By Festus Y. McKeen
Paynesville–A year ago, Morris, a young gay man from Duport Road whose name has been changed to protect his identity, agreed to meet a stranger he thought was a new friend.
Instead, it was a trap.
He was severely beaten and threatened after being accused of being gay. He narrowly escaped, but the palpable fear of exposure, stigma and lack of protection, he says, kept him from reporting the attack.
Across Liberia, many of these incidents go unreported. The victims often choose silence over seeking justice, worried that they may face discrimination or further danger if their identities become public. Some relocate while others withdraw from social spaces, and many simply endure the pain quietly to survive.
These hidden realities surfaced indirectly last November when the country appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council for its fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva.
The Universal Periodic Review is a peer mechanism through which countries evaluate one another’s human rights records and commitments.
During the review, Liberia accepted several recommendations aimed at strengthening its human rights protections, including commitments to address sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation.
The government also reaffirmed efforts to address past human rights abuses through transitional justice mechanisms, including steps toward accountability for crimes committed during the country’s 14-year civil war.
However, Liberia only “noted” recommendations calling for repeal of laws that can be used to target LGBTQI+ persons. In UPR practice, “noted” means the government acknowledged the recommendation without committing to legal or policy reform.
For members of Liberia’s underground LGBTQI+ community, the outcome reflects a dual reality — incremental progress in broader human rights discussions but continuing uncertainty about safety and legal protection.
Liberian law criminalizes same-sex sexual acts. Articles 14.74, 14.79, and 50.7 of the Penal Code of 1976 define “voluntary sodomy” as a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison.
In 2024, Representative Johnson N. Williams introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Act, proposing harsher penalties for LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies.
The Liberia’s Initiative for the Promotion of Rights, Identity, Diversity and Equality (LIPRIDE), which represented civil society and human rights organizations at the review, could not be reached for comments.
Monitoring Protection After the UPR
According to the Executive Director of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR), Atty. Uriah Teh Pour, the UPR process itself is only the genesis.
“The process is important,” he explained, “but implementation at home is what matters most.”
Human rights monitors across Liberia continue receiving reports of harassment, threats, and violence affecting marginalized communities. The 2024 Independent National Commission on Human Rights Report recorded an uptick in harassment and discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.
Some incidents involve online entrapment schemes in which individuals are lured to meetings only to be assaulted, extorted, or killed. One of those schemes reportedly led to the death of Albert Kerkula in August 2025.
His death has been linked to two law enforcement officers, Bill Jabbah and Stephen Suah, of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency and the Liberia National Fire Service respectively.
In 2020, Cheeseman Cole, an ex-soldier of the Armed Forces of Liberia, was reportedly linked to the brutalization of 27 persons suspected of being gay.
In all of these instances, there appears to be a great reluctance on the government to move forward with prosecution.
But Atty. Pour noted that many victims abandon their cases before they reach the court due to stigma or fear of exposure. In other instances, investigations stall or community pressure discourages pursuit of justice.
To address this, he said the Commission plans to expand public awareness about the UPR recommendations and citizens’ rights, thus enabling communities to demand accountability and better protection. The Commission also intends to strengthen monitoring and reporting mechanisms to track the government progress.
“It’s part of our program to first create awareness on the UPR recommendations, set up to do a midterm review of the recommendations to see if the government has challenges, and we will work with the government to see how we can fulfill them. We will work with the government, we will monitor, but firstly what we are going to do is to create awareness. The public needs to know what is in the recommendations.”
He stressed that rights must apply equally to all citizens and that violence should never be justified based on identity or perception.
But contradictions exist between various laws. While provisions such as the Decent Work Act prohibit discrimination in employment, others such as the Penal Code continue to generate controversy and are interpreted in ways that disadvantage sexual minorities.
These inconsistencies create confusion and discourage victims from seeking help.
Challenges Within the Justice System
At the Ministry of Justice, officials acknowledge that gaps remain within Liberia’s legal and institutional framework.
In an interview, Kutaka Divine Togba, Director of Human Rights Services at the Ministry, explained that some of the recommendations from the UPR have been accepted and are being implemented.
He mentioned the establishment of the office of the War and Economic Crimes Court as one of those. Furthermore, he said, the Ministry of Justice is currently working on the third National Human Rights Action Plan for Liberia. It is a five-year plan that will incorporate most of the recommendations that were accepted during the UPR.
“Currently, Liberia is at the state of different views on LGBTQI+ rights, especially with repealing the laws,” he said.
“There has been a lot of controversy around this issue looking at the religious and cultural context of Liberia. Previous heads of delegation have always thought of the need for caution in terms of how we discuss the protection of LGBTQI+ persons. The issue of protection remains cardinal because it is a constitutional mandate that the government of Liberia has to protect the rights of all citizens.”
According to him, the government of Liberia has not outrightly rejected the recommendation to repeal the laws that discriminate against LGBTQI+ persons. However, he intoned that it is not fully in the position to implement such recommendations.
His comments, however, appear to be in stark contrast to a 2019 interview with New Narratives/FrontPage Africa in which he called for the repealing of the penal code as it violates the country’s signature to international treaties and conventions.
At the moment, he emphasized that the country remains strongly divided by public opinions on LGBTQI+ rights, including the repeal of the penal code due to religious beliefs and tradition.
For the young gay man in Duport Road, policy debates remain distant from his daily survival. Since the attack, he avoids unfamiliar contacts and limits his movements. Fear shapes his decisions more than justice.
This story was funded by the European Union under the Liberia Media Empowerment Project (LMEP). Its contents are the sole responsibility of journalRAGE and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.