & support across Liberia—including traditional and religious leaders, civil society and student leaders, community representatives, political parties, media professionals, security sector actors, and delegates of vulnerable and marginalized groups. Following this nationwide engagement, the CEB will submit a formal report to guide and drive the momentum of the December (nonviolent) Revolution.
As December 17 approaches, the Enough is Enough Protest Coalition will initiate, intensify, and sustain targeted nonviolent actions—both large and small—defending communities, civil liberties, and democratic governance.
“These targeted actions, to be repeated as often as necessary, are intended to exert relentless pressure on the authorities in response to ongoing abuses in the run-up to December. While strictly peaceful, these actions will be deliberately disruptive to governance, maintaining sustained momentum until fundamental freedoms and democratic norms are fully upheld and respected.
