MONROVIA – Suspended Chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR), Cllr. T. Dempster Brown, has petitioned the Supreme Court for a Writ of Prohibition seeking to stop the Government of Liberia from enforcing his indefinite suspension and the appointment of Commissioner Mohammed E. Fahnbulleh as Acting Chairperson.
Brown, through his legal team comprising constitutional lawyers Cllr. Pearl Brown Bull and Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe, argues that the Executive Branch acted beyond its legal authority by suspending him without due process and in violation of the Act establishing the INCHR.
The petition, filed before the Supreme Court sitting in Chambers, contends that Brown was suspended before any investigation or hearing was conducted, thereby violating his constitutional right to due process.
The suspended INCHR Chairperson also rejects allegations of forgery, failure to convene board meetings, and the wrongful withholding of commissioners’ salaries. According to the petition, documentary evidence and a previous Supreme Court ruling support his position.
Brown further maintains that under the INCHR Act, the Chairperson serves a fixed six-year tenure and can only be removed through impeachment and conviction by the Legislature for specific offenses, rather than by executive suspension.
The petition requests the Supreme Court to issue a Writ of Prohibition restraining the Government of Liberia from implementing the suspension and recognizing the appointment of an Acting Chairperson until the legal issues are fully determined.
Brown also urged the Court to restore the status quo pending the outcome of the case, arguing that continued executive interference undermines the independence and autonomy of Liberia’s National Human Rights Commission as guaranteed by law.
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