Police Have No Right To Torture Suspects - CHRAJ

Bolgatanga, - The police have no right to torture suspects to extract information from them, Mr Joseph Whittal, Upper East regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has said. He was speaking on "Fundamental human rights and the enforcement of the Rule of Law in the fourth republic", at a symposium organised to mark the June Four uprising in Bolgatanga. Mr Whittal said it is sad that our police cells and prisons fall

short of internationally accepted standards and called on the police administration and the government to improve living conditions in both cells and prisons. Mr Moses Asagah, MP for Nabdam who spoke on "The fourth republic democratic rule-Overview of the first half and the sustenance of the second half", said parliament needs the respect of the executive and the judiciary to be efficient. He said the legislature should be allowed to debate national issues without undue interference from the government adding that MPs can work better if they are well paid. Mr Jacob Baba, regional organiser of Progressive Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) said there are bound to be more revolutions unless people learn from the mistakes which led to the June Four uprising. He said so long as people continued to swim in affluence while the majority lived in poverty, there would be revolutions and urged those in political positions to live above reproach. Mr Donald Adabre, regional Minister, who chaired the function called on all to rededicate themselves to probity and accountability, which were the ideals of June Four.