President Joseph Boakai’s recent public assertions, during various high-profile engagements including the 2025 Presidential Media Dinner, that his administration maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward the holding of political prisoners, the suppression of the free press, and the perpetration of police brutality, have been met with intense scrutiny from civil society, human rights advocates, and the international community. While the President’s rhetoric aims to signal a commitment to democratic values, a rigorous examination of the record from 2024 through early 2025 reveals a stark and widening chasm between official pronouncements and the lived reality of Liberian citizens. The data, documented by local watchdog groups and corroborated by international human rights observers, paints a picture of a nation where systemic human rights violations have become an alarming feature of the current administrative landscape. The December 2024 “White Tuesday” protests serve as a grim landmark in this trajectory.
During this assembly, which was organized to voice concerns over legislative and administrative governance, the Liberia National Police (LNP) moved to disperse protesters with a level of aggression that drew widespread condemnation. Approximately 70 demonstrators were arrested, among them Sekou Kalasco Damaro, a former aide to ex-President George Weah. These individuals were not only detained but were reportedly held in undisclosed locations—a tactic that raises grave concerns regarding the violation of due process and the fundamental protections guaranteed under Article 17 of the Liberian Constitution, which enshrines the right to peaceful assembly. The use of tear gas against peaceful protesters, rather than a strategy of de-escalation, highlights a disturbing trend of viewing dissent not as a democratic right, but as a security threat to be neutralized.
The severity of the state’s response to civilian frustration was perhaps most lethally manifested during the March 2024 Kinjor protests. In this instance, security forces allegedly deployed live ammunition against demonstrators. The resulting three fatalities remain a haunting indictment of the government’s approach to public grievance. When a state chooses to meet civil protest with lethal force, the democratic fabric of that society is profoundly weakened.
This event signaled that the administration was prepared to cross the threshold from managing public order to actively suppressing the voices of the marginalized through state-sponsored violence. The historical context of Liberia, a nation that has struggled through years of civil conflict and post-war reconstruction, makes this regression all the more dangerous. The promise of the post-conflict era was the consolidation of the rule of law and the protection of civil liberties as a deterrent against the resurgence of authoritarianism. By failing to hold the perpetrators of the Kinjor killings accountable, the Boakai administration has effectively signaled that the use of lethal force against the citizenry carries no significant political or legal consequence.
Beyond the realm of mass protests, the administration has been dogged by persistent reports of police brutality against individuals. The case of Representative Luther Sandy Collins is particularly illustrative of the erosion of institutional decorum and safety. Collins alleged that he was physically assaulted by police officers during a budget hearing in December 2024, an event that allegedly resulted in injuries to both himself and his staff. If a sitting member of the legislature is not immune to the arbitrary violence of the police force, the vulnerability of the average Liberian citizen becomes terrifyingly apparent.
The death of Austine Yarkpawolo Freeman in April 2024 further underscores the pervasive nature of this misconduct. Reports indicate that officers forced their way into Freeman’s home under the cover of darkness and subjected him to a fatal beating without any clear provocation or legal justification. This incident was not merely an isolated case of individual misconduct but a symptom of a systemic lack of accountability within the LNP. When security forces are permitted to act with impunity, the trust between the government and the governed—a cornerstone of legitimacy in any democracy—is severed.
Furthermore, the persistent use of tear gas against students in March 2025 during protests over unpaid teachers’ salaries highlights a recurring pattern. Instead of addressing the fundamental socioeconomic grievances that drive these protests—such as the failure of the state to compensate its workforce—the government chose to rely on coercive tactics. This reaction reflects a broader administrative philosophy that treats civil unrest as a nuisance to be dispersed rather than a signal that the “Arrest Agenda for Inclusive Development” is falling short of its promises to the populace. The public’s frustration is further stoked by the daily visibility of police unprofessionalism.
Video evidence circulating on social media has captured officers engaged in physical altercations with citizens, including the ubiquitous motorcyclists who form the backbone of Liberia’s informal transport sector. These videos have ignited fierce debates regarding the training, recruitment, and discipline within the national police. When citizens witness their protectors fighting in the streets, the institutional reputation of the state is further degraded. These incidents of brutality are not isolated aberrations; they are the logical conclusion of an environment where the executive branch promotes a culture of impunity.
Despite President Boakai’s frequent vows to uphold the rule of law and his high-level commitments to international partners regarding the preservation of human rights, the raw data suggests that these promises remain largely rhetorical. The contradiction is stark: while the President hosts media dinners to discuss the importance of press freedom, independent journalists and civil society organizations report increasing harassment and the subtle intimidation of those who dare to document these abuses. The 2024 and 2025 reports from human rights defenders and advocacy groups have consistently pointed to arbitrary detentions, the stifling of political opposition, and the weaponization of state security forces as a primary tool of political management. The economic hardship facing the country, underscored by controversial decisions such as the procurement of luxury vehicles for officials amidst widespread poverty, has only served to sharpen the public’s anger.
When a government prioritizes the comfort of its elite while failing to ensure the physical safety of its people, it is inevitably faced with protest. The state’s failure to handle these protests with democratic maturity reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the social contract. To address these issues, the Boakai administration must move beyond the issuance of defensive press releases. True accountability requires the transparent investigation and prosecution of any officer found to have used excessive force.
It requires the release of all individuals being held on political grounds and the cessation of practices that violate the constitutional rights of Liberians. Until the government replaces its culture of force with a culture of dialogue and institutional oversight, President Boakai’s claims of “no political prisoners” and a commitment to human rights will continue to ring hollow. The international community, which has invested heavily in the peace and democratic development of Liberia, must pay close attention to these warning signs. The erosion of human rights is rarely a sudden collapse; it is a slow, incremental process of silencing voices and emboldening the enforcers of the status quo.
Liberia stands at a critical juncture where the commitment to democratic evolution is being tested by the realities of political resistance and the impulse toward authoritarian control. The path forward demands an administration that is willing to be held accountable by the same laws it enforces upon its people, ensuring that justice is not a variable of political convenience, but a universal protection for all citizens of the Republic of Liberia.
