A non-governmental organization (NGO), Amnesty International Ghana, has urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to support the abolishment of the death penalty in Ghana through the Criminal and Other Offences Amendment Bill and the Armed Forces Amendment Bill.
The organization emphasizes that the death penalty violates human rights, including the right to life and protection from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The call was made in a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday.
“These rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights among others,” it added.
Since its establishment in 1985, Amnesty International Ghana has been actively campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in the country.
The NGO’s long-standing commitment to human rights and its efforts to end capital punishment are reflected in its call to MPs to back this significant legislative change.
“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution,” it added.
Amnesty International Ghana, has advised the military to allow the Ghana Police Service conduct investigations into the murder of one of its members.
The young soldier, Imoro Sherrif, was stabbed in the neck on Saturday, March 4 when he went to the area to visit his parents.
His death provoked aMilitary High Command-backed sanction of a coordinated operation in the area on Tuesday, March 7, leading to the arrest of 184 persons.
Many complained of abuses by the soldiers on Tuesday and have called for punitive sanctions against the soldiers.
“We would like to respectfully remind the President of Ghana who is the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Minister of Interior, the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces and other authorities involved in law enforcement in Ghana, that under their international human rights obligations, they must promptly, independently, thoroughly, and effectively investigate this unfortunate incident,” Amnesty International Ghana said in a press release on Thursday, March 9.
“Amnesty International Ghana is calling for an independent investigation, as matter of urgency, to ensure that the military personnel involved in carrying out human rights abuses against the people of Ashaiman are held accountable and that adequate compensation be given to these victims,” it added.
The international organisation backed the Member of Parliament of Ashaiman Constituency Ernest Norgbey’s call for restraint and calm among residents as justice is sought for all victims.
Already, pressure group #FixTheCountry Movement is deploying volunteers to the area to offer legal services to all who fell victim to the brutalities on Tuesday.
Amnesty International Ghana has condemned the military’s actions inAshaiman in Accra on Tuesday.
The group is calling for an independent investigation, as matter of urgency, to ensure that the military personnel involved in carrying out human rights abuses against the people of Ashaiman are held accountable and that adequate compensation be given to these victims.
The human rights advocacy group claims that during his state of the nation address, the President had a chance to address the issue but failed to do so.
“We would like to respectfully remind the President of Ghana who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Minister of Interior, the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces and other authorities involved in law enforcement in Ghana, that under their international human rights obligations, they must promptly, independently, thoroughly, and effectively investigate this unfortunate incident,” it further added.
This comes on the back of the invasion of Ashaiman by some soldiers after the killing of a young military officer.
The soldiers brutalized several residents in the hope of finding the killers of their colleague.
Below is the full statement
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL GHANA CONDEMNS MILITARY BRUTALITY IN ASHAIMAN
Amnesty International Ghana has taken notice of a video recording making rounds on social media and other news outlets of alleged military brutality in Ashaiman following the alleged stabbing and killing of a young soldier Imoro Sherrif, on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
According to media reports, a mandate was issued by the Military High Command to deploy military personnel into Ashaiman to search for the culprits of the crime, this unfortunately led to innocent civilians facing brutality from the military personnel. A series of human rights abuses involving but not limited to flogging, restricting free movement of residents and breaking into people’s homes were meted out on persons of Ashaiman Constituency. To this effect, innocent people have been hurt both physically and psychologically due to this inhumane incident.
This in no way reflects the mandate of the military which clearly states that “The Armed Forces shall be equipped and maintained to perform their role of defence of Ghana as well as such other functions for the development of Ghana as the President may determine”- 1992 Constitution of Ghana in Article 210 clause (3).
The Ghana Armed Forces regulations, Armed Forces Act, 1962 Act 105 places obligations on military officers as defenders of the nations. It obliges them not to interfere with rights of others more than to the extent unavoidable to pursue the legitimate aim they are following.
Amnesty International Ghana is against all forms of violence and human rights abuses and condemns the violence meted out by the Military on civilians. The Military is to take a step back and allow the Ghana Police Service to conduct thorough investigations into the unfortunate killing of the soldier.
We would like to respectfully remind the President of Ghana who is the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Minister of Interior, the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces and other authorities involved in law enforcement in Ghana, that under their international human rights obligations, they must promptly, independently, thoroughly, and effectively investigate this unfortunate incident.
Amnesty International Ghana is calling for an independent investigation, as matter of urgency, to ensure that the military personnel involved in carrying out human rights abuses against the people of Ashaiman are held accountable and that adequate compensation be given to these victims.
We want to reiterate what the MP of Ashaiman said to the people of Ashaiman that all parties should exercise restraint and remain calm, while we seek justice.
Amnesty International is a non-political, not-for-profit human rights organization working for the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights standards. It is a global movement of over 10 million people in more than 160 countries.
Kuwait has carried out its first executions in five years, hanging seven people including two women despite pleas for clemency from international rights campaigners.
Amnesty International, the world-renowned human rights advocacy group, has questioned the basis of the death sentence a Sekondi High Court has pronounced on the two convicted persons in the murder case of the four kidnapped Takoradi girls.
Samuel Abotsey, Campaign Coordinator of Amnesty International Ghana, could not comprehend why Ghana should still have death penalty in its law books.
“In Ghana, the law still permits the judges to make that pronouncement and so we cannot force the judges or the country, but we believe that the continuous use of the death penalty is not the way to go because evidence has shown that…..there could be mistakes in evidence gathering, there could be mistakes in the investigation; the wrong people could be charged,†Agbotsey told Citi news in a report monitored by GhanaWeb on Saturday.
He went on: “There have been people that have been sentenced to death, some actually killed, but fresh evidence showed that they were not guilty of that crime. So, our belief is that it is better for us to keep the people on life sentence or a fixed-term sentence so that if there is fresh evidence emerging tomorrow, these people can be exonerated.â€
Samuel Udeotuk Wills and John Orji, were found guilty by a Sekondi High Court on charges of conspiracy to murder and murder.
The two convicts have the right of appeal within a 30-day window.
Ethiopia’s government has described accusations from rights group Amnesty International that its soldiers illegally killed people in Oromia regional state in 2019 as “malicious claims”.
On Friday, Amnesty International released a report detailing a number of alleged human rights abuses in Oromia committed as part of a security operation to deal with an armed group, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA).
These included the extrajudicial killing of 39 people and mass round-ups.
One of the 39 killed was a man who was shot in front of a crowd after his phone rang in a public meeting, the rights watchdog said citing witness reports.
But in a statement over the weekend, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the accusations were “lies… purposefully disseminated by forces that seek to actively undermine initiatives of dialogue, peace and stability on the area”.
It described Amnesty International’s report as a “one-sided snapshot security analysis” that did not take into account the peace-making efforts in the region.
In its reaction, the regional authority in Oromia said that the report had failed to mention the violence that armed groups had committed.
Amnesty International had also said that in Amhara regional state soldiers stood by as 130 people were killed in ethnic clashes.
The regional government there said the report was biased and risked igniting further conflict.
