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Tag: Commission on Human Rights and Administartive Justice (CHRAJ)

  • Child marriage is a crime, irrespective of deity involvement! – Deputy CHRAJ boss declares

    Child marriage is a crime, irrespective of deity involvement! – Deputy CHRAJ boss declares

    A Deputy Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mercy Larbi has firmly asserted that any form of child marriage, whether involving a human or a deity, is illegal according to the Children’s Act.

    Her statement follows the uproar over the alleged marriage between 12-year-old Naa Okromo and a 63-year-old priest, sparking widespread condemnation.

    During an interview on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Mrs Larbi stressed that child marriage is unacceptable under the law, dismissing attempts to justify such unions by invoking deities.

    “Whether it’s to a deity or a human being or whatever, it’s a crime,” she affirmed.

    Mrs Larbi highlighted the secretive nature of these marriages, often conducted covertly to evade legal scrutiny, with the child living with the adult until adulthood.

    Despite efforts to raise awareness about the illegality of child marriage, Mrs Larbi emphasized the need for further action, particularly in northern Ghana, where it remains prevalent.

    Deputy Attorney-General Diana Asonaba Dapaah also condemned the alleged marriage, emphasizing that the law prohibits such unions, regardless of the child’s age.

    “It is neither here nor there whether 12, 15 or 16—of course, I’m mindful of Section 122 of Act 560 on the determination of a child’s age. It is key only for purposes of ensuring that Section 14 has not been breached, and clearly, the argument being thrown out there, whether 12, 15 or 16, still does not meet the age criteria,” she said.

    Mrs Dapaah stressed the importance of upholding the legal definition of childhood until the age of 18, as outlined in Section 1 of Act 560, to ensure compliance with Section 14, which prohibits child betrothals.

  • CHRAJ condems Ashaiman military brutality

    CHRAJ condems Ashaiman military brutality

    Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has bemoaned Tuesday’s military drill at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman in the Greater Accra region.

    The residents of the village were allegedly brutalized by a group of Ghanaian soldiers who attacked the area.

    More than 100 people were hauled up by the military in connection with the murder of 22-year-old serviceman Sherrif Imoro, according to the Ghana Armed Forces.

    Although the action by the military was widely considered as a move to avenge the slain soldier the Ghana Armed Forces in a statement released to the press explained that the exercise was an “intelligence-led operation.”

    However reacting to the incident Joseph Whittal, the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice told Joy News’ Blessed Sogah that the exercise does not pass the test for an intelligence-led operation while adding that the military acted wrongly.

    “Because of their personal interest they come (to Ashaiman), takeover the law and do what they want. I completely condemn it. It is degrading and dehumanizing treatment to put such persons who are going to their work arrest them, make them do press ups in mud, sitting down with all their clothing removed apart from some briefs is completely unacceptable and that this is exacted by the army of Ghana? It’s completely unacceptable,” the Commissioner exclaimed on the sidelines of the Ghana-EU dialogue held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in Accra Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

    He added that “any defense of it by any leadership of the military is a misplaced support. We need to call what is wrong wrong and this is completely wrong.”

    When asked about the fears of reprisals from aggrieved residents, Mr. Whittal noted that the military still have weapons that they can always apply.

    “The community of Ashaiman should hold themselves and allow lawful bodies like the Ghana police to Investigate and take the right steps” he stated.

    He also stressed that CHRAJ “when called upon we’ll take the right steps because it is the ombudsman that has constitutional powers to investigate military issues in the event that the military go beyond their normal duty and it affects the right of people.”

    However for a CHRAJ investigation to take place Joseph Whittal said the process can only be triggered if an official complaint is filed on the matter.

  • CHRAJ calls on women to insist on their matrimonial right

    The Tema Regional office of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has advised women to insist on their right to matrimonial property.

    Senior Principal Investigator of CHRAJ at the Tema Regional Office, Mr John Ato Breboh, said women have the right to matrimonial property when their spouse dies, and they should not allow the families of their husbands to deprive them of that right.

    He said this when speaking with the Ebenezer Society of Tema Community one on the topic: “Matrimonial Property Right,” as part of a comprehensive citizen sensitization programme started by CHRAJ Tema Regional Office.

    The citizen engagement was to educate them on specific issues of human rights, child marriage, domestic abuse, violence, and other functions of the Commission and empower the public to seek redress in case of infractions on their rights.

    Mr Breboh explained that for polygamous marriages, surviving spouses were entitled to equal shares of 50 per cent of the estate, the children, 40 per cent, five per cent to the parent(s), and five per cent to customary devolution.

    “A spouse shall have equal access to property jointly acquired during marriage; assets which are jointly acquired during marriage shall be distributed equitably between the spouses upon dissolution of the marriage,” he said.

    However, a wife is not legally entitled to her husband’s self-acquired property and can only enjoy her husband’s self-acquired property till her husband’s death; “a wife cannot claim her husband’s property before or after divorce at most, a wife can only claim money for her maintenance or alimony”.

    The Senior Principal Investigator said CHRAJ wanted to expose residents, especially women to the 1992 Constitution Article 22, “which states that a spouse shall not be deprived of a reasonable provision out of the estate of a spouse whether or not the spouse died having made will or not”.

    He stressed that upon divorce, a spouse shall have equal rights to the share of the property that they had acquired.

    Mr Breboh advised couples, especially women, to ensure that their marriages were registered and attended by the relatives of both the man and the woman.

  • Parliamentarians urged to desist from bailing perpetrators of defilement cases

    Queen-mothers of Ayawaso North Constituency have called on parliamentarians, assemblymen and community leaders to desist from acting as middlemen and bailing accused persons of defilement and rape cases for fear of losing votes.

    Hajia Rukaya Suleiman, the Kotokoli Queen-mother, said the act was putting their efforts in vain and the perpetrators made to escape the law at the mercy of the victims.

    The Queen-mother made the call during an educational campaign organised by Inerela Ghana, a nongovernmental organisation for the people of Maamobi a suburb of Accra.

    She said this was a criminal offence punishable by law but the constant bailing of the accused by powers-that-be did not serve as a deterrent to others, thereby, causing the number of rape and defilement cases to increase in the Constituency.

    Hajia Rukaya called for the collaboration between queen mothers, the Police, and non-governmental organizations to educate the youth in the area to help reduce such cases.

    Participants were educated on Sexual- based Violence Against Women & Girls (VAW/G), laws pertaining to domestic violence, child marriage and the need for counseling.

    Mrs Pauline L. Essel, Deputy Chief Investigator, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and License Counselor, educated the people on the various forms of abuse and the need to look out for the signs when the need be.

    She urged women not to allow themselves to be abused in any manner as it was not good for their health.

    Lawyer Cephas Essiful Ansah, CHRAJ Legal Officer and Board Member of Inerela Ghana taking participants through portions of the 1992 constitution, the Criminal Offences Act 1960, and the Children’s Act Domestic charged them to feel empowered by these laws and report any form of abuse meted out to them.

    Participants were also educated on the mandate of the Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU)to enable them to take advantage of it.

    Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ms Mavis Adjei, Nima Divisional Head of DOVVSU in a presentation said women and girls were the most affected by acts of domestic violence due to ill-treatment in marriages.

    She said domestic violence refers to physical, sexual and psychological acts which occur in families including; battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, marriage-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices that were harmful to women.

    ASP Adjei urged women to report any form of abuse to the DOVVSU to make the accused persons face the full rigour of the law.

    Mrs Mercy Acquah-Hayford, the Country Coordinator of Inerela Ghana, explained that the engagement followed a previous meeting with the community leadership to find a lasting solution to the high rate of domestic violence in the community.

    It was also to encourage and empower the women to report abuse cases to the Police.

    She said victims of abuse were discouraged and frightened from reporting cases of domestic and sexual violence to the Police due to reverence given to their men, somehow due to suppression.

    Inerela Ghana is a non-governmental organization that works with a network of religious leaders living with HIV that empowers themselves and others to live positively and openly as agents of hope and change in and beyond their faith communities.

    Source: GNA