AI calls for abolition of death penalty
Story: Jasmine Arku
Amnesty International (AI), a human rights advocacy group, has called on the government to abolish the death penalty in the country.
The group said as of the end of 2010, 123 prisoners, including three women, were serving on death row, although no executions had been carried out in the past 10 years.
The Board Chairman of AI, Ghana, Mr Vincent Adzahile-Mensah, made the call on behalf of the group when he launched the 2011 Amnesty International Report on the state of human rights in 157 countries, including Ghana, in Accra yesterday.
"It is unnecessary to keep such a law in the country's books, since it has outlived its usefulness," he said.
Rather, he recommended that an alternative but appropriate penalty could replace the existing law.
Mr Adzahile-Mensah noted that findings made by the human rights organisation had indicated that countries which retained the death penalty law had higher rates of crime, compared to those that had abolished the law.
The 2011 report indicated that during the year under review, threats to freedom of expression grew, with at least six people being arrested, detained or prosecuted for "causing fear and panic".
Another point which was highlighted in the report was the fact that the justice system in the country was slow, resulting in over-crowding of the prisons which were already under-resourced.
"Access to legal aid was inadequate and some prisoners spent over 10 years awaiting trial, although the proportion of remanded prisoners began to fall," it stated.
It further stated that thousands of people were forcibly evicted, while thousands remained under threat of forced eviction.
According to the report, up to 2,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes at the Abinkyi slum in Kumasi without adequate notice and no alternative accommodation or compensation.
Mr Adzahile-Mensah, therefore, called on the government to take another look at the various interpretations and influences that laws in the country had on the lives of the citizens.
A Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the government continued to respect the rights of the people, even when they were outside the jurisdiction of the country, and made reference to the government's ability to evacuate thousands of Ghanaians from Libya.
He noted that the government respected the verdicts of the courts and did not interfere in the judicial process.
He said the government had so far made progress in ensuring that the Right to Information Bill was passed.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa expressed the hope that the bill would be passed into law at the next session of Parliament.
Amnesty International (AI), a human rights advocacy group, has called on the government to abolish the death penalty in the country.
The group said as of the end of 2010, 123 prisoners, including three women, were serving on death row, although no executions had been carried out in the past 10 years.
The Board Chairman of AI, Ghana, Mr Vincent Adzahile-Mensah, made the call on behalf of the group when he launched the 2011 Amnesty International Report on the state of human rights in 157 countries, including Ghana, in Accra yesterday.
"It is unnecessary to keep such a law in the country's books, since it has outlived its usefulness," he said.
Rather, he recommended that an alternative but appropriate penalty could replace the existing law.
Mr Adzahile-Mensah noted that findings made by the human rights organisation had indicated that countries which retained the death penalty law had higher rates of crime, compared to those that had abolished the law.
The 2011 report indicated that during the year under review, threats to freedom of expression grew, with at least six people being arrested, detained or prosecuted for "causing fear and panic".
Another point which was highlighted in the report was the fact that the justice system in the country was slow, resulting in over-crowding of the prisons which were already under-resourced.
"Access to legal aid was inadequate and some prisoners spent over 10 years awaiting trial, although the proportion of remanded prisoners began to fall," it stated.
It further stated that thousands of people were forcibly evicted, while thousands remained under threat of forced eviction.
According to the report, up to 2,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes at the Abinkyi slum in Kumasi without adequate notice and no alternative accommodation or compensation.
Mr Adzahile-Mensah, therefore, called on the government to take another look at the various interpretations and influences that laws in the country had on the lives of the citizens.
A Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said the government continued to respect the rights of the people, even when they were outside the jurisdiction of the country, and made reference to the government's ability to evacuate thousands of Ghanaians from Libya.
He noted that the government respected the verdicts of the courts and did not interfere in the judicial process.
He said the government had so far made progress in ensuring that the Right to Information Bill was passed.
Mr Okudzeto-Ablakwa expressed the hope that the bill would be passed into law at the next session of Parliament.
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