Government urged to improve on Human Rights

Accra, May 7, GNA - Human rights non-governmental organisations in Ghana on Wednesday expressed concern about human rights abuses in the country saying that even though the country was not doing badly, more needed to be done.

They contended that though there were no statistics to support their claims, more could be done in areas such as the judiciary, police service, right to information and basic necessities to boost the country's image on the international scene. The programme, organised by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI - Africa) in collaboration with civil society organisations, was to review the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on human rights submitted to the United Nations. The review mechanism set up by the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations aims at improving the human rights situation in all UN member states.

Nana Oye Lithur, Regional Coordinator of CHRI Africa, said the programme was organised to address issues raised in Ghana's reports which were submitted to the HRC on May 5, 2008.

In a critique of the report, she said it failed to include among other things the African Peer Review Mechanism report on Ghana between 2004 and 2007 which provided a wealth of information and issues relating to women, especially pregnant women in prisons, and called for alternative solutions such as community work, suspended sentences, probation and fines.

Nana Oye said CHRI had identified six national priorities with regard to human rights and had also submitted a supplementary report with a focus on the Ghana Police Service and forced evictions. The priority areas identified were the adaptation of a National Evictions Policy, the need to rehabilitate police cells, strengthen judiciary structures, expansion of legal aid to the rural sector, the need for an effective implementation of human rights standards by the police service and an increase in civic education on human rights standards.

Mr Michael A. Brigandi of Amnesty International reported on the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) and urged the Government to take action to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations by the NRC.

Ms Agnes Kabajuni, representative of the Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions, noted that poor people in the urban areas were vulnerable to housing violations and that lack of affordable options to own property forced many Ghanaians into the rental market and informal settlements.

She said government had made affordable and accessible housing a priority but this had been ineffective due to flawed policies, implementation and monitoring mechanisms. She called on government to limit factors which perpetuated gender inequalities and barriers to women in the Ghanaian rental market. The Programme Manager for Women in Law and Development (WiLDAF), Mr Frank Wilson Bodza, noted that the government admitted in the report that it had not done enough to increase women's participation in decision-making and recommended implementation of the affirmative action law. He also urged political parties to agree to implement a quota system as a means of having more women in politics. Mac-Darling Cobbinah, Executive Director of International Gay and Lesbians Association, said it was unfortunate that they had been marginalised and called on school authorities to counsel students who engage in homosexuality and lesbianism instead of dismissing them from school. He condemned the criminalisation of their activity in the report and said that they would be printing materials to educate the public in accepting gays and lesbians as they were.