A one-day symposium to amend certain provisions of the law to ban human trafficking in Liberia was held on Friday, August 20, 2021 at the Ministry of Labor in Monrovia.
Over 40 participants, including members of the Senate Committees on Labor and Judiciary, the House Committee on Labor and Judiciary, members of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce, lawyers, the US embassy as well as local and international development partners attended the one-day event.
Speaking during the symposium, the Chairman of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce of Liberia, Labor Minister, Cllr. Charles H. Gibson, said that the symposium seeks to amend the Anti-Human Trafficking Law of Liberia.
He said that it is also intended to look at the concerns of the United States Government Report on trafficking in Liberia, especially in the areas of prosecution, strengthening of the laws and protection for witnesses.
He said the symposium will attempt to address the issue of strengthening of the law, noting that the penalties attached to convict of human trafficking in Liberia is not rigidly sufficient to warrant deterrent.
He added that the conditionality to prove the use of force and coerce for minors is not attainable because minors cannot give consent. He also noted that victims of human trafficking must have the responsibility to recover damages.
The Chairman of Taskforce informed the lawmakers that human trafficking is not just an individual business, but transnational, sometimes carried out by registered businesses and organizations.
“To do human trafficking under the cloud of these legitimate businesses, even individuals when they are convicted, the victim must have remedy to law, and after prosecution must have remedy to civil damages. These are some of the things we have addressed in this amendment,” Minister Gibson noted.
He said that prior to the symposium, the Ministry of Labor, through the National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce, retained the services of five very experienced lawyers who have had trainings in legislative drafting, including himself, and are capable to achieving this amendment.
Minister Gibson noted that the Taskforce hopes to submit to the National Legislature the amended provisions of the document on Thursday following cleaning up of the document for passage.
He disclosed that TIP is one of the serious imperatives that a country must fulfill to qualify for certain financial benefits from the US government.
Minister Gibson used the occasion to inform the members of the National Legislature and other participants that there are currently five trafficking cases, and expressed confidence that the taskforce is determined to ensure that they are heard during this term of court. He said that lawyers of the Taskforce have reviewed the evidences and are sure that they will secure a conviction. As regard to the protection of witnesses, the Chairman of the Taskforce said that they have established one safe-home in Monrovia, and intends to establish three additional homes outside Monrovia.
In separate remarks, the Chairpersons of the various Committees of both the Senate and House of Representatives praised Minister Gibson for the symposium and expressed their willingness in working with the National Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce to strengthen the laws on trafficking in Liberia.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Labor, Senator Wellington Geevon Smith, and Senator Abraham Darius Dillon of the Senate Judicially Committee, headed the Senate delegation, while the Chairman of the House Committee on Labor, Representative P. Mike Jurry and Representative A. Kanie Wesso, Chairman on Judiciary, House of Representatives, were heads of the House’s delegation.