The United States Department of State has published its annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2022, which cites Ghana for numerous human rights violations.
The report, released in April 2023, highlighted a range of abuses, including arbitrary or unlawful killings, extrajudicial killings, and torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment carried out by the government or on its behalf.
The report also noted that police impunity was due to corruption, brutality, inadequate training, lack of oversight, and an overloaded judicial system.
It also revealed that police often failed to respond to crime reports and demanded payment for transport and other operational expenses from the public before taking action.
Furthermore, the report detailed the arrest of Oliver Barker-Vormawor, an activist critical of the government, by police on February 11. Barker-Vormawor was initially charged with misdemeanors for making false statements on Facebook, but the charges were later upgraded to felony treason. He spent 35 days in jail before being granted bail by a judge.
The report also mentioned the unlawful arrest of Albert Donkor by the Nkoranza police. The young man was alleged to be involved in a series of robberies but he later died in custody.
“On April 24, police in Nkoranza (Bono East Region) arrested Albert Donkor and brought him to the local police station, alleging he was involved in a series of
armed robberies. Donkor died while in police custody hours later. In a departure from typical practice, police did not announce an operation or arrest had taken place until more than three weeks later.”
“Protests erupted on May 18 in response to news of the death, with youths blocking roads and destroying property, including the police station. Police fired live ammunition into the crowd, killing a protester. As of November police had not concluded an internal investigation into both deaths,” excerpts of the report stated.
The report stated that there are severe limitations on free expression and media, including violence and threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly, and government corruption.
The lack of investigation and accountability for gender-based violence, including domestic or intimate partner violence, and crimes targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex individuals or persons with disabilities was also highlighted.
Additionally, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults, although not fully enforced, were noted.
Although the government was found to have taken some measures to address corruption and human rights abuses by officials, including those in the security forces or elsewhere in the government, impunity remained an ongoing issue.
The findings of the report have sparked concern among human rights groups, who are calling on the government of Ghana to take urgent steps to address the violations and improve the human rights situation in the country.
Below is the full report.
[gview file=”https://www.theghanareport.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/415610_GHANA-2022-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf”]
