HONORING THE RIGHTS OF PRISONERS

Kan Dapaah, National Security Minister Designate

By Dora Addy

Incarceration in Ghana is an awful experience for many who are jailed and the few who manage to survive the encounter. Not many people finish their sentence; many are dying during their odysseus prison term, and many others leave the prisons more scarred than they were admitted.

There are psychological bearings on prison survivors; because what is meant to serve as a reformation center provides nothing less of a pit of flames where human rights are non-existent and human lives are simply a burden for the many grudging caretakers and wardens who are to look after the welfare of convicts.

Prisoners naturally have no rights and dignity, and to a very large extent, they are seldom accorded the right level of human consideration. Their plight is touching but only felt by a few individuals in society, and on occasions, civil society organizations who are touched to make some donations through gift items.

Apparently, private bodies and individuals are doing more to help than even the state. But the welfare of prisoners do not have to fall on private individuals alone; the state must provide a solid platform for the care and protection. Prisoners are state property and not some garbage of a burden to be disposed of, as they are treated.

Today, there are men and women who are clamoring for what is rightfully theirs. There are too many men and women in prisons today who are denied the most basic human freedoms; reformation for these people is becoming another different story altogether. It is a nightmare.

The prison system in Ghana is not one to write home about. ‘Deplorable’ is not enough to describe the prison scene in Ghana. It is such a sad state. Many of us have had the chance of catching a glimpse on the television, and the difficult life they have to endure in the prisons.

‘Sardines’, others might refer to them, describing the way they have been packed into the cells; huge numbers struggling for fresh air in a room too small to contain such huge numbers.

In prison, there is no opportunity of peaceful rest, and people do sleep in turns. Resources are so much under pressure that facilities are only reachable in turns. Even such common items as beds are not accessible to all persons.

It is said that out of Ghana’s 45 prison facilities, only 3 were purposely built for incarceration purposes. The rest are castles and forts that have been transformed into prisons. Forget about maintenance works. Prisoners have to endure living in bad conditions. Prisons in the country merely see maintenance works and so many facilities today are slowly depleting; unlivable conditions are forced down on prisoners who cannot complain but adjust to their new settings.

While Section 35(1) of the Prisons Decree grants the Director General of Prisons the duty to ensure that every prisoner is regularly supplied with wholesome and nourshing food in quantities sufficient to maintain him in good health, among other necessities, feeding time calls for no excitement. Prisoners feed on just GHC 1.80 per day. Forget about relishing your meals. In prison, you would feel sad having your meals. It is worth not having it at all, except that, one has to eat ‘something’ to survive.

Hard work is synonymous with prison sentence in Ghana. Forget about relaxing; you are in the fields working till you are asked to stop. There is no stopping to relax. Stone quarrying and other hazardous jobs are on offer for everyone.

There is no time to make friends or walk about. In prison, one sleeps early so he can be up early enough to do more work. During one interview on television, one inmate described the ordeal they had to go through. He mentioned that they all slept around 3:00-4:00pm! That is the allotted time to go to bed, because it is believed that when they are allowed to loiter about, they might cause trouble which can be uncontrollable.

Sexual exploitation is rife in the prisons. Men are sexually harassed by other men. Homosexuality is present in the cells, where ‘leaders’ tend to bully weaker ones into submission. Many inmates who entered prison today have become homosexuals. Their complaints of rape cannot be heard. They are too far from the right helps.

Poor access to health facilities and quality drugs is sending a lot of prisoners to their early grave. Proper health care is often denied inmates. The most available panacea for all health problems would be paracetamol, to kill the pain. Inmates who find themselves seriously injured, would have to wait a long time for treatment. Death can soon occur, if not attended to early enough.

There is no substitute for the proper treatment of prisoners; they have been begging for it, and they need their rights now. Their rights cannot be forgotten as has been happening. It is possible.

WAILING PRISONS

Currently, there are 45 prison facilities all around the country.

In its 2015 reports, the Ghana Prisons Service say that the country’s prisons are overcrowded by 45.5%.

This reflects on the bursting numbers of 14,368 inmates in the prisons, instead of the 9,875 figure.

Sometimes some people do lament that they would wish to spend their lives in prison abroad than live difficult lives. This just tells you how other inmates in developed countries are really having a good experience of reformation.

Many individuals come out of prisons in developed countries, even better than they were before. There are many today who go into prison and come back as graduates! That is full reformation, though they might have endured some hardship.

In Ghana, it looks like the structures were put up and forgotten about, or that people are admitted and neglected to fend for themselves.

Prisons in the country have not undergone any major changes in structures and administration. Prisons need some refreshing appeal, and considering the world is developing fast, inmates also should be counted worthy to develop with the rest of the world.

Aside having depleted resources, inmates on many levels are cut off from the rest of civilian life. On many levels they do have information about what goes on in the country. There has not been provided any measure to educate them or provide them with access to the right tools to grow with the rest of the ‘free’ world. They are left to themselves, not caring a bit about what their future.

JUSTICE DENIED

The Ghana Prisons Service say that of the current population of 11,684 inmates who have been convicted, the remaining 2,684 are on remand.

Some inmates on remand have spent over a decade in prison! They have not been helped with some legal aid and so have been left to fend for themselves. Such cases must be revisited. Article 15(3)   provides that ‘A person who has not been convicted of a criminal offence shall not be treated as a convicted person and shall be kept separately from convicted persons.’

WHY HUMAN RIGHTS

Human rights should not be denied prisoners although they may not play any active role towards national development during their term.

Prisoners are also state’s property and should be entitled to the same rights as everyone else.

Article 15 (2) of the 1992 Constitution provides that no person shall, whether or not he is arrested, restricted or detained, be subjected to

(a)                Torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;

(b)                Any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his dignity and worth as a human being.

So, the Constitution affords the rights of even prisoners. These rights cannot be overlooked, but should be respected, especially where inmates have been put on remand.

The Prison Decree makes a useful supplement to the existing 1992 Constitution to provide the rights of prisoners. Article 43(2) of the Decree states that power shall not be delegated to impose punishment on an offender for an offense against prison discipline.

Sections 44-46 of the Decree also disallows the use of corporal punishment, mechanical restraints and the use of force respectively. It only provides such methods of punishments under rigid conditions.

Chief Justice Georgina Wood

The Prison Decree provides many rights, including education, in Article 41, where the Director General of Prisons is to establish in every prison, courses of training and instruction designed to teach trades, skills and crafts to prisoners who may wish to learn.

Ghana, being a member of the United Nations, has ratified the conventions of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), and has incorporated many of these rights into the 1992 Constitution where human rights needs are called for.

Ghana also assents to the  Africa Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1981), Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and People’s Rights (1998), and Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003).

Their human rights must be respected because when those rights are given, prisoners can have access to some of the fundamental provisions as education and healthcare even while in the prison. It has observed that there is a wealth of talent at the prisons, but being underutilized if used at all. Because prisoners are not given some of these opportunities during their term, they come out hardened because they have not had the chance to improve on themselves. They soon become a more dangerous threat to society than before.

Also prison rights through legal aid should be made accessible to all prisoners. There ought to be legal help championing the cause of prisoners who cannot afford the due legal process. By all means, these people should be helped, because many of them are coming from poor backgrounds and cannot afford to pay a lawyer. Providing them with lawyers enables them to have their freedoms back.

GRADUAL HELPS

Currently the chair for the Ghana Prisons Service Council, Reverend Dr. Stephen Wengam, is working together with the Prisons Service to draw out useful solutions to the difficult problems.

Civil society organizations are also working alongside to help provide solutions to the inmate problems at the prison facilities.

At the moment, it looks like the Prison Decree which comes with so many rights of prisoners, has been ignored. The document must be revisited and respected.

Legal Aid must continue to work for prisoners, and detention cases that have remained in the prisons for so long have to be documented and revisited.

While we live as free beings, we also ought to consider what these individuals are suffering, even the stigma they might face when released.

Laws may have been abandoned, but in the meantime, we can also lend a helping hand in any of the aspects that would help make their lives a bit comfortable.

It will be worth it in the long run.

ELECTION 2016: GHANA IS THE WINNER!

By ASP James Annan

The December 7, 2016, general elections have ended successfully and the good people of Ghana have accepted the outcome of the polls. It is worth mentioning that Ghana has maintained its enviable reputation as the beacon of democracy in Africa and beyond.

 

The 2016 polls is the seventh presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana, since the promulgation of the 1992 Constitution. The just ended elections cannot be said to be flawless. But I daresay that the overall voting process was very peaceful and transparent.

 

The keen contest between President John Dramani Mahama of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), demonstrates a true reflection of multiparty democracy.

Barely two hours before the election results were declared, President Mahama took a bold decision by congratulating the President-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo. In fact, His Excellency did the honourable thing, as the final presidential candidate to concede defeat. That is the beauty of democracy!

This doesn’t happen in other African countries. In Gambia for example, President Yahya Jammeh is reported to have rejected the outcome of the recent elections which he lost to opposition leader Adama Barrow.

After conceding defeat following his 22-year reign, the Gambian President annulled the results of the general election and called for another election.  

As a country, we have made headway in our democratic dispensation. And we cannot afford to gamble with the future of our motherland, Ghana. Since we have chosen the path of multiparty democracy, let’s forge ahead in unity.

Of course, only one of the seven presidential candidates can be elected to steer the affairs of the country for the next four years. The people of Ghana have expressed their will through the ballot, so it behooves every citizen to respect that decision.

The ‘Accra Declaration’

As part of the pre-election activities, the seven aspirants of the various political parties contesting the 2016 Presidential Election signed a peace declaration in Accra to pledge their commitment to a peaceful elections.

The ‘Accra Declaration’ was an initiative of the National Peace Council (NPC) and the National House of Chiefs (NHC) with support from international organisations, including the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) aimed at promoting peace in the 2016 Election.

The declaration sent positive signals to the rest of the world that Ghana was keen on sustaining its credentials as a bastion of peace and democracy on the African continent.  

After pledging his vow to peace, President John Mahama described himself as a peace-loving politician whose commitment to peace was unquestionable. And of course, the President has demonstrated to the world that he is a man of peace, as we await a smooth transition on January 7, 2017. 

It is gratifying that the ‘Accra Declaration’ which attracted some dignitaries such as the President of Liberia and the Chair of ECOWAS, Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; and former South African President and leader of the AU Observer Mission, Mr. Thabo Mbeki; was not an exercise in futility. 

Report of Election Observer Missions

The report of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and other observer missions including the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) lauded the people of Ghana for the largely peaceful conduct of the elections.

The leader of the AU delegation spoke highly of Ghana’s 2016 Election and its processes. The AU observers also praised the professional conduct of the Electoral Commission (EC) in ensuring transparency, accountability and credibility of the electoral procedures.

Furthermore, the observer missions commended the country’s vibrant press, particularly the role of private media and the state-owned broadcaster in promoting a transparent and peaceful elections.

Admittedly, the success story of Ghana’s outstanding democracy is incomplete without commending the tireless effort and sacrifice of the media.

Finally, the preliminary report of the foreign observer mission praised the cooperation of Ghanaians, including the electorate, party agents, candidates, the security agencies and civic activists.