[JURIST] Liberia’s Justice Minister Christiana Tah on Monday resigned [press release] from her position, claiming the country’s president had blocked an investigation. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf [official website] accepted the resignation after meeting with Tah at the Foreign Ministry office. Tah stepped down claiming that Sirleaf intentionally blocked [Reuters report] an investigation into fraud allegations against Liberia’s National Security Administration. Tah stated in regards to her resignation, “[w]hat is the ‘rule of law’ if the president asserts that she does not trust the Ministry of Justice to independently investigate allegations of fraud against the National Security Agency?” Sirleaf’s son is in charge of the National Security Administration in Liberia, but Tah refrained from commenting on the family connection.

In recent years Liberia has been criticized for its poor human rights record. In February 2010 the UN emphasized [JURIST report] that reconciliation in Liberia hinges on the development of its national security and its legal institutions. A UN report issued in April 2008 examined [JURIST report] Liberia’s struggles with corruption in its criminal justice system, poor detention conditions, and sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and forced marriage. In November 2006 the UN Independent Expert on the promotion and protection of human rights in Liberia urged [JURIST report] the Liberian government to press ahead with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission and appoint members to its Independent National Commission on Human Rights.