The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) has condemned in the strongest possible terms the alleged brutal and premeditated violence unleashed by state security forces against peaceful protesters during STAND-organized protest in Monrovia.
In a release issued Thursday, the CDC said, “What the Liberian people and the world witnessed yesterday, December 17, 2025 was not crowd control; it was state terror—a calculated assault on the Constitutional right of citizens to peacefully assemble, protest, and express dissent. These rights are explicitly guaranteed under the Liberian Constitution and protected under international human rights law.
“Credible reports indicate that the violence was provoked, not by protesters, but by stone-throwing individuals operating from within the secured perimeter of the Capitol Building, reportedly led by staffers linked to the Office of Vice President Jeremiah Kpan Koung. This reckless and dangerous provocation was then cynically used as justification for a violent police crackdown on unarmed civilians. This is an unmistakable pattern: manufacture chaos, then unleash repression.”
The CDC issued a direct and unambiguous warning to President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and his “partisan” Inspector General of Police, Gregory Coleman, stating that they will be held personally and institutionally accountable if Liberia is dragged back into an abyss of repression, fear, and state violence.
“History has taught this nation painful lessons. When a government abandon restraint, weaponizes the police, and treat peaceful protest as an enemy, the nation does not move forward—it disintegrates.
“The CDC demands the immediate and unconditional release of all protesters arrested and detained in connection with December 17, 2025, peaceful protest. The CDC will not surrender its moral authority, its constitutional rights, or be intimidated into silence.
“We call on the international community to take urgent note of the dangerous trajectory unfolding in Liberia. Liberia belongs to all its citizens, not to batons, bullets, or fear. The Liberian people will not kneel,” the released further stated.
