MONROVIA, Montserrado – Independent Human Rights Investigators, a civil rights organization in Liberia, has condemned the findings of a preliminary report released by the Liberia National Police into the death of the two children in the VOA Community.

IHRI Director Adama Dempster said in a phone interview that the findings made by the LNP in its preliminary investigation lack the basis to convince the public that Ruben Joe and Alvin Moses died from suffocation.

According to Dempster, there were no sufficient facts outlined in the report to prove that the children’s deaths were a result of suffocation due to the lack of oxygen in the sealed-up vehicle.

“The police did not tell us who first found the children, whether it was an individual or a group of people and how the children got into the vehicle,” he told The Bush Chicken.

Meanwhile, he said his group has launched an independent investigation to show the cause of death of the two children. “We have launched a full-scale investigation to establish the root cause of the children’s death,” he said.

Alvin Moses, 7, and Ruben Joe, 4, were discovered dead in a vehicle belonging to a close neighbor, Henry Nnadi, formerly identified as O-Jay, on December 3 after they had gone missing for a day.

The parents have since rejected the report.

Victor Moses, the father of one of the boys, said he welcomes the move by IHRI to launch an independent investigation. The intervention, he said, will help uncover the truth and pave the way for fair justice.

“I thank the Independent Investigators for the role they have begun to play and want to assure them of my support,” Moses said.

He said he does not have confidence in the police investigation and is demanding an independent autopsy be conducted.

Featured photo by Flickr’s jbdodane