United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour on Wednesday ended a five-day visit to Liberia with a call for Liberians to "accept, to some extend, extraordinary measures for confidence building" in the country.

Arbour's call was made against the background of ongoing debates regarding the comprehensive transitional plan for Liberia, which some see as an infringement on the sovereignty of the country.

The UN human rights commissioner's visit came at a time when, under the auspices of the international community, the country is undergoing comprehensive reforms in almost all sectors to include institutional reforms and attitudes of governance following the collapse of state institutions due to 14 years of civil war.

At a news conference prior to her departure, Arbour said although every country should aspire for self-governance which must be supported, she pointed out that Liberia is a "prisoner of abuses of the immediate past" and therefore she could not see the merit of "holding up reforms when there is clear need to do so."

"There is no merit of holding the concept of state sovereignty to bar the proper system of state affairs and adequate justice," she maintained.

Arbour said it was in the interest of ordinary Liberians and not individuals in the judiciary and in state power to create the leadership environment of appropriate level of comfort and confidence for the donor community and for all Liberians.

"Reformed measures in this direction should not be seen as a surrender of sovereignty," she indicated and observed that, "state sovereignty is often used by individuals to defuse discussion from its contents."

Currently, a "robust approach" to economic governance, known as the "Economic Governance Action Plan" has been proposed and drafted for Liberia in which international experts with "signature authority" would be deployed at key revenue generating agencies and institutions to offer international management contracts for selected state-owned enterprises and establish escrow accounts for revenue generated by these enterprises.

International judges are also expected to be brought in, especially from the west African subregion, to support the return of the rule of law in an effort to establish effective judicial processes to control corruption.

Specifically, within the context that human rights issues include political, civil and social as well as economic, Arbour said integrity should be supported with incentives and that the view that power is responsibility should be reinforced.

"Justice and the rule of law should not be a luxury," she said, adding that "there should be fast-track prosecution of cases of sexual violence."

She also called for the "speedy enactment" of reform of rape laws which call for hash penalty for rape convicts and bar rape suspects from bail bond.

In view of the ongoing strike action by civil savants in demand of their 17 months salary arrears, Arbour said although she does not have the mandate to make pronouncements on domestic issues relating to contractual arrangements, generally, people should be compensated for their labor and that states are obligated to adequately address such issues.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2005)