Ghana must do more on human rights-CHRAJ

Accra, Dec. 10, GNA- The 2008 Report on the State of Human Rights in Ghana on Wednesday said Ghana had a long way to go in advancing human rights, combating lawlessness and fostering civility among the populace, despite her progress in consolidating democracy. It therefore asked government to redouble efforts at entrenching a culture of human rights in order to ensure that every person in the country enjoyed life in dignity and respect.

Ms. Anna Bossman, Acting Commissioner, Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) who presented the report in Accra mentioned communal violence, police brutality, mob justice, child sexual exploitation, victimisation of suspected witches as some negative indicators affecting the country's effort to promote respect for human rights.

She presented the report at the 60th Anniversary celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was on the theme: "Dignity and Justice For All of Us".

Touching on key indicators, Ms. Bossman mentioned the Bawku crisis, the Ashaiman shooting incidence and the incident at the 37 military Hospital where two commercial drivers were forced to handle corpses, as some worrying incidents that occurred during the year. She said the exploitation of children for commercial sex and incidences of child labour were also alarming and needed urgent attention.

On mod action, Ms. Bossman also expressed concern on the spate on mob justice and lynching of suspected criminals and called on the Inspector General of Police to investigate all reports on suspected police brutality and mob action and deal with such perpetrators. The Acting Commissioner also mentioned the dehumanising treatment against persons suspected of witchcraft as also most worrying. "Witchcraft which cannot be proved by any court of law or any scientific methods violates provisions of the fundamental human rights enshrined in the 1992 constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights", Ms. Bossman added.

On the rights to health, Ms. Bossman revealed that 13 out of 26 hospitals monitored by CHRAJ did not have adequate facilities, whilst 76 per cent of them were without ambulances.

She said the doctor and patient ratio had also not improved, recording 1 to 109,069 as compared to 1 to 79,000 last year. Ms. Bossman indicated that Ghana's rank of 67th out of 180 countries on the Transparency International Corruption Index also required serious attention, since that was the same position the country obtained in 2002.

She thanked development partners, civil society groups, media and CHRAJ staff for their support in protecting human rights and called for collective efforts to further improve the situation.

The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, in a speech read on his behalf by Mr Daouda Toure, United Nations Development Programme Country Representative, urged countries to act on the collective responsibility to uphold rights enshrined in the Declaration.

He said in the face of global food and financial crisis and the prevailing assault against humanity, there was the need for all to continue to reflect on ways to promote human dignity. Speaking on the anniversary celebrations, Mr Richard Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ said the day offered Ghana the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to the Declaration and assess her performance in enshrining those provisions.

He explained that the Declaration had 30 articles, which are enshrined in regional treaties and national constitutions, and is the most translated document with 360 language versions. "The Declaration belongs to all of us, we must study it and claim the provisions for ourselves and all our people", Mr Quayson added. 10 Dec. 08