Silhouette of a detained soldier in Liberia. Photo: Staton Winter | UNMIL | 25 Jan 13
Marcel Akpovo, Chief of Human Rights Protection Service and Representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Liberia
Mr. Akpovo is a human rights lawyer and media expert from Benin, having worked for Amnesty International and the United Nations-AfricanUnion Mission in Darfur, Sudan and for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Mauritania.
Please talk about how your background and experience enabled your work here in human rights.
As a human rights lawyer and a media expert, I had extensive experience working in conflict and post-conflict situations prior to this assignment.
For a decade, I was a researcher on armed conflict for Amnesty International, covering much of Africa. I have worked for the UN in very delicate/ difficult situations, in Darfur, for example. Prior to my assignment here, as the Country Representative of the OHCHR in Mauritania, I supported the country’s transition from a slavery-dominated context towards human rights-based community engagement. I have worked extensively with national civil society organizations on human rights and in faith-based organizations as well, which has been inspiring and helpful for the responsibilities I have had here in UNMIL.
What were your initial impressions of the challenges you were to face?
I was shocked by the weakness of the national protection system. I was disturbed by the fragile institutional framework to promote and protect human rights. I was also worried by the sense of impunity for the serious human rights abuses committed during the conflict, and the lack of criminal accountability. However, beyond the shock, I was also impressed by how much progress was made since the last time I had been here as a journalist covering the conflict. So I could feel the positive impact of the UNMIL presence and also measure the work the UN had done in support of the national authorities. I was particularly impressed by the fragile, slow, but steady progress achieved in building a new rule of law architecture.
So my challenge was how I manage this bit of hope and success against the huge gaps and human rights concerns.
Which have been your primary areas of focus during these five years?
I built on the work done by my predecessors. Their legacy provided a snapshot of the human rights situation in the country. For example I continued their work on human rights in the concessions, i.e. the exploitation of natural resources, both mineral and agricultural. I was able to establish an important new area of engagement focused on business and human rights.
Since my arrival, we made tremendous progress. One example is our support to the Independent National Commission for Human Rights (INCHR), helping to transform it from an inactive body to a vibrant commission, with a purpose, an action plan, a vision to strengthen its independence and the capacity to provide an oversight role. The last milestone was the accreditation of the Commission to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions with an A status. This is a major achievement for an institution that, until three years ago, was suffering a serious deficit of professionalism, credibility and vision.
What kind of work did this involve?
We were mentoring the commissioners and co-locating technical staff to help them develop their capacity in project management and oversight, and to develop a human rights agenda. We also had capacity enhancement projects, on how to monitor, report and do assessments. Through our technical cooperation, we accompanied the Commission as it became more independent and effective at providing support to the Government, especially in fulfilling its national and international human rights obligations.
Our work was based on mutual trust. We were a support entity and not a substitute. But more remains to be done. Only by sustaining this progress will they be able to fulfil their obligations and their role in the country. And still that fragility and vulnerability remain. We have tried to get them to understand that while they have made tangible progress, they have more to do to realize a national protection system.
Can you talk about the achievements you and your team accomplished?
The good things that happened in this country were mostly related to human rights, despite the magnitude of the challenges. We helped establish the independent Commission provided for by the Accra Agreement. We wrote the act and developed guidance documents. We supported the truth and reconciliation process, helped develop its legislation, provided technical assistance to the Commission, and supported its recommendations, including those related to redress, impunity and accountability for crimes committed during the conflict. We also helped the country re-engage with the international human rights protection system, and to initiate national human right processes including the four year action plan.
I am also proud of the role we played in supporting the interventions during the Ebola crisis. When everyone was gone, when going out became so risky, when talking to your neighbor could be fatal and lead to death, the Human Rights Section remained in the country, as part of the Mission, not only to be a key actor in the humanitarian intervention, but also to send a message of the centrality of human rights in such an emergency and humanitarian situation. We took risks to continue monitoring and reporting on human rights and protection challenges in the middle of the crisis to ensure that vulnerable people already facing the atrocity of the epidemic were not further victims of human rights abuses including discrimination, police and army brutality, or unequal access to protection, during the humanitarian intervention. We ensured that accountability to the affected populations remained the priority.
We monitored the plight of Ebola survivors and advocated on behalf of the communities who were quarantined and whose rights were restricted during the state of emergency. Through our monitoring, their voices were heard and their conditions reflected in intervention priorities.