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Liberia: from internment to release
24-04-2012 Photo gallery
On 13 March 2012, the Liberian authorities released 69 Côte d’Ivoire nationals from an internment camp in Liberia and the ICRC transported them to a refugee camp near the Ivorian border. After the post-electoral violence in Côte d'Ivoire, thousands of Ivorians took refuge in Liberia. Some of them were detained by the Liberian authorities under a special regime: internment. An ICRC delegate, an internee and the manager of the camp tell their stories.
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Internment, or administrative detention, is an exceptional measure that allows national authorities to deprive people of their freedom who have not committed any crime, but are nevertheless seen as posing a threat to state security or public order.
“Starting in September 2011, when my mission in Liberia began, I visited the internees 10 times to monitor their treatment and support the authorities in providing decent living conditions,” explains Agnès Coutou, an ICRC delegate. “The internees were allowed out into the open air all day, which made being deprived of their freedom more bearable.”
During their visits, delegates talked to the internees in private. This is essential if the delegate is to make a reliable assessment of detention conditions. These interviews also allow people to talk about their personal problems, and they can bring a degree of comfort and relief.
"One of the internees lost his wife while he was in the camp,” recalls Agnès. “He became deeply depressed, and stopped eating. The ICRC health delegate, Dr Michael Pastoors, was very worried, as the man’s condition was steadily deteriorating. Now he has been released, and tonight he will be with his children."
Agnès continues: “I was a woman, surrounded by 88 men anxious for news, with questions I couldn’t always answer. But, somehow, I never felt uncomfortable. The men were all very respectful and patient. They understood the limits of the ICRC. We built up trust and a real sense of closeness over the months, with people telling me their stories, showing me pictures of their children, telling me about the women they were planning to marry once they were released. I regularly brought them French newspapers and books. They were also very happy to hear about my visit to Côte d'Ivoire, where I attended a meeting; they were all asking me about my first impressions of their country. Little things can sometimes make a big difference, especially when you’re isolated and interned in a foreign country."
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Some Ivorian refugees suspected of having committed offences were initially arrested. They were not charged, but the Liberian authorities felt they posed a potential security threat and therefore set up an internment camp at a former military base in Wainsue, Bong County, where they were interned. With the support of the United Nations, the government renovated the main building to host the internees, while the ICRC provided food and ensured an adequate water supply and sanitation facilities.
ICRC delegates visited the internees regularly, to monitor their treatment and conditions of detention and to convey news to and from their families. Even before the 69 internees were released on 13 March, the ICRC had reunited 14 juvenile internees with their families, who are living in Liberia as refugees. Five other internees were not released. They were sent to a Ministry of Justice detention facility for further investigation.
"After food, water and medical care, the services the internees most appreciated were the Red Cross messages and the phone calls we facilitated once a month,” explains ICRC delegate Agnès Coutou.
"Their families couldn’t visit them, so receiving written messages from their families or hearing their voices over the phone was a great relief."
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"At the end of March, we had to leave our village because of attacks on our area. My wife was visiting her family in a neighbouring village and I couldn’t join her because of road blocks. Knowing that nobody would harm women or children, I fled over the border into Liberia. When I arrived, I was detained for three months before being transferred to the internment camp. For me, the most difficult thing about internment is being so far from my family, my wife and my three children. All of us internees live together, but you can still feel really lonely.”
George is grateful for the assistance the ICRC provided: “The ICRC made it possible for us to contact our families in writing or by phone. They brought us food, and set up a proper water system in the camp. These things made our lives much easier. The ICRC also took the minors among us back to their families. And today the ICRC is providing the transport that will take us out of the internment camp and back to our families."
On 13 March 2012, the ICRC took George and 68 other internees to a refugee camp near the Ivorian border. Some were reunited with their families in the camp, while others, like George, will rejoin their families in Côte d'Ivoire.
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"The network of Red Cross volunteers rapidly located the families of these young people and re-established contact between them and their families. When the Liberian authorities decided to release them, we were able to organize their transport and reunite them with members of their families who were living in Liberia as refugees."
"These moments are highly emotional. The whole community was singing, dancing or crying. Everyone was elated to see the children back with their families. After a while, you know them all and you share their joy and sadness. It’s really satisfying for us humanitarian workers when people are reunited with their families."
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"The camp was set up on 16 June 2011, when 88 internees were transferred here from Harper,” explains Mohammed L. Kamara, Manager of the Wainsue Internment Camp. “The internees knew little or nothing about their whereabouts. They were very scared, and they didn’t think they would survive. I had to build confidence between them and the authorities and reassure the communities living around the camp. I also had to organize the day-to-day life of the internees and coordinate the work of the various organizations involved.”
Mr Kamara explains the situation of the internees: “They were not prisoners but internees, they were not being punished but they were deprived of their freedom. They were depressed and I had to support them. The ICRC was a great help in this area."
Mr Kamara managed the camp from June 2011 until it closed. The Ministry of Internal Affairs appointed him because of his past experience with special programmes such as DDRR (demobilization, disarmament, rehabilitation and reinsertion). He also played a social role in the camp, as well as managing and coordinating the work of different bodies such as the Liberian Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission.
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Some of the former internees will be reunited with their families at the refugee camp. International organizations will help the others to rejoin their families in Côte d'Ivoire.
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On 13 March 2012, the ICRC took George and 68 other internees to a refugee camp near the Ivorian border. Some of the ex-internees were reunited with their families in the camp, while others, like George, will rejoin their families in Côte d'Ivoire.
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