January 6, 2025
H.E Joseph Nuymah Boakai
President of the Republic of Liberia
Executive Mansion
P.O. Box 9001
Capitol Hill
Monrovia, Republic of Liberia
IN RE: A Request to Fund the War and Economic Crimes Court
Dear President Boakai,
We write to bring you and the people of Liberia New Year greetings and to humbly seize this opportunity to give you and your government our expert and professional advice with reference to swiftly and timely budgeting and adequately funding the programs and activities of Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Courts. We write and wish to take this opportunity to further clarify whether the Government of Liberia should fairly and transparently implement the long-standing and overdue Final Report and Recommendations of the True and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), rendered and submitted to the Government of Liberia a little over 14 years ago.
Mr. President and the Government of Liberia, please permit us to write to remind you that after sitting and deliberating for more than 3years, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia, (TRC), researched, wrote, concluded, released, and accordingly submitted its Final Report and Recommendations with respect to the rule of law and human rights and per the laws of Liberia and consistent with its mandate and power to the Government of Liberia. The Final Report and Recommendations of the TRC were written according to and consistent with Articles IV, Section 4, letters (a)-(f) and Article VII, Section 26, letters (a)-(h) of the Act that created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Approved June 10, 2005, and published by authority of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Liberia on June 22, 2005.
Thus, the Key elements and mechanisms that made up the Final Report and recommendations of the TRC are herein stated to wit:
1)THAT the National Legislature (Senate and House of Representatives) of Liberia enact into law and accordingly proceed to establish in Liberia a specialized UN-backed war and economic crime courts to investigate, indict, and swiftly prosecute all human rights and international humanitarian laws offenders and violators of the laws of war and human rights in Liberia from
December 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003.
2) THAT all leaders of the warring factions in Liberia be immediately and accordingly indicted, arrested, and prosecuted for allegedly and intentionally committing War crimes, crimes against humanity, and Economic and financial crimes in Liberia and against the peace, stability and
security of Liberia and residents of Liberia with conscious known impunity.
3) THAT all most notorious perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and economic crimes be also swiftly indicted, arrested, and prosecuted for violating international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, the laws of war, and Liberia’s substantive and criminal procedure law as contained in 1LCLR and II LCR.
4) THAT all individuals and persons charged with committing economic and financially in Liberia associated with war crimes in Liberia from Dec 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003, such violators be swiftly indicted, arrested and prosecuted and if found guilty, be sentenced according to Liberia’s domestic laws, the laws of war, and financial and economic crimes in Liberia.
5) THAT all known political leaders and financiers of Liberia’s warring factions and their activities in Liberia be recommended and banned from holding public office in Liberia for 30 years for accordingly aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Liberia.
Mr. President and the Government of Liberia, we need not remind you and the people of Liberia that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, (TRC), reached the above and foregoing determinations and recommendations by firmly and carefully relying on the following principles and sources of Liberia’s domestic laws, the laws of war, international human rights law, and the
Rome Statute of which the Republic of Liberia has acceded to and is a party.
A) The Mandate of the TRC
Article IV, section 4 of the TRC Act of June 10, 2005, unequivocally states and provides that the objective and purpose of the TRC shall be to promote national peace, security, unity, and reconciliation in Liberia by accordingly and fearlessly:
1) Investigating gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law, the laws of war, the Geneva Convention of 1949 and their 1977 Additional Protocols, and other violations and abuses that occurred in the Republic of Liberia, including the crimes of torture, massacres, sexual abuses, murder, extra-judicial killings, and economic and other financially motivated crimes in Liberia and against the people of Liberia that emanate from Dec 24, 1989, to Aug 22, 2003.
2) Providing a forum that will address all issues of impunity, as well as an opportunity for both the victims/survivors and perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations to share their experiences to create a clear picture and structure of the past to facilitate genuine psychosocial healing and reconciliation in Liberia and for the people of Liberia.
3) Investigating the antecedents of the crises that gave rise to and impacted the violent conflict in Liberia that lasted from December 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003.
4) Conducting a critical review of Liberia’s historical past to address falsehoods and misconceptions about our nation’s past socio-economic and socio-political development.
5) Adopting specific mechanisms and procedures to address the experiences of women, children, and vulnerable groups, with particular attention to gender-based violations as well as child soldiers’ issues, and recommend measures that will bring about national reconciliation, recovery, healing, and respect for human rights of ALL in Liberia; And,
6) Compiling a report that will include a comprehensive and conclusive account of the activities of the True and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and its findings. The Act Creating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Liberia (TRC), Article IV, Section 4 (a)-(f), Pages 4 and 5.Mr. President, apart from the mandate of the TRC highlighted and stated above, Section 26 (b) of the Act of the TRC, empowered the TRC where possible, to identify persons, authorities, institutions, and organizations associated with and involved in human rights violation in Liberia. The TRC was also mandated to make recommendations to the Head of State of Liberia to hold prosecution regarding cases that the TRC may deem fit and appropriate for the development and the growth of the rule of law, equal justice, and national healing. Article IV, Section 4, (a)(b) to letter (f) of the Act creating the TRC and published on June 22, A.D. 2005.
Further and consistent with its statutory mandate and power, after collecting evidence, and conducting investigations and hearings for over three (3) years, the TRC determined and recommended that all heads of warring factions, most notorious perpetrators, and all persons charged with committing economic and war crimes and the violation of laws of war in Liberia, be indicted, and swiftly prosecuted by a specialized UN-backed war and economic crime courts to be established in Liberia. The TRC, also recommended that all political leaders and sponsors of the warring factions in Liberia, be sanctioned from holding public office for 30 years.
The foregoing determinations and findings of the TRC have caused great upset and uncertainty amongst some Liberians residing in foreign parts and in Liberia to support or denounce the recommendations and findings of the TRC. Today, there are those, who think that the TRC had no legal power or authority to find or recommend the prosecution and sanctioning of any Liberian from holding public office for 30 years in Liberia for financing and supporting warring factions and the war in Liberia, arguing due process of law. To the contrary, Liberians that support the final report and recommendations of the TRC, have for nearly 14 years, encouraged the Government of Liberia to proceed and swiftly implement the final report of the TRC as mandated by the June 22, 2005, Act that created the TRC; contending that the Report is backed by both Liberia’s domestic laws, international law, the laws of war a and the Rome Statute.
Mr. President, every Liberian knows, and we can all bear witness that from 1989 to 2003, Liberia and its people were engulfed and deeply overwhelmed by a bitter and bloody armed conflict. The outcome of this conflict destroyed the lives of about 250,000 Liberians and residents, and the fabric of the Liberian society. We all also do know and can attest that the war in Liberia was started and prosecuted by the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, (NPFL), and later embraced by the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL); ULIMO & ULIMO-J; ULIMO & ULIMO-K; Liberia Peace Council (LPC); the Lofa Defense Force (LDF); MODEL and LURD warring factions. We also know that the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL), which is the National Army of the Republic of Liberia, constitutionally charged with the responsibility of providing protection for ALL Liberians, became a party to the conflict when it signaled out other groups of Liberians based upon their ethnicity or opposition to the government of the day, for extermination. The Lutheran Church Massacre in July of 1990 is a glaring example of the AFL’s violation of its oath to protect ALL Liberians. For nearly 14 years, the following warring factions, their leaders, and associates are believed and known to have knowingly committed gross violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law, the laws of war, economic crimes, and crimes against humanity in Liberia.
Mr. President and the Government of Liberia, regrettably and painfully between December 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003, Liberia’s accused warlords and their associates are reported to have knowingly and intentionally committed the foregoing crimes in Liberia with impunity:
B) Crime Against Humanity
Mr. President and the Government of Liberia, under international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, the laws of war, and under the Rome Statute, an accused is guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, if he/she systematically directs attacks against a civilian population with the knowledge and appreciation that said attacks will cause the following crimes to be committed in violation of international law, the laws of war, and international human rights law:
I. Murder
ii. Extermination
iii. Enslavement
iv. Deportation or forcible transfer of a population
v. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of
Fundamental rule of international law and international human rights law.
II. Torture
vi. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, etc., and by,
vii. Committing persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial,
National, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender-based violence grounds, as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized and considered impermissible under international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, the laws of war, and the
Enforced disappearance of persons or members of a civilian population, as was systematically the case and allegedly carried out in Liberia by Liberia’s perceived warlords and economic criminals.
III. Gross Violations of Human Rights
1)Murder
An accused is guilty of committing gross human rights violation such as murder if he/she knowingly, intentionally, and purposely causes the death of another human being or causes the death of another human being under circumstances that manifest extreme indifference to the value of human life, and the perpetrator kills one of more people willfully and with directed impunity. Penal Law, Liberian Codes Revised, Vol IV, Title 26, Section 14.1 (a) and (b), and Rome Statute, War Crimes (1) and (2) (a)(i) -(vi), Done 17 July 1998, in force 1 July 2002, International Human Rights Law and the Rome Statute.
2) Extermination
The perpetrator kills one or more people, including by the intentional infliction of conditions of life, such as deprivation of access to food, and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of a civilian population. Such conduct constituted or took place as part of a mass killing of members of a civilian population or a certain group of people. Starting 24 December 1989, to 22 August 2003, Liberia’s accused warlords and economic criminals purposefully and reportedly
committed these crimes with impunity.
3) Torture
The perpetrator intentionally inflicts severe physical and mental pain or suffering upon one or more groups of people. Such person or persons were in the custody or under the control of the perpetrator (s). Such pain and suffering did not arise from and was not inherent in, or incidental to a lawful sanction. In the context of international human rights law and the laws of war, it is understood that no specific purpose or direct cause needs to be established for the following crimes to be raised as war crimes.
4) Taking of Hostages:
The perpetrator seizes, detains, or otherwise holds hostage one or more people. The perpetrator threatened to kill, injure, or continues to detain such person or persons for personal or financial gain and material benefit, as were accordingly and systematically carried out by all of Liberia’s accused warlords and alleged economic and financial criminals from December 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003.
5) Outrages upon Personal Dignity:
The perpetrator humiliates, degrades, or otherwise violates the dignity of one or more people.
The severity of the humiliation, dilapidation, or other violation was of such degree that it could be, considered and recognized under international law and the laws of war as an outrage upon the personal dignity of unarmed Liberians and residents and the civilian people of Liberia.
6) Kidnapping:
An accused is guilty of kidnapping, if he/she unlawfully removes another from his/her place of residence or business, or substantial distance from the vicinity where he/he is found, or if he/she unlawfully confines another for a substantial period in a place of isolation, bearing any of the following thoughts and/or purposes of his/her crimes squarely and reportedly bearing in mind such as:
i. To take hold of his/her victims for ransom or reward
ii. To take hold of and use him/her as a shield or hostage
iii. To take or hold him/her in a condition of involuntary servitude
iv. To facilitate the commission of any felony or flight thereafter; and
v. To inflict bodily injury on or to terrorize, the victim or another.
C) Economic Crime:
A) Economic Crime: – A person is guilty of a first-degree felony, if he/she, engages in any activity by a public or private person of any nationality, or domestic or international corporate entity conducting or facilitating business in or related to Liberia, or on behalf of the Liberian government, a Liberian business, or Liberian resident, or citizen, that generates illicit incomes either individually or collectively or in any organized manner by engaging in fraud, narcotic drug trafficking, money laundering, capital flight, embezzlement, bribery, looting, and any form of corruption and malpractices, etc. against a nation-state and/or its people, as these were done by all accused Liberia’s warlords and alleged economic criminals.
D) Fraud on the Internal Revenue of Liberia:
A person is guilty of a First-degree felony if he/she:
Knowingly conspires or colludes with another to defraud the Government and people of Liberia or
Knowingly makes an opportunity for any person to defraud the Government and people of
Liberia by and through his/her associates.
Does or omits to do any act with intent to enable another to defraud the Government and people of Liberia; and, if he/she:
vi. Makes or signs any fraudulent entry in any book or record of any Ministry or
Agency of the Government or signs any fraudulent certificate, return, or statement. The list could go on when it comes to economic and financial crimes reportedly committed in Liberia by all of Liberia’s accused warlords and economic criminals, from December 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003.
Mr. President, we are all fully aware and we are witnesses to the fact that during the nearly 15 years of armed conflict in Liberia, all the warring factions and their leaders allegedly violated all the provisions and principles of Liberia’s domestic and international laws cited above during the armed conflict in Liberia. The Final Report and Recommendations of the TRC are firmly backed by Liberia’s domestic law and international law, Liberia and its people, can no longer afford to sidestep and discount Liberia’s impartial international role and obligation to fairly and transparently implement the Final Report and Recommendations of the TRC with total impartiality and no seeming conflict of interest.
E) Individual Criminal Responsibility
Consistent with the Rome Statute, any person who plans, instigates, commits, aids, and abets in the planning, preparation, or execution of a crime, is responsible for that crime. Further, any person, or persons, groups, or entities involved in a joint criminal enterprise or conspiracy including those that planned, instigated, ordered, committed, aided, or abetted the planning, preparation or execution of any crime referred to under international human rights law, international humanitarian law, the laws of war, irrespective of the perpetrator’s official position, whether a President or Head of State, government official, or elected representative, irrespective of the accused citizenship or status in the society, such person shall not be absolved from criminal responsibility nor mitigate the punishment for committing war crimes, economic crimes, and crimes against humanity; as was convincingly prosecuted by all of Liberia’s accused warlords and economic criminals starting from December 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003.
All the warring factions and their leaders are clearly and unequivocally responsible individually and collectively for the crimes that they committed in Liberia from 1989 to 2003. We, also collectively know, and are strongly encouraging the Government of Liberia to swiftly implement the final report of the TRC, because all Liberia’s accused warring factions and their leaders, notoriously and openly, committed violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and the laws of war, from December 24, 1989, to August 22, 2003, with impunity. Since all the crimes listed and named in this letter are of international character, Liberia’s obligation to impartially proceed and implement the Final Report of the TRC is long overdue and such prosecutorial engagement, entirely trumps Liberia’s statutory and domestic laws.
Mr. President and the Government of Liberia, whether it be in the time of war or peace time, state and non-state actors’ obligation under international human rights law, international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, and the Rome Statute are never suspended when it comes to promoting, respecting, and upholding the Rule of law and human rights compliance in Liberia. We, strongly the support the impartial implementation of the Final Report and Recommendations of the TRC and we strongly recommend that all warring faction leaders, supporters, and their financiers be swiftly indicted, arrested, tried, and if found guilty be sentenced with impartiality and without any form of conflict of interest attributed to the role and function of the Liberian Government.
As an international obligation, the burden and responsibility to impartially implement the Final Report and Recommendations of the TRC by the Government and people of Liberia not only trumps Liberia’s domestic laws, this obligation and burden are squarely placed on the shoulders of your government, the Government of the Republic of Liberia.
F) Reported Notorious Warlords
- Mr. Charles G. Taylor, former Leader, and ALL key Associates of NPFL
- General Prince Y. Johnson, former Leader of the INPFL, and key Associates of INPFL
- Prof Alhaji G. Kromah, former Leader of ULIMO-K, and key Associates of ULIMO-K
- Dr. George S. Boley, former Leader of LPC, and all key Associates of LPC
- Mr. Sekou D. Konneh, former Leaders of LURD, and key Associates of LURD
- Mr. Thomas Yaya Nimley, former Leader of MODEL, and key Associates of MODEL
- Mr. Rosevelt D. Johnson, former Leader of ULIMO-J and key Associates of ULIMO-J
Mr. President and the Government of Liberia, the following accused Liberia’s warlords, and perceived economic criminals, deserve their impartial day in court by the swift, fair, unbiased and timely implementation of the Final Report and Recommendations of the TRC, by the Government of Liberia. This will do justice to Liberia’s war victims and survivors of Liberia’s bitter and bloody civil war. Liberia’s international integrity and credibility is on the line by Liberia’s prolonged failure to adequately fund, respect and uphold its international obligation. The Final Report and Recommendations of the TRC, remain a defining international obligation and an inescapable burden placed on the shoulders of your Government and the Government of Liberia.
F) Appointment of Cllr. Jallah Barbu
Mr. President, the impartial creation and establishment of the War and Economic Crime Courts in Liberia comes with enormous and far-reaching responsibilities, consequences and international obligations that Liberia cannot and should never discount. Hence, we have carefully outlined and underscored several provisions of the controlling international human rights law, the laws of war, the Rome Statute, and some provisions of Liberia’s domestic statute to emphasize Liberia’s international obligation to make sure that a truly fair and an unbiased War and Economic Crime Courts are established in Liberia and managed by qualified and informed Liberians to ensure that justice and accountability is done to victims and survivors of Liberia’s nearly 15 years of bitter civil conflict. The establishment of the War and Economic Crimes Courts cannot be just another empty political statement without the necessary and REQUIRED FUNDING.
The work ahead to ensure that justice and accountability are obtained and not influenced against victims and survivors of Liberia’s civil conflict, cannot and should never be left into the hands and be administered and controlled by people who are heavily compromised and have zero understanding of issues of human rights and appreciation of international law and Liberia’s profound obligation to our international partners, victims and survivors of Liberia’s civil war. That means that the War and Economic Crime Courts cannot be controlled and conducted without the necessary and required funding to firmly establish and operate Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Court in Liberia. To establish and make operational the War and Economic Crimes Courts in Liberia, your Government, the Government needs to budget and adequately fund the programs and activities and functionalities of the War and Economic Crimes void politics.
Mr. President, Liberia’s international responsibility and burden to impartially implement the Recommendations of the TRC, cannot and will never be demolished by the creation of an undesired War and Economic Crime Courts that are managed and controlled by those that have greatly caused harm and injury to Liberia’s war victims and members of their family. Mr. President, in November 2023, Liberians stood in the rain and the sun to overwhelmingly cast their votes and they voted for you and the Unity Party-led Government to impartially manage and administer the affairs of Liberia and its residents. These are the same Liberians whose mothers, sisters, wives, husbands, and sons were targeted, kidnapped, raped, sexually abused, and reportedly murdered at will by Liberia’s reported warlords and accused Economic Criminals.
Mr. President, Liberia and Liberia’s war victims and survivors and their family members are feeling deeply shortchanged, overwhelmingly discounted, devalued and they are exceedingly becoming disappointed by your and your government failing and neglecting to adequately FUND the programs, activities and actual functioning of the War and Economic Crimes Court of Liberia.
Mr. President, whether you and the UP-led Government know and appreciate it or not, is a shame and total disgrace for the Liberia’s War and Economic Crimes Courts to be EVICTED and publicly EJECTED from its office space owing to your government failure and refusal to PAY the RENT.
Mr. President, Liberia’s obligation to honestly and impartially setup and operate the War and Economic Crimes Courts in Liberia is and remains you and your government’s responsibility.
Kind regards and Happy New Year to you and the people of Liberia!
Respectfully Yours
Frederick A.B. Jayweh, Counsellor-At-Law
International Affairs Director, Center for Law & Human Rights, Inc.
2055 Oneida St, Suite 364
Denver, Colorado, USA
Mobile: 720-731-7994
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It’s just gone midday in Stratford, east London, and a young man – no more than 25 years old and wearing
expensive wireless earphones and designer sunglasses – slips through the London Underground
ticket barriers without paying and waltzes down the underpass towards the Central line platform.
Little does he know, the Daily Mail is in hot pursuit.
‘Why do you feel entitled to cheat your fellow passengers?’ I demand
when I catch up with the fare-dodger. He fires back a volley
of expletives before breaking into a jog, ducking and
weaving among the flow of travellers in a bid to evade me.
I give chase and, at one point, he turns and raises his right hand in a gunshot
gesture. But then, suddenly, he stops.
‘Why should I pay,’ he asks, staring deep into my eyes,
‘when no one else does?’
The latest figures from Transport for London (TfL) show that fare evasion accounted for
a shocking 4.7 per cent of all London Underground journeys in 2024/25, costing the
Tube operator £130million in lost revenue.
A video of Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick challenging fare dodgers went viral last month, with one attempting to intimidate
the former Tory leadership hopeful by claiming to be in possession of a knife.
But fare evasion is just the tip of a far larger iceberg.
Reports of sexual offences across the Tube network rose by 7.6 per cent for the year ending July 2024.
Meanwhile, crime has increased 13 per cent, with 16,288 incidents reported
between January and August last year.
The Bakerloo line is ‘the dirtiest line in London’, according to 30-year-old
Eve, who gets the Tube from Queen’s Park every morning. Pictured:
A Bakerloo line train at Waterloo station
This week, I travelled the length and breadth of the London Underground, talking to everyone from
frequent Tube users to those who abuse the system – and the TfL
employees caught in between.
What I found was not so much a transport service in crisis as a parallel subterranean world where criminality is perpetrated
with utter impunity, ordinary people are regularly made to feel unsafe and – in one
extreme case – a Tube being used as an open toilet by a group of drug addicts with
no fixed abode.
Outside the bustling Westminster station – a tourist hub that’s a convenient stopping-off point for the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace – the Mail spoke to 43-year-old Julia
from Spain, who had brought her teenage daughter to London for
the first time.
‘I knew we’d have to take the Tube to get around,’ she
says. ‘But with my daughter – who is just 14 – I don’t care that it’s delayed, dirty and busy, I just want us to be safe.
And that means not getting on carriages with drunks or drug takers,
strapping our rucksacks around our fronts and
taking taxis after dark.’
It may sound like the safety precautions taken by travellers in more lawless, poverty-stricken countries but, sadly, Julia is only too right to be cautious.
The most recent figures suggest there were 621 sexual offences committed on the Tube in the year to July 2024, but the true number is thought to be far higher.
A British Transport Police survey found that just one in five people who witness a sexual assault on the network report it to the authorities.
This comes as no surprise to 24-year-old Shama, who I meet outside Willesden Junction station in north-west London.
‘Every day I commute to Harlesden and every day I’ll have a man leering at me or, if it’s busy, someone trying to rub against
me,’ she says. ‘This is literally just the reality
of being a woman in London today.’
In some tragic cases, things are taken much further. In February 2020, the city was shaken by the news that 37-year-old Ryan Johnston had raped a
20-year-old woman on the Piccadilly Line in front of other passengers, including a
French tourist and his 11-year-old son.
‘There are so many posters about sexual harassment on the
Tube,’ says Shama as we cross a bridge over the tracks.
‘If only they put half as much effort into actually stopping it!
I’ll feel safe when there are officers on every train and when people don’t believe they can get away with a look here or a touch there.
But I don’t see that happening.’
The Greater London Authority, which oversees TfL, claims to be doing its best to eradicate the problem.
‘The Mayor is committed to tackling sexual harassment and violence against
women and girls,’ says a spokesman. ‘There are thousands of police officers and TfL’s own enforcement staff patrolling the network every day to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour,
alongside operations to proactively target the worst offenders.’
So just how has the London Underground, a
transport system that was once the envy of the world, become a stain on the capital’s reputation thanks to a dismal record of stabbings, rape
and violent assaults?
A group of friends became an internet phenomenon when footage of them cleaning graffiti on a Bakerloo line train went viral.
They were led by Joe Reeve, 28
‘Having fights with people isn’t in my job description,’ argues one TfL customer service
officer by the ticket barriers in Stratford station as three teenagers wriggle through the gates,
one puffing on a fruity vape. ‘I’m here to serve the customers, not to wrestle someone to the ground or chase
them across London.’
Having seen hundreds of fare-dodgers pass through ticket barriers across the capital this week, the most
popular form of evasion is clearly to barge through
the so-called ‘wide aisle gates’ designed to accommodate wheelchairs, buggies and large baggage
– a technique known colloquially as ‘bumping’, and for which there are countless ‘tutorials’ on TikTok.
Other methods include tailgating fare-paying passengers and even vaulting the gates like a gymnast cresting a
pommel horse.
The people tasked with preventing such antics are TfL’s 500
‘enforcement officers’ stretched desperately thin across a network that
boasts 272 stations, and which manages five million journeys every single day.
As the commuter rush began at 5.30pm at London Bridge station earlier this week, the Mail watched on as three plain-clothed enforcement officers – wearing
body cams and backed up by a trio of uniformed police officers – detained and fined a string of offenders.
In one faintly comic scenario, a man followed another passenger through the gates while pretending to place an Oyster card on the
reader – only for the officer to notice his palm was empty.
‘That’s the first time anyone’s ever paid with their hand,’
joked the officer.
Deliberately avoiding a fare is an offence which can result in a criminal record and
a fine of up to £1,000. But one officer employed
to catch fare-dodgers outside Oxford Circus station says that most offenders
simply pretend to have lost their Oyster card during their journey.
That means they are likely to get slapped with a
much lower £100 fine, which is reduced to just £50 if paid
within 21 days. Since a Day Travelcard for Zones 1 to 6 costs £16.60, you can see why many make a
habit of chancing their arm.
One enforcement officer – who asked not to be named – told
the Mail: ‘It’s easy to blame the cost of
living for fare evasion, and for some people it may be the
case. But the reality is so many of the people we stop are already criminals
known to the police.’
And it’s not a victimless crime, says TfL’s director of security,
policing and enforcement, Siwan Hayward: ‘It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and
reliable transport network and we are committed to
reducing the current rate of fare evasion to 1.5 per cent by 2030.’
On the Bakerloo line – which the Mail travelled from Harrow and Wealdstone in the north-west to Elephant and Castle in the south – frequent users have
a very clear idea of how they would spend any additional revenue.
‘This is the dirtiest line in London – just look around you,’ said 30-year-old Eve, who takes the line to work from Queen’s Park each morning.
‘There seems to be more graffiti on the Bakerloo line than on the rest of
the Tube put together. It’s literally become a joke among my friends.’
Indeed, scribbled in black pen on a glass panel beside me are the words ‘F*** you’, while the rest of the
carriage is covered in a mess of purple spray paint.
And we’re not talking random doodles. The graffiti here is predominantly composed
of the signatures – known in the criminal underworld as ‘tags’
– of gang-affiliated vandals.
A spokesman for the Mayor of London admits that the Bakerloo and Central lines are the worst-affected when it comes
to graffiti, but claims that safety and cleanliness are a
‘key priority’.
The team of graffiti cleaners wore hi-vis jackets with
the slogan ‘Doing what Sadiq Khant’, in reference
to London’s mayor Sadiq Khan. They used nothing more than cloths and detergent
‘Teams are removing graffiti 24/7 and are currently removing more than 1,
000 tags per week on the Bakerloo line and more than 2,000 on the Central line,’
they say.
Earlier this week, the Mail spoke with 28-year-old Joe Reeve, who became an overnight internet phenomenon when footage of him and friends cleaning graffiti on a Bakerloo line train went
viral.
Donning hi-vis jackets emblazoned with the slogan ‘Doing what Sadiq Khant’ – a witty wind-up of London’s hapless mayor – Reeve and a group of friends scrubbed
away with nothing more than a few cloths
and some bog-standard detergent.
‘Cleaning the network is only one part of [solving the] problem,
‘ says Reeve. ‘We need to go after the people causing the damage in the first place.’
‘This city is neither safer nor a better place to be than ten years ago, and
the only person I can blame that on is the Mayor of London,’ he adds.
And the authorities seem intent on discouraging, rather than celebrating,
his efforts to improve the situation. In one absurd incident a few
weeks ago, a TfL employee warned him that it was he, rather than the fare-dodging youth he chased through Lambeth North station, who risked
arrest.
‘I stood in the way of the lift door and urged the
boy to pay,’ Reeve explains. ‘Then a TfL supervisor came over and suggested they should call the police on me for blocking the elevator.’
‘Londoners are fed up,’ he concludes. ‘And it’s going to reach
boiling point.’
Aside from graffiti, the Underground is also blighted by rubbish.
One evening this week, as a packed Jubilee line train left Waterloo station, I noticed that one
‘empty’ seat was adorned with no fewer than three disused coffee cups,
a shredded tissue and an empty bottle of fortified Jamaican wine.
The man responsible for cleaning up the trains at Brixton station in south London is fiftysomething Joseph – not his real name –
who works for cleaning contractor ABM UK, litter-picking the carriages as trains terminate
at the end of the Victoria line.
It’s arduous work, with cleaning staff expected to cover four
carriages in just five minutes for a miserly £13.85 an hour.
‘Brixton is the worst station,’ says Joseph – who moved to the
UK from Kenya 12 years ago – as he goes about his duties.
‘Everyone wants to avoid it. In central London people are better behaved, but here we have so many homeless people
and drug addicts. They poo and pee in the Underground, make so much
mess – and I have to clean it up.’
‘I see the pickpocketing, too,’ he continues. ‘From upstairs
in the ticket hall all the way down to the platforms, you see people’s phones being stolen every day.
There’s so much anti-social behaviour and criminality
down here. It’s sad and it’s a tough place to work.’
Joseph informs me that he most often sees phones snatched from passengers’ hands just as the Tube
doors are closing, leaving victims helpless as their train pulls
out of the station.
This is exactly what happened to 30-year-old
Niall McNamee in December. The thieves later used his phone to steal £21,
000 from his bank account, as well as taking out a
£7,000 loan in his name.
The latest data available from British Transport Police shows that phone thefts rose by
58 per cent between 2018 and 2023. According to TfL,
King’s Cross St Pancras is the worst station for crime, followed by Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road, with Stratford
and Finsbury Park rounding out the top five.
The situation in Stratford has become so dire that when the Mail visited this week, police appeared to
have given up making any attempt to prevent phone theft.
A 4ft-wide screen set up by the Met warned passengers: ‘Use a tracking app on your phone to
locate from another device’ – in other words, this is how to find your
phone after it has been nicked.
Fare evasion accounted for a shocking 4.7 per cent of all London Underground journeys
in 2024/25, costing the Tube operator £130million in lost revenue (picture
posed by model)
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Back in Brixton, Pritesh Patel – who has run a refreshment kiosk there for a remarkable 35 years –
is catering for the morning rush hour.
‘This is the worst it has ever been in Brixton,’ he claims.
‘Since Covid, it has become totally lawless here. I arrive
in the morning and there’s always two drug addicts lying across the station entrance.
And the big problem is they steal.
‘As soon as my head is turned, they’ll nick a chocolate
bar and what am I supposed to do? No point calling the police,
and I’m not going to chase them. It’s honestly never been so bad, not even during the London riots.
It used to be that someone might steal something once a month, now it’s every day.’
In April, a passenger travelling home from work on the Victoria line spotted a man who appeared to be openly smoking
crack cocaine.
He uploaded pictures of the individual on to the social media platform Reddit and, in an accompanying
post, wrote that he looked ‘as high as a kite’ as he attempted to ‘light a
small metal pipe’.
During my week riding the Tube network, I repeatedly heard a
familiar refrain ringing out over the loudspeaker: ‘See it.
Say it. Sorted.’
It’s quite clear that Londoners have now seen quite enough – but nothing ever gets sorted.
London UndergroundTFL
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