Racial Discrimination In Ghana Under Review

Introducing the reports, Gloria Afua Akuffo, Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice of Ghana, stated that her Government had invested considerable resources in the promotion of human rights and had taken concrete measures to eliminate racial discrimination. Those included the creation of the National Commission for Civil Education, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and other similar bodies, she said.

Ms. Akuffo said that the 1992 Constitution guaranteed a wide range of fundamental human rights and freedoms, adding that the Constitution explicitly protected equality and freedom from discrimination. Ghana was home to over 15 major ethnic groups. It had over 100 indigenous languages and a wide variety of cultural and religious practices, she added.

Committee Expert Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, who acted as country rapporteur to the reports of Ghana, said that the reports had many positive aspects, among which were the affirmation of the extraordinary acceleration of the process of democratic reform. The peaceful and democratic changes of Government in the year 2000 were seen as examples of the benefits of upholding human rights, he added.

Many Committee Experts who took the floor this afternoon said that the reports were frank and honest in describing the efforts made and the difficulties encountered in the implementation of the provisions of the International Convention.

The following Committee Experts took part in the debate: Marc Bossuyt, Mohamed Aly Thiam, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Kurt Herndl, Regis de Gouttes, Alexandre Sicilianos, Mortel Kjaerum, Tang Chenyguan, Patrick Thornberry, Nourredine Amir and Mario Jorge Yutzis.

The Ghanaian delegation was also made up of Frtiz K. Poku, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Emile Short, Commissioner for Human Rights at the Ghanaian Permanent Mission

in Geneva; S.J.K. Parker-Allotey, Minister-Counsellor/Deputy Permanent Representative; and Amma Gaisie, Chief State Attorney and Director of the International Law Division.

As one of the 167 States parties to the International Convention, Ghana is expected to submit periodic reports on its efforts to fight racial discrimination.

Also this afternoon, the Committee started adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the thirteenth to seventeenth periodic reports of Tunisia, welcoming the measures taken in the economic and social spheres which had resulted in economic growth and a significant reduction of poverty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m., it will hear Ghana's response to the questions raised today before concluding its review.

Reports of Ghana

The sixteenth and seventeenth periodic reports of Ghana (CERD/C/431/Add.3) describe the State party as an extremely diverse country, home to numerous ethnic groups, with over 100 indigenous languages and a wide variety of cultural and religious practices. The people of Ghana have always endeavoured to live in peace, harmony and friendship with each other, avoiding severe ethnic conflict. This can be attributed to the openness that Ghanaians of all backgrounds exhibit towards others. Ghana's recent move to democracy has reinforced this, reinvigorating efforts to protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The reports note that while Ghana has been relatively free from major ethnic conflict, the Government recognizes that, unfortunately, such disputes have not been completely eradicated; there have been some instances of conflict and violence directly attributed to racial discrimination. In acknowledging such conflict and the need to enact measures to eliminate it, the Government hopes to aggressively combat the evils of discrimination within its territory. The Government also recognizes the direct link between human rights and democracy, development and good governance. Only by working to guarantee that all citizens of Ghana have basic civil and socio-economic rights, including the right to be free from racial discrimination, can Ghana ever have a strong, free and just society.

Further, the reports note that Ghana's most significant obstacle on the path to becoming a society free from racial discrimination is the lack of education. Despite the great efforts currently under way, Ghana's poor infrastructure, the influence of inimical traditional practices, the dearth of funding and general illiteracy all combine to place severe restraints on the possible success of any efforts to educate the public about human rights and racial discrimination.

Presentation of Ghana's Reports

GLORIA AFUA AKUFFO, Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice of Ghana, stressed that her Government had invested considerable resources in the promotion of human rights and had taken concrete measures to eliminate racial discrimination. Those included the creation of the National Commission for Civil Education, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and other similar bodies. Ghana was home to over 15 major ethnic groups; it had over 100 indigenous languages and a wide variety of cultural and religious practices.

The 1992 Constitution guaranteed a wide range of fundamental human rights and freedoms, Ms. Akuffo continued to say, adding that the Constitution explicitly protected equality and freedom from discrimination. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice played a central role in ensuring that the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution were respected and protected. Last year, the Commission received the special honour of being named as one of the best three statuary national human rights institutions on the African continent by Human Rights Watch.

Ms. Akuffo said that "Trokosi", an ancient cultural practice which predominated in certain parts of the Volta Region and Ada in the Greater Accra region, and which enslaved women and girls, had been criminalized by section 314(a) of the Criminal Code as part of the Government's efforts to prohibit the practice. State institutions such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and some non-governmental organizations had established programmes to resettle and rehabilitate the liberated victims. No persecution had yet been initiated in that regard because efforts were being channelled into educating the practitioners about the law and encouraging them to voluntarily give up the practice.

Ms. Akuffo continued to say that to address discrimination against women and children, the Government had taken various steps including the creation of a Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs. Its creation was the Government's response to the challenge of empowering women and children, protecting their rights, and advocating for changes in traditional and cultural practices and attitudes which denied them equality. The Cabinet had also endorsed a proposal to appoint women to 40 per cent of public office positions.

Ghana recognized that legal measures alone were not sufficient to eliminate racial discrimination, the official said. It had therefore adopted various administrative measures to combat discrimination. In the small number of incidents where racial conflict had occurred, the Government and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice had been quick to employ experts in community mediation and reconciliation as a remedial measure. Most of those incidents had been a result of isolated tribal conflicts and chieftaincy issues relating to succession and land. A more recent incident was the conflict in the country's northern region between two factions in a chieftaincy dispute, which involved members of the same family and the death of a chief. A state of emergency had been declared and a commission of inquiry had been created to establish the perpetrators.

In conclusion, Ms. Akuffo said that she could not but acknowledge that in some instances, racial discrimination still occurred in Ghana. Hover, the country had adopted multiple legislative, administrative and other appropriate measures to combat the problem. Progress was being made; the Criminal Code was being reviewed; public awareness of human rights was on the increase; democracy was being consolidated; the economy was being strengthened; and under the present dispensation, there was a greater sense of freedom. It was expected that all those efforts would be further developed, deepened and strengthened in Ghana's fight against discrimination.

Discussion

RAGHAVAN VASUDEVAN PILLAI, the Committee Expert who acted as country rapporteur to the reports of Ghana, said that the reports had many positive aspects, among which were the affirmation that the country was experiencing an extraordinary acceleration of the process of democratic reform. The peaceful and democratic changes of Government in the year 2000 were seen as examples of the benefits of upholding human rights.

The reports recognized the existence of discrimination and intolerance within the country's jurisdiction, a position which, regrettably, many others declined to recognize and accept, Mr. Pillai said. A great deal of information had been given on the demographic composition of the country, enabling the Committee to draw its own conclusions on many aspects of the life of Ghanaians. The reports recognized the insufficiency of domestic laws to meet the requirements of the International Convention. They also furnished information on the efforts made to deal with the situation. The establishment of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and the National Commission on Civil Education had been very well received.

As regards article 2 of the Convention, Mr. Pillai said that the State party had mentioned that Ghana had implemented legislation aimed at satisfying every section and sub-section of that article. The reports referred to article 17 of the Constitution to say that a review of legislation had found no Ghanaian laws could be considered discriminatory in any way. The question that could arise was, what would happen if there was a violation of article 17 of the Constitution. What law was in existence that would enable the State to punish the guilty? While article 17 prohibited all forms of racial discrimination, there was no corresponding provision in Ghana's criminal code that made such acts liable to criminal prosecution.

Concerning article 4 of the Convention, Mr. Pillai said that the State party had quite candidly reported that Ghana had insufficient laws to meet article 4. The Government was currently conducting a review and revision of the criminal code to ensure that its domestic legislation matched its obligations under the Convention. The Government was requested to include in its next report information on the changes made in the domestic law to conform to article 4 of the Convention.

Paragraph 114 of the reports interpreted an existing provision in the law to enable the State party to ban organizations that incited racial hatred, Mr. Pillai said. Though that provision was intended to ban treasonous activities, it might be clarified as to whether this position had been invoked to ban any organization on the ground that it incited racial hatred.

With regard to article 5 of the Convention, the reports stated that constitutional provisions guaranteed the enjoyment of a wide spectrum of civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. The delegation should provide information on the extent of implementation of those provisions and the extent of enjoyment of different rights by the diverse sanctions of the population.

Mr. Pillai said that the reports had raised the issue of "Trokosi", or ritual servitude by women and children in one ethnic group. The Committee had commended the State party for legally banning that practice and encouraged it to strictly enforce criminal sanctions for violations. NGOs and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice had been active in that area.

Other Committee Experts also raised a number of questions. Among other things, an Expert said that the reports contained a lot of valuable information on the efforts in the fight against racial discrimination. It seemed that Ghana had benefited from technical assistance and advisory services from human rights consultants. The general cause of racial discrimination was attributed to the lack of education among the population, as recognized in the reports. The criminal code should be amended in a manner to respond to the requirements of article 4 of the Convention. He sought further clarification on racial discrimination tied to ethnicity and religion.

Another Expert said that Ghana had done a very sound job in preventing racial discrimination; and the reports were frank and informative. Only very few countries in Africa had decentralized human rights protection institutions like that of Ghana. He wanted to know if non-governmental organizations had participated in the preparation of the reports before they were distributed. He said he was pleased to know that there were legal measures to fight racial discrimination; what were those provisions? Could the provisions of the Convention be directly invoked by individuals before a court? Did foreigners enjoy the same rights as nationals in terms of economic and social rights?

An Expert said he was happy to see Ghana continue to vigorously fight the phenomenon of racial discrimination. The two Ghanaian Commissions were doing a good job as described in the reports. Concerning the application of article 4 of the Convention, the measures taken by the Government to review its legislation with a view to implementing those provisions was most welcome. The Government should also continue to adopt more legislation to fight discrimination against women and should inform the Committee on the progress achieved.

Another Expert congratulated the State party for establishing the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to receive and investigate complaints from citizens. In 2000, the Commission had heard 9,265 complaints, with a total of 1,022 being classified as general human rights complaints and 40 complaints concerning discrimination. The delegation was requested to provide further information on the issue.

The State party should be recognized for its excellent reports, said an Expert. As seen in the reports, there was interesting information on the ethnic composition of the country. The central role of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice had been emphasised in the reports; it had extraordinary powers in dealing with complaints of human rights violations. The Commission had also organized seminars and conferences to debate the role of traditional and religious leaders.

The reports were wealthy in information, echoed another Expert, asking the delegation how the State party managed to implement the complaints mechanism in a country where the illiteracy rate was a little more than 50 per cent. He asked the State party's position concerning the customs and traditional practices going counter to some of the provisions of the Convention. What measures were taken to tackle the problems in that regard?

An Expert said that the reports were honest in highlighting the difficulties in the society, and they could inspire other States parties in presenting their reports. What was the current development of the draft legislation with regard to the implementation of article 4 of the Constitution? What measures were taken against certain sentiments of xenophobia towards people of another African country? What was the position of the State on the practice of "Trokosi" and female genital mutilation tied to certain ethnic groups?

Another Expert said that the delegation had presented excellent reports, including a clear statement on the difficulties in the implementation of some provisions of the Convention. The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice had played a good role in promoting and protecting the rights of people. What obstacles did the Commission encounter when it started considering cases involving State officials? What was the legal basis to deal with cases of racial discrimination.

An Expert asked if Ghana had a problem of descent-based discrimination as in many other African countries. He recalled that the Committee had held a day of discussion on the issue of descent-based discrimination in which States and non-governmental organizations had participated.

Another Expert asked about the status of refugees, their number and their origins. He said that the former Head of State of Ghana, whom he had personally met during his stay in Accra, had contributed to the democratic process of Ghana.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Reports of Tunisia

The Committee started to adopt its concluding observations and recommendations on the thirteenth to seventeenth periodic reports of Tunisia.

Among positive aspects, the Committee welcomed the fact that, pursuant to article 32 of the Constitution, international instruments that had been ratified by the State party, including the Convention, could take precedence over norms of the State party's domestic law, and could be invoked directly before the courts; it commended the efforts made by the State party in the area of human rights education, including its advocacy of the principles of tolerance and respect in accordance with article 7 of the Convention, and welcomed the establishment of a national commission for human rights education; and it welcomed the measures taken in the economic and social spheres, which had resulted in economic growth and a significant reduction in poverty. The Committee noted the progress already achieved towards ensuring equality between women and men in the society, as well as observance of religious freedom, and encouraged the State party to continue along that path.

The Committee took note of the view of the State party as to the homogeneity of its population; however, since the report itself referred to the liberties and rights of those who were not Arabs and Muslims, and in the light of the absence of statistical data on the ethnic composition of Tunisian society, the Committee recommended that the State party provide an estimate of the demographic composition of the population.