CONTEXT
In January 1993, after eleven years of often brutal military rule under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings was sworn in as a civilian ruler following a national election which brought him back into power. Rawlings won the presidential election with 58% of the vote as the head of a three-party coalition led by his own National Democratic Congress (NDC). A new constitution with institutional checks and balances came into effect after the election. Opposition parties accused the government of electoral malpractice and vote-rigging and boycotted legislative elections in December.
The growth of human rights organizations in Ghana is a recent development, subsequent to the election. Most of the groups in Ghana are at a preliminary stage of formation, with the Ghana Committee on Human and People's Rights being the oldest. Most are constrained by inexperience and funding problems. Ghanaian human rights activists identify arbitrary arrests, detention, and restrictions on freedom of expression as common violations. However, since the election, they believe the situation has improved somewhat, although rights violations have by no means ceased. In the early part of 1993, police forcibly broke up a demonstration held by an opposition party to protest the budget.
The new Constitution, which came into effect January 7, 1993, provides for a system of checks and balances, with an executive branch headed by the President, a parliament and an independent judiciary. The Constitution also provides for a Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice to investigate alleged violations of human rights and to take action to remedy proven violations. The Commission was sworn in in October 1993, but to date has not taken a strong lead in addressing violations. At the same time, the government created a national media commission to ensure the freedom and independence of the mass media in Ghana.
Lack of independence of the judiciary has been a frequent complaint of Ghanaian lawyers. However, it has been widely acknowledged that the judiciary has become more outspoken since the election. The Supreme Court ruled illegal the police action mentioned above, stating that no permit was needed to organize a demonstration, protest or rally. On another occasion, the courts ruled that the state-owned media had a duty to afford equal access to all political parties. The media has also become more outspoken since the election.
African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters (Ghana)
(CAPSDH-Ghana)
History
The African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters (La Commission Africaine des Promoteurs de la Santé et des Droits de l'Homme) (CAPSDH) is a regional, non-governmental organization created in 1989 by African medical professionals with the guidance of the World Health Organization and the International Commission of Health Professionals at a conference in Brazzaville, Congo. The Ghana branch formed in 1990.
Mandate
CAPSDH-Ghana is dedicated to the defence and promotion of the ideals enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, but with an emphasis on the health and rehabilitation of victims of human rights violations.
Structure
The organization has a National Executive made up of seventeen members, including founding member, Dr. Edmund Delle. There is a small office staff. The organization intends to set up regional branches at a later date.
Program
CAPSDH-Ghana has established a treatment and rehabilitation center, and has counselled, treated and housed over 150 former political detainees. Financial assistance has been given to allow members of detainees' families to stay with them at Dr. Delle's clinic and to permit their children to attend school. Both psychological and physical treatment is provided to detainees. Some efforts have been made by the organization to help former detainees seek employment following their treatment. Former detainees are housed at Dr. Delle's private clinic.
African Human Rights Heritage is a regional organization formed in 1992 which focuses broadly on political, economic, cultural and social issues.
Mandate
Its mandate is to create chapters throughout Africa to promote human rights, ensure the establishment of a human rights court, African High Command and federation for African human rights; assist human rights victims in the form of aid; encourage training and investment in projects to achieve economic emancipation; and support exposure of economic crimes.
Structure
The organization is supposed to be governed by a Council of members, one member from each OAU member state which will meet twice a year. Each country will have a National Committee compromised of government and opposition party representatives, church groups and NGOs as well as others. The regional headquarters are based in Ghana.
Program
Activities to date have been limited.
History
The Decade of Human Rights Education formed in 1991 as a branch of a larger Decade for Human Rights Education started by Shula Koenig of New York.
Mandate
The Decade of Human Rights Education is a non-profit initiative to energize and facilitate local, regional and national activities for the purpose of human rights education in Ghana.
Structure
The organization is currently led by ten part-time volunteers and is a membership organization. There is a National Organizing Committee comprised of nine members.
Program
The organization does human rights education work targeted at the education system, local communities, government institutions and the business sector.
History
The Ghana Committee was formed in 1991 after a visit by a Commissioner from the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights to Ghana.
Mandate
The Committee is a "non-governmental independent organization aimed at ensuring the promotion and protection of and respect for human and peoples' rights in their broadest sense".
Structure
The organization has an eight-member National Executive consisting of three trade unionists, one journalist and four lawyers who all work on a voluntary basis. There are no full-time professional staff. The organization plans to be national and is setting up branches outside Accra. To date, it has established chapters in Western, Central and the Greater Accra regions. The organization is a membership organization which concentrates on the rights of vulnerable groups, as well as on economic and social rights.
Program
The Committee produces a quarterly newsletter which addresses recent human rights developments, documents violations and discusses international human rights standards. The newsletter has a readership of 4,000. The Committee has sponsored a number of seminars and workshops including a two-day conference on "Human Rights in the Fourth Republic". It has collaborated with other organizations a number of times on joint seminars, including one on "The Journalist and Human Rights in Ghana" with the Ghana Journalists Association, and others with the Red Cross and the African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters.
History
Created in 1984, the Ghana Journalists Association is a professional association for Ghanaian journalists.
Mandate
The Association's purpose is to improve the standard of professional practice in the press, encourage the growth of the mass media, and protect freedom of expression.
Structure
The Association is a membership organization of journalists with a National Executive elected by the members.
Program
Activities are sponsored by the human rights committee of this professional body to raise awareness in the press about human rights. The Association publishes a newsletter dealing with issues pertaining to the media. It held a joint seminar on human rights with the Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples Rights.
History
In 1992 five former student unionists established Human Rights Forum.
Mandate
The Forum's focus is on human rights education.
Structure
The Forum is a five-member group consisting of the President, the Secretary General, a lawyer (the Executive Secretary), a social scientist, and a computer scientist.
Program
The organization has done some human rights education in the schools and is interested in giving workshops.
(FIDA-Ghana)
History
FIDA-Ghana formed in 1985.
Mandate
The primary objective of the program is the provision of legal services to indigent women and children within the community. Men who seek the services of FIDA-Ghana are not denied help if they qualify. The organization also have a legal literacy component to educate the public on women's rights.
Structure
The FIDA office is run by a five-member steering committee which drafts the organization's annual report and organizes the volunteer lawyers to provide legal services. A full-time Legal Administrator runs the office and is assisted by two lawyers and one non-lawyer.
Program
FIDA-Ghana provides legal aid services (over 1,000 clients serviced) and legal literacy awareness materials printed in local languages, on the intestate succession law, marriage laws, the wills act and maintenance of children.
- Binaifer Nowrojee
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