Government Asked By Civil Societies to Abolish Death Penalty

WITH THE world gearing up to wipe out acts of torture and abolish the death penalty, civil society has re-echoed their stance calling for an end to the inhuman and degrading treatments that have seen many perished in the circumstance.

At a round table discussion to commemorate the United Nation International Day in support of victims of torture in Accra yesterday, civil society groups called on government to repeal the death penalty from the statute books of the country.

According to them, the continuous presence of the death penalty in the statute books makes a complete mockery of our existence as human beings and as a country championing the essence of human dignity.

The death penalty had been on Ghana's statute books since independence and the last time the hangman was used was in 1963 as it had been redundant for some time now.

Its presence on the statute books in the view of the commissioner of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Emile Francis Short, who was the chairman for the occasion, was the lack of political-will on the part of politicians.

The programme, organized by the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on the theme: "Eradicating Torture and Abolishing of the Death Penalty" was to highlight pertinent human rights issues as a means of promoting and advancing human rights in the country.

This year's United Nation International Day in support of victims of torture brought together the police service, prisons service, Amnesty International, Ghana Committee on Human and People's Rights (GCHPR) among other Non-governmental Organisations and human rights activists.

Ghana as a signatory to the United Nation (UN) protocols is obliged under the UN convention against torture, the African Charter on Human and People's rights as well as the 1992 Constitution to execute relevant provisions in these documents as a way of eradicating acts of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of persons.

Ghana is therefore implored to adopt mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), a new tool that helps in the eradication of torture most likely to take place in police cells, prisons and other detention centers.

The mechanism, according to CHRAJ, would help develop efficient monitoring systems through its outfit to prevent torture and to enhance conditions of detention by regular visits to detention centers throughout the country.

In her welcome address, Acting Commissioner of CHRAJ, Ms. Anna Bossman, noted that there could be no justification for dehumanizing any body under any circumstance emphasizing that such torturous act is a " scar on the conscience of humanity."

"If Ghana is to be regarded as the beacon of the rule of law and democracy on the African continent and be seen to be championing African excellence in the field on human right and civil liberties, then it is of utmost importance that we formally abolish the death penalty", Ms. Bossman emphasized.

The Commissioner of Police/Techical, Selwyn B. Mettle also stressed that injuries inflicted on suspects by the public or the police, who effect their arrest is not acceptable noting that the only way the police could contribute to the eradication of torture was by enhanced training of officers in human rights and democratic policing.

He has therefore indicated that the service had made requirements to ensure that suspects in custody are appropriately catered for to avert torture and other forms of inhuman and degrading treatment perpetrated on suspects in cell as the service awaits the OPCAT to be ratified by government.

On his part, the President of the Malian human rights organization/Inter African Union, Brahini Kone was of the view that it would take states to work hard to totally eradicate torture in the society.

According to him, the African Union abolished death penalty 15years ago adding that the death penalty has not been the panacea of curbing criminal activities as they are still on the increase.

Mr. Kone therefore called on major stakeholders to join forces in putting an end to the death penalty.

Affirming its position of the eradication of torture and abolishing death penalty, the Chief Legal Officer of the Ghana prisons service, Mr. Michael Cudjoe Ntumy note that the presence of death penalty in the statute books indicates that it could not easily be wished away emphasizing that its redundancy suggests that it should be removed from the statute books.

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