An NGO works with students at the Zondo School in Disctrict #4

Minneapolis, M.N. - Family of Hope, Inc., a U.S. non-profit organization, provides funding for the school in Zondo, Grand Bassa County, Liberia. We are appalled to learn of the recently reported murder of Belgian Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC) Plantation Manager Bruneo Michaels. We condemn all violence, and urge the Liberian government and courts to follow the rule of law in investigating this brutal act.

 

Because we condemn all violence, we are also horrified by reports that LAC personnel and Liberian national police have shot and refused medical treatment to a resident of Garpue Town and have abused residents of other communities in District #4, including on the campus of the Zondo school.

 

Supporting Documents: LAC FILES

The Zondo school stands as a symbol of the remarkable commitment of the Zondo community to the improvement of the village and the education of the children there. The school has been praised by the Liberian Ministry of Education as a model for NGO involvement in Liberian education. The violence that reportedly occurred there this morning is therefore a horrible desecration of a beacon of peace and hope. Our hearts break for the children who may have witnessed atrocities in what should be, for them, a safe haven.

 

We are also deeply disturbed by the disappearance of Zondo School Principal Arthur Crusoe. He has allegedly been severely beaten and detained; his whereabouts are currently unknown and we fear for his life. We call on Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Justice Minister Philip A. Z. Banks to ensure Mr. Crusoe’s safety and the safety of the other people from District #4 who are reportedly still missing.

 

We have contacted the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia as well as the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Liberia and the West Africa desk of the U.S. Department of State. We sincerely hope that these events may be resolved without further violence and within the framework of Liberian and international law.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Barrett Fisher, Family of Hope Inc. U.S.A. Chairperson 

Jacob Karngar, Executive Director, Family of Hope, Inc., U.S.A. 

 

Family of Hope, Inc.

5109 Sunnyside Road

Mounds View, MN 55112