Amnesty International Report 2007 - Ghana

Head of state and government: John Agyekum Kufuor
Death penalty: abolitionist in practice
International Criminal Court: ratified

The government began paying reparations to victims of human rights violations under previous governments. The death penalty continued to be handed down in cases of murder and for treason. Violence and discrimination against women remained prevalent.

Violence against women

Women continued to be victims of domestic violence and female genital mutilation.

The Domestic Violence Bill was the subject of Parliamentary debate, during which a clause that would criminalize marital rape was dropped. The Bill had not become law by the end of the year.

Forced evictions

Forced evictions and internal displacement, particularly of marginalized people, continued to occur.

• Hundreds of residents from the Dudzorme Island (in the Digya National Park) were forcibly evicted in late March and early April. Those evicted were not provided with alternative housing or with compensation. On 8 April, some of those evicted were reportedly forced into an overloaded ferry, which subsequently capsized, leaving around 30 people dead according to official sources, and many others unaccounted for.

Death penalty

Despite statements by government officials that the death penalty should be abolished, no concrete steps were taken towards abolition and death sentences continued to be handed down. No executions were carried out.

The National Reconciliation Commission

In October the government began paying reparations to some 2,000 Ghanaians who had suffered human rights abuses under former governments. The reparation payments were recommended by the National Reconciliation Commission, which was formed in 2002 to address human rights violations committed under various governments since Ghana gained independence in 1957.