Ghanaian AIDS activist detained

Planning a peaceful protest due to be arranged today, an activist from the Ghanaian AIDS Treatment Access Group (GATAG) yesterday was detained. The police have refused to grant GATAG a march permit, and insist that if GATAG doesn't cancel their march the activists will face the risk of brutality and arrest.

GATAG has been planning since September a peaceful protest in Accra, Ghana on 17 October. The protest is part of an international campaign to force Coca-Cola Inc to provide free HIV treatment for all Coke workers in Africa - including all bottlers and distributors - and for Coke workers' families.

Yesterday morning, a GATAG activist involved in planning the protest was detained for his planning activities by the police. After several hours in detention and many phone calls from non-governmental organisations and individuals trying to intervene, the activist was released.

The police have refused to grant GATAG a march permit, and insist that if GATAG doesn't cancel their march "the activists will face the risk of brutality and arrest," the group says. The police claim this will be their response because the march has no permit.

The GATAG activist's detention happened after Coca-Cola officials communicated with the police about the GATAG protest in Ghana; Coke, however, denies any association with the activist's detention.

GATAG has requested that people support their efforts to move forward with their action - as planned - despite police intimidation. "Events highlighting Coke's inadequate response to the AIDS epidemic will be happening simultaneously around the world on 17 October," international groups say.

The Ghanaian AIDS activists have achieved world-wide support in their conflict with the Accra police. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) today urged the public to write to Ghana's Superintendent of Police, Mr Kwadwo Oware, and request he "immediately grant GATAG a permit for their protest tomorrow, and publicly foreswear the use of violence, intimidation, force and arrest against a protesters participating in a peaceful rally."

The public was also asked to contact Coca-Cola and "demand that the corporation publicly condemn police repression targeting AIDS activists in Ghana, and call on Coke to request publicly that the Ghanaian police issue a protest permit to GATAG and assure the protest will be peaceful and free from arrests, as GATAG has planned."

AIDS is a growing problem in Ghana, which so far has been spared from epidemic HIV infection numbers. Over the last years, however, numbers are rapidly growing and now, almost 4 percent of the country's population is HIV-infected. Concerns are raised that, if the Ghanaian government doesn't take immediate action, numbers could soon soar to those of the neighbour countries C?te d'Ivoire (11 percent) and Togo (6.5 percent).