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Ghana HUMAN RIGHTS
Ever since Nkrumah's regime, successive Ghanaian governments
have devised policies to contain or to destroy political
opposition. Observers, both domestic and international, point to
the Preventive Detention Act of 1958 as the first major official
act of human rights infringement. Subsequently, international human
rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Africa Watch
have reported many cases of abuse.
The NLC, which ousted Nkrumah in 1966, used authoritarian
tactics against real and imagined adversaries. The Busia
government, which followed the NLC, also employed harsh measures
against its opponents. Beginning in 1972 when Acheampong seized
power, respect for the state and its institutions and laws
withered, a development that in turn caused an increase in human
rights violations. In 1979 Jerry Rawlings sought to redress this
situation by launching an army mutiny, which led to several
executions, including those of three former heads of state.
Following a second coup on December 31, 1981, Rawlings promised
to put power in the hands of the people by revolutionizing the
country's political and economic system. To achieve this goal,
Rawlings suspended the constitution, banned political parties, and
arrested numerous party leaders. On February 18, 1983, the Rawlings
government promulgated PNDC Law 42, the Provisional National
Defence Council (Establishment) Proclamation (Supplementary and
Consequential Provisions) Law, which was retroactive to December
31, 1981. According to Amnesty International, this law gave the
PNDC and its chairman, Rawlings, "wide and apparently arbitrary
power over the citizens of Ghana." Additionally, Amnesty
International voiced concern about the establishment of public
tribunals to try political criminals, the detention without trial
of suspected government opponents, the imprisonment after an unfair
trial of such people, reports of arbitrary killings by armed forces
personnel, and the beating and ill-treatment of political opponents
and criminals by armed forces personnel.
Since the late 1980s, Ghana has continued to experience human
rights problems. These include restrictions on such basic rights as
freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and
freedom of assembly; the right of citizens to change their
government; and due process of law. In June 1989, Ghanaian
authorities established regulations for registering all religious
organizations, froze the assets of four churches, and expelled
expatriate missionaries who were Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons.
Additionally, the PNDC detained the president and the secretary
general of the Ghana Bar Association without charge for more than
a week after the association announced its intention to hold a
conference commemorating the 1982 murder of three judges by
soldiers. After the association canceled its plans, the government
released the president and the secretary general.
Ghanaian authorities also arrested numerous American citizens,
who belonged to a religious group known as the Black Hebrews, and
held them without charge for lengthy periods. In September 1989,
the Ministry of Defence ordered the imprisonment of Major Courage
Quarshigah and four others for "their alleged involvement in
activities which could have compromised the security of the state,"
that is, for having attempted a coup. Eventually, the government
detained another group of five people in connection with the socalled Quarshigah Affair. By the end of 1989, there were about 200
political detainees and prisoners. The government failed to respond
to appeals by Amnesty International to investigate reported
mistreatment of these detainees and prisoners.
Significant restrictions on personal freedoms continued in
1990. Summary arrests and detention without formal charges were
also numerous. Additionally, Lebanese and other resident foreign
businessmen were jailed and held without formal charges and without
benefit of trial. In August 1990, authorities charged the chairman
and other officials of the Movement for Freedom and Justice, a
political party that advocates greater respect for human rights and
democratization, with conspiracy and publication of a false
statement regarding their detention. The movement's officials later
retracted their charge of illegal detention and apologized to the
government.
According to Africa Watch, the Ghanaian government in 1991
continued to hold at least seventy-six political prisoners and
other detainees. In a radio interview on May 31, 1991, Secretary
for Foreign Affairs Obed Asamoah claimed that some of these
detainees were subversives. If they were brought to trial, Asamoah
added, they would be convicted and executed. In late 1991, the PNDC
arrested several opposition leaders for criticizing the Rawlings
regime. Human-rights advocates also reported various examples of
mistreatment of prisoners, such as keeping them in isolation for
long periods and in dark, small cells without clothes or bedding.
During political demonstrations, the police were often accused of
using excessive force against antigovernment elements.
With the introduction of the 1992 constitution, some observers
hoped that Ghana's human rights record would improve because the
new constitution contains a system of checks and balances, it
guarantees basic human rights and freedoms, and it provides for an
autonomous organization called the Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative Justice. This commission, established in September
1993, is empowered to investigate alleged human rights violations,
and it may take action to remedy proven abuses.
When the commission uncovers a human rights violation, it can
seek resolution through negotiation, report the incident to the
attorney general or auditor general, or institute proceedings. As
of late 1994, the commission had received some 2,500 complaints and
petitions from Ghanaians with human rights grievances against
present and past governments, of which about 1,000 had been dealt
with.
Another prominent human rights organization is the Ghana
Committee on Human and People's Rights. Established in early 1991
specifically to watch for and to publicize violations of basic
freedoms, it was credited with contributing to an improved human
rights climate in the early 1990s.
Data as of November 1994
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