In the wake of Ghana’s partial lockdown in Greater Accra, Greater Kumasi, Tema, and Kasoa, Law Enforcement Agencies have allegedly abused many people who have been captured on videos that have gone viral on social media. The Human Rights Reporters Ghana has condemned the acts of brutalities meted out to the victims and has called on the government to as a matter of urgency, bring officers on the ground to order. The human rights NGO believes the punishments meted out to citizens is uncalled for. It made this know in a press release signed by its Executive Director Joseph Kobla Wemakor.
Read the full press release dated 31st March 2020.
For immediate release
To all Media Houses
Human Rights Abuses and COVID-19 in Ghana’s Lockdown Strategy
Ghana’s COVID-19 Lockdown and the prevalent Human Rights Violations by Security officer.
The Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG) is alarmed by the countless abuses meted out, being mated out and will be meted out by the police and military officers deployed to maintain law and order and enforce the lockdown directives to help contain the COVID-19 in Ghana.
Men and women have been severally abused by officers who are beating, slapping, spanking and applying unreasonable force.
The continuous abuse of Ghanaians across Accra, Kumasi, Kasoa, and Tema by these men in uniform goes to defeat the purpose for which they are in town.
The military, in particular, seems to have gone overboard on the ground and must be rebriefed on their dos and donts. The president in his briefing of the nation did not instruct officers to abuse his citizens in any way.
We at the Human Rights Reporters Ghana as human rights activists condemn the approach and methodology being used to ensure citizens observe the laws.
Officers abusing citizens must halt that approach and use diplomacy, education, and counseling. If caning and the use of corporal punishment have been abolished in our education system, our security forces must also respect the law, the rights of offenders and desist from the unwarranted torture of Ghanaians.
The videos circulating on social media are testaments to the unnecessary use of excessive force.
Some of those who have been abused, have been hurt on several parts of their bodies. Some have suffered cuts. As we all work to protect public health, officers in uniform must not abandon principles and commitments to respecting the rights of offenders, equality, and non-discrimination.
As the COVID-19 pandemic is being dealt with, the honour lies in the security services and their men on the ground not to compel other Ghanaians to seek medical attention due to their abusive approach.
The offices captured in videos should also be identified, dealt with and cautioned to desist from the abuse of the rights of purported offenders and hand them to the appropriate offices without any form of torture which the entire country was promised at the last briefing before the lockdown came into force.
Reports of police extortions in breach of the Lockdown protocols or restrictions, abuse of citizens, widespread brutalities have been reported by the media and persons who have suffered such negative acts. Humanitarian actions have turned draconian.
We urge Ghanaians to be law-abiding and act within the confines of the order ensuring our restrictive movement and officers must stop the brutalities.
Ghana’s collective approach to containing the virus to protect public health must not be abused by the police and military officers on the ground. They must also jealously respect human dignity and rights in the conduct of their duties.
People’s right to movement has been minimized but that is no justification what so ever for such persons to be abused. The Ministry of Information and other allied agencies and services working to ensure the partial lockdown is obeyed must brief officers on the limits for the powers vested in them and compel them not to act ultra vires.
The right to life and health are universally recognized and are fundamental parts of our understanding of a life with dignity.
Homeless people on our streets, head porters (Kayayes) and the needy in general should be considered in our efforts to deal with the COVID-19 to ensure the safety of all. Not considering the needs of such persons during this lockdown amount to an abuse of their basic rights as citizens.
Any form of additional abuse to persons living under bridges, slums, on the streets with no place to call a home aggravates their suffering.
We urge the government to consider among other things converting some of our secondary and basic schools into temporal abodes for the less privileged in the major cities who do not have anywhere to live during this trying moment.
In other parts of the world, car parks have been converted into temporal abodes for these very important ordinary people in society.
We also call on the Ministry of Information to provide numbers through which abused persons can report such issues.
Stop the abuse, show love to the citizens you want to protect from COVID-19 while attempting to safeguard public health and safety.
Ghana is not at war with the military nor police officers and we must condemn all forms of abuse and lawlessness of the military, police and the civilians.
Stay safe, act right, rule right, apply the law the right way, know your limits as we fight the common enemy COVID-19. Stop the abuse of the citizens now! Human Rights Abuses and COVID-19 cannot co-exist in this fight.
Contacts:
Joseph Kobla Wemakor
Executive Director
0243676813
Wisdom Eli Kojo Hammond
Project Director
0550360658