Ghana: Information on dissidents or other people executed by firing squad after the elections of 1992, and on the dismissal of public tribunals and whether the public tribunals are still operating
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 October 1994 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GHA18691.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ghana: Information on dissidents or other people executed by firing squad after the elections of 1992, and on the dismissal of public tribunals and whether the public tribunals are still operating, 1 October 1994, GHA18691.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abecc.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The DIRB has reported extensively on the human rights situation, the treatment of opposition critics, the Ghanaian judiciary and the public tribunals since the 1992 presidential elections that ushered in the current civilian government of President Jerry Rawlings. For information on whether political detentions or executions have taken place in Ghana since the 1992 elections, please refer to Responses to Information Requests GHA18279.E of 14 September 1994, GHA18199.E of 12 September 1994, GHA17398.E of 7 June 1994, GHA17376.E of 18 May 1994, GHA17375.E of 18 May 1994 and GHA16055.E of 17 January 1994, and for the public tribunals, GHA17425.E of 19 May 1994, GHA15661.E of 3 November 1993, GHA15125 of 14 September 1993, GHA14831 of 23 July 1993 and GHA14303 of 3 June 1993, GHA14085 of 5 May 1993, GHA13492 of 15 March 1993 and GHA13021 of 8 February 1993. These documents are currently available at your Regional Documentation Centre.
In a telephone interview from his office in Washington, DC, an editor with the Washington-based Ghana Drum, a monthly news magazine on Ghanaian affairs, stated that he was unaware that political executions had taken place in Ghana since the 1992 presidential elections (21 Oct. 1994). According to the editor, the 1992 Ghanaian constitution merged the public tribunals with the Ghanaian legal system (ibid.). As part of this Ghanaian legal system, the tribunals are bound by the prevailing legal rules of procedure and the tradition of due process. However, since trials at the tribunals are loaded against suspects the tribunals deal with "crimes" of a political nature (economic sabotage, anti-revolutionary activities and crimes against the national interest) suspects without political clout could be coerced into admitting guilt by the tribunal members (ibid.). However, the source noted that unlike the period of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government, tribunal decisions can be appealed to the Appeals Court as well as to the Supreme Court of Ghana.
According to a journalist with the New African in London, although the tribunals are part of the Ghanaian legal system, the charges and decisions are pre-determined by leading officials of the Rawlings government (21 Oct. 1994). While the decisions can be appealed, the fairness of the process is doubtful because the government ensures that those appearing before the tribunals are found guilty (ibid.). The government will therefore unofficially try to influence the outcome of the decisions (ibid.). According to the journalist, persons executed by firing squad after the 1992 elections were armed robbers whose cases were decided by the public tribunals. To his knowledge these were not political dissidents or prisoners (ibid.).
A senior scholar at Freedom House, a human rights organization in New York City, stated that there was "one extrajudicial killing" in Ghana in 1993 (24 Oct. 1994). The victim was a prisoner at the Elmina prison in the central region of Ghana, and two police officers were charged with beating the prisoner to death (ibid.). A doctoral student at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University in Toronto stated that there were disappearances of opposition politicians at the regional and district levels (24 Oct. 1994). The source stated that the government used the events of the inter-ethnic conflicts in the northern region to eliminate some opposition politicians in that region. The source was unable to give any specific names or parties of the alleged victims (ibid.).
According to a professor specializing in African philosophy at the Department of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University in Cambridge, the Ghanaian opposition press is very vocal and bold in their appraisal of the current government, so if major human rights issues such as disappearances or executions had taken place, the opposition press would have exposed them (24 Oct. 1994). The leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has even praised the government for its tolerance of the opposition media, and none of these opposition leaders have mentioned political executions or disappearances in Ghana since 1992 (ibid.).
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Professor specializing in African philosophy at the Department of Afro-American Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 24 October 1994. Telephone interview.
Doctoral student, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto. 24 October 1994. Telephone interview.
Editor with the Ghana Drum, Washington, DC. 21 October 1994. Telephone interview.
Senior scholar with Freedom House, New York. 24 October 1994. Telephone interview.
Journalist with the New African, London. 21 October 1994. Telephone interview.