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| Vice President Amissah Arthur |
By Ekow Mensah
The
Vice President , Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur has lashed out at political
adventurists who desperately tried to subvert the development efforts of Osagyefo
Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Founder of the
Republic of Ghana.
He said they even resorted to the explosion of
bombs in crowded places resulting in the death and injury of many.
“Some of their
supporters have started advocating bomb explosions again because they
cannot accept the results of the last elections “he said .
The vice
President was speaking at the opening of the Freedom Bookshop in Accra to mark
the 47th anniversary of the overthrow of the Nkrumah Government by the Central
Intelligence Agency of the USA.
The bookshop has been established by the
Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG) to make books by
Nkrumah and about Nkrumah easily available to the Ghanaian public.
It also offers books about progressive thought
throughout the world and has an art
gallery attached to it.
Vice President Amissah- Arthur said Nkrumah’s
ideas are still relevant to the development of Ghana and Africa.
“Who can deny the urgent need for African unity
and the development of strong
self-reliant economies on our
continent ? “he asked”.
Comrade Barzine Tandoh, a member of the
International Socialist Organisation (ISO) introduced the first edition of “The Nkrumaist” a magazine sponsored by
the SFG.
He urged
the editorial board to focus attention on the felt-need of the masses and to use the magazine as a vehicle for
articulating the demands of the working
people.
Professor Akilapga Sawyerr, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana
launched a booklet on “Nkrumah and The African Revolution” and the Report of
the Kwame Nkrumah Colloquium.
The
booklet on Nkrumah And The African Revolution was authored by Commander Jorge
Risket Valdes, leader of the Cuban Internationalist forces which defeated the apartheid army in Angola.
Professor Sawyer paid glowing tribute to Nkrumah
for his internationalism and the pioneering role he played in the
decolonisation process in Africa.
EDITORIAL
BOMBS AND POLITICS
Anybody remotely
associated with Ghana’s political history could not have been surprised when a
member or sympathizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) openly called for the bombing of schools to
make a point.
This is because Ghana’s post independence
history is full of stories of violence carried out by an opposition which was
hell bent on derailing Nkrumah’s socialist programme.
Bombs were hurled into stadia filled to
capacity, at rallies of the Convention Peoples Party ( CPP) and even at gathering of innocent children.
It is with this knowledge that we take in what Vice
President Paa Kwesi Amissah –Arthur
Bookshop set up by the Socialist Forum of Ghana.
We believe that it will
be extremely dangerous for anybody to assume that Ghana is in normal times,
especially as elements of the opposition are openly advocating violence.
It is time for all peace-loving Ghanaians to
be extra-vigilant in the face of the reckless provocations.
The politics of shameless and reckless bombing
will not resolve the social and economic problem facing the working people of
Ghana.
Call Morocco to order!
The Ghana Forum on Western Sahara adds
its voice to the widespread condemnation of last Saturday’s heavy jail sentence
arbitrarily imposed on 24 Saharawi activists by a military court in Morocco.
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| Morocco King Muhammed VI |
The forum supports the call for their
immediate and unconditional release.
The activists received sentences between
20 years and life imprisonment after being charged in connection with clashes
which resulted in the dismantling of Gdeim Izik peace camp in Western Sahara in
2010.
On November 8, 2010, the Moroccan forces
attacked and dismantled the Gdeim Izik camp, after a peaceful protest. They
arrested hundreds inmates including the 24. The camp had 8000 tents with more
than 25000 Saharawi’s refugees.
The activists, whom Amnesty International
has described as “prisoners of conscience” had been in detention until the
sentence.
We endorsed the POLISARIO FRONT stance
that the victims had “unfair trial”. Saharawi activists and citizens
continue to face threats, arrests and persecution for peace activities at the
hands of the Moroccan occupationist forces.
We believe that Morocco is able to
perpetrate these atrocities because the MINURSO is the only UN Peacekeeping
Mission in the world without an integrated human rights monitoring and
reporting capacity.
This new demonstration of Morocco’s
policy of systematic repression against the Saharawi population highlights the
urgent need for the UN to move immediately to institute a human rights
monitoring mandate within MINURSO.
This is the only way to safeguard the rights
of the Saharawi population, to ensure quick responses to emerging situations on
the ground, and to facilitate direct and accurate reporting to the UN
membership consistent with the UN’s obligation under the UN Charter and
successive Security Council resolutions to establish the conditions for a referendum
of the people of Western Sahara.
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| Akoto Ampaw |
Freedom of speech, political association
and assembly, all of which were violated at Gdeim Izik, lie at the heart of any
process of self-determination that constitutes the free and genuine expression
of the people’s political will, and must therefore be respected and protected
in Western Sahara.
The forum demands that the UN extend the
mandate of the mission to include monitoring and reporting of human rights in
Western Sahara.
We urge all freedom lovers worldwide,
particularly so the Government of Ghana and Ghanaians of all political
persuasion, as a matter of urgency, to pressurize the Moroccan authorities to
respect the international legality and ensure that MINURSO organize the
referendum of self-determination in Western Sahara as soon as possible.
The Ghana Forum for Western
Sahara was formed in Accra in 2010. It has a Steering Committee from a
number of organization including Ghana Bar Association, Trade Union Congress,
National Union of Ghana Students, Ghana Journalists Association, Media
Foundation for West Africa, Forum for African Affairs, amongst many others. It
is chaired by respected Human Rights Lawyer, Akoto Ampaw.
Issued in Accra on February 22, 2013
For more information, please contact the
following numbers
AkotoAmpaw
Mohammed
Shardow
Chairman
Secretary
0302253900
0244416667
SFG
CONDEMNS SENTENCES ON 24 ACTIVISTS
The Socialist Forum of Ghana (SFG) condemns the
harsh and arbitrarily sentences imposed
on 24 Saharawi activists by a Moroccan military court in the strongest possible
terms. In our view the sentences were unjust and fly in the face of any
commitement to respect for fundamental human and democratic rights of the
Saharawi people.
The SFG demands the immediate and unconditional
release of the Saharawi activists and calls on the United Nations to mandate
MINURSO to montor the human rights situation in the occupied territories.
Most of
the activists were given between 20 years and life imprisonment after allegedly
being involved in clashes with the Moroccan Security forces. The activists were
arrested on November 8, 2010 by the Moroccan forces when they attacked and
tried to dismantle the Gdeim Izik Camp.
The SFG firmly believes that the Saharawi people
have a right to self-determination and the UN
and the international community ought to speed up the processes for a
referandum on the Western Sahara question.
The Saharawi people are also entitled to enjoy
the right to free speech, assembly and political association .
We strongly affirm our solidarity with the
Saharawi people struggling for their
national independence.
.................................
Kwesi
Pratt, Jnr.
For
Convenor .
Slave trade served Brits and PM
family
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| British Premiere, David Cameron |
Previously unseen records have
disclosed the true scale of Britain’s involvement in slave trade, revealing how
wealthiest families, including those of the British Prime Minister David
Cameron, reaped the benefits of the disgraceful practice.
According to a study by Dr Nick Draper who has examined 46,000 compensation papers in three years, one fifth of wealthy Victorian Britons obtained all or part of their fortunes from the slave economy, as they were given equivalent of billions of pounds in compensation from the government when slave ownership was abolished in Britain.
Hence, it is now very likely to have wealthy families all around the country, indirectly enjoying the proceeds of slavery passed to them.
Not surprisingly, among those who benefited from slavery were the PM’s ancestors who were given £4,101, equal to more than £3 million today, for the 202 slaves they forfeited on the Grange Sugar Estate in Jamaica.
According to the reports, parts of the money received by the rich in Britain after abolition was invested in the railways and other aspects of the industrial revolution, so it would not be hyperbolic to say that slavery had a significant role in the formation of modern Britain.
Palestinians
urge inquiry into Israeli jail death
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| Israeli Premiere Benjamin Nyetabyahu |
The Palestinian Authority demands an international inquiry after a
Palestinian inmate died in an Israeli jail. His death sparked mass violent
protests on the West Bank with thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by
Israel going on a hunger strike.
The demand by Palestine comes the next day after protests
between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank turned violent and
left at least nine people injured.
Israeli authorities confirmed earlier on Saturday that the
30-year-old prisoner Arafat Jaradat apparently died of cardiac arrest at the
Meggido detention center in northern Israel following interrogation.
"Our information was that Jaradat was being
interrogated and then he died. Therefore we call for an international
investigation into his death, that may have resulted from torture," said Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Issa
Qaraqea.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad "expresses
his deep sorrow and shock over the martyrdom of prisoner Arafat Jaradat in
Israeli occupation prisons," said the statement from his office. He
"affirms the need to promptly disclose the true reasons that led to his
martyrdom," it added.
While Israeli officials claim that Jaradat suffered various
health problems prior to the arrest, his family members told Maan news agency
that he was in a good health.
Also on Saturday some 200 Palestinians clashed with 25
Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Qusra with both sides hurling
rocks at each other, according to Haaretz. The clashes broke out after settlers
from the nearby Esh Kodesh outpost uprooted olive trees and threw rocks at
houses in the village, the Palestinians say.
The settlers shot and injured
two Palestinians and seven other were hurt by tear gas and rubber bullets, Maan
news agency reported.
“About six or seven settlers came into our house and told
us to go into another room," Hassan, 62, told the news agency."After about 10 minutes,
residents came to help and the settlers left the house. When the army arrived,
settlers began to shoot and throw stones."
The violence comes a day after hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank
and East Jerusalem demanding the release of four hunger-striking compatriots
from an Israeli prison threw rocks at occupation forces, who responded with
stun grenades, on Friday.
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