Rawlings Invited By Reconciliation Commission

The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) has invited immediate past president, Jerry John Rawlings, to respond to allegations that he supervised the extra-judicial killing of his ex- AFRC colleague, Cpl. Sarkodee Addo, and the torture of another person, Mr. Ofosu Tata at the Castle, Osu.

He has been requested by the NRC to also respond by letter to a petition by former Air Force officer, Squadron Leader Tagoe, who has alleged that Rawlings wanted to have him killed.

Two letters to the former President on these issues were despatched to his office from the old Parliament House head office of the NRC last week Tuesday, March 11 and Friday, March 14, 2003 respectively, Concord gathered. Sources say while the first letter to the former President had to do with Tagoe?s allegations against Rawlings in his formal petition, which is yet to be heard by the NRC, the second letter was a result of allegations by the Editor-in-Chief of The Crusading Guide, Mr. Kweku Baako Jnr., during his appearance at the NRC sitting last Tuesday.

Concord gathered that the second letter indicated the intent of the NRC to recall Baako for questioning at the discretion of the former President, adding, that it was suggestive that he might have to appear in person at the ongoing NRC hearings.

But Mr. Victor Smith, Special Aide to the former President, who confirmed on Saturday that Rawlings had received both letters, rejected the notion that any of the invitations required the formal presence of the Founder of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) before the NRC. He said in Squadron Leader Tagoe?s case, they have asked him to respond to allegations that he was after his blood. ?But how can Rawlings be after his blood when he himself admits that he was a mentor to Rawlings in the Air Force,? Smith asked rhetorically.

He said though the second letter was an invitation based on Baako?s ?hearsay? allegations against Rawlings, it was not an invitation to appear before the hearing but one that required him to respond to the charges by the Editor-in-Chief of The Crusading Guide.

?I?m not a lawyer but my understanding of it [letter] is that it?s not an invitation to appear,? Smith said, adding that they have given the letters to lawyers for their study and response.

He however expressed misgivings over what he called the invitation to the former President based on hearsay evidence.

?Does it mean that if tomorrow I go before the Commission and mention somebody?s name and accuse the person without providing evidence of the things I said, he?ll be invited? Don?t they investigate the allegations??

According to Smith, such invitations on unproven allegations within the Ghanaian social context constitute an interpretation of some sort and the NRC must do well to avoid giving teeth to such allegations.

He told this reporter that the former President would always present himself to the NRC when an invitation is extended to him to do so, adding that his boss has always said this.

Speaking on GTV?s Breakfast Show Saturday morning, the Executive Secretary of the NRC, Dr. Ken Attafuah, however, explained that the law on hearsay evidence is that it cannot be used exclusively as a basis for finding of a fact in issue. It is of corroborative value, he said, adding that the hearsay rule has no absolute prohibition against such evidence being introduced to prove the truth of a case and that there are several technical exceptions that allow such evidence being introduced to prove the truth of a case.

In a further follow-up phone interview to find out if the Commission was not erring in admitting hearsay evidence yesterday (Sunday), the Executive Secretary said the Commission would not disregard the rules on hearsay and reiterated that they were not the sole significant basis for findings of facts. He said though generally inadmissible, there are numerous exceptions where hearsay evidence can be admitted. ?Essentially, hearsay evidence will be admissible if it meets the criteria of ?Necessity? and ?Reliability?.

?Necessity? can be met if the out of court statement [hearsay] is required to prove a fact in issue and if there is no other source of relevant direct evidence available to prove the fact.?

On the other hand, the test of ?Reliability? is met if there are sufficient indicia of trustworthiness present to conclude that there is no reason to expect any fabrication in the statement,? he told to this reporter. In his evidence at the NRC Tuesday as a witness in a petition by Christian Goka, elder brother of the late Mawuli Kofi Dra Goka, Baako accused the former President of personally leading a torture session at the seat of government during his days as Chairman of the PNDC regime.

?Rawlings ordered and supervised torture sessions, some of which took place in the Castle. He even ordered and supervised the execution of Sergeant Malik and friends in 1984, and I tell you these horrible incidents were filmed by a Lebanese friend of Rawlings, Riad, Baako alleged.

Baako claimed that there were video recording of some of the tortures, which were made by Riad Hozaifeh for Rawlings. He also alleged that the former President supervised an extra-judicial killing of his former AFRC colleague, Corporal Sarkodee Addo, who helped sprung the former President out of military guardroom after his abortive May 15, 1979 coup to lead the June 4, 1979 insurrection.

Baako, however, admitted that he was not an eyewitness to the killings of Sarkodee Addo and others, saying the killings happened at the Air Force Base in Accra and was reported to him by Major Boakye Gyan?s bodyguard. According to him, there was a video of this event which suggests that a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) ? Baako did not mention any name but it is largely believed to be that of Agriculture Minister Major (rtd) Courage Quarshigah, then Operations Commander of the Army - might have given the order for the extra- judicial killing. He urged the Commission to delve into the matter.

Speaking on the substantive Goka case, Baako said he saw scares of some of the then accused persons, especially Goka and Keyereme Djan, which indicated that they had been severely tortured.

Mawuli was sentenced to death by the National Public Tribunals on May 15, 1986 and executed on June 21, 1986 with six others for treason. The other executed men were Yaw Brefo-Berko, Kyereme Djan, Samuel Boamah Panyin, Ahmed D. Kankani, WOII Samuel C Lartey Aforo, and Private Charles Koomson The case of Tagoe, who claim he used to be an idol for the former President in his petition, is yet to be called for a formal hearing.

Meantime, Mr. Riad Hoziafeh, the man alleged by Mr. Kwaku Baako to have filmed torture sessions at the NRC hearing Tuesday for ex-President Rawlings during the PNDC era is expected to report to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department CID) at 10a.m. today.

This follows his initial arrest and release by the police on a self-recognizance bail Friday.

Riad, a Ghanaian-American of Lebanese origin and long-time friend of Rawlings was arrested two days after his name came at the NRC during the evidence of Ghana?s reigning Journalist of the Year, Kwaku Baako.

The police, however, released a statement after his arrest Friday, distancing their activity from the NRC proceedings.

He was arrested for possessing firearms without authority and posing as a public officer, a statement signed by the Director of CID, Mr. David Asante-Apeatu, said.

For the office of the former President, however, everything the police did had to do with the NRC hearing of last Tuesday.