On the twenty third and twenty fourth of September, The Democracy Hub, a Ghanaian civil society group led by Oliver Baker Vormawor, notified the Police of their intention to undertake an illustration pursuant to their proper enshrined beneath article 21(1)d of the 1992 Structure. The demonstration was meant to reveal the devastating results of unlawful mining (galamsey) within the nation and was scheduled to happen on the #37 interchange in Accra, Ghana’s capital metropolis.
When the Police demanded a change of venue for the demonstration, nevertheless, the organizers refused to conform. This resulted within the arrest of about 39 protesters who have been charged with conspiracy to commit against the law, illegal meeting, inflicting public dysfunction,and obstructing public officers within the efficiency of their responsibility. These arrests occurred regardless of a failed try by the Police to safe a proper ex-parte injunction towards them two days previous to the demonstration. Notably, the Police had been knowledgeable of the protest greater than a month upfront as required by regulation.
Following their arrest, the protesters have been stored in police custody and have been subsequently arraigned earlier than the Accra circuit court docket the place they have been remanded for 12 days awaiting their judgment. The sequence of occasions sparked widespread outrage amongst youth activists, attorneys, parliamentarians and different stakeholders of the nation and has since birthed at the very least two petitions to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, an unbiased state establishment, to hold out investigations into the abuse of the rights of those protesters. Consequently ,a brand new motion #Free the citizens has emerged on varied social media handles advocating for the rapid launch of the detained protesters and that prosecution be redirected to the unlawful miners who stand on the epicenter of environmental degradation.
In my opinion, the latest surge in small-scale unlawful mining actions, significantly with the involvement of foreign actors, has reworked the traditionally modest apply right into a nightmare that threatens to wipe out the way forward for water assets in Ghana. The introduction of subtle machines has ravaged greater than sixty p.c of main water reserves within the nation. If this continues, specialists predict that Ghana could also be compelled to import water by 2030 – a dire consequence for a rustic as soon as plentiful in pure water assets.
The remedy of the protesters in police custody furthermore raises critical issues of constitutional violations. Below articles 15,17 and 19 of the 1992 Structure, all individuals have the fitting to be handled with dignity, the fitting to equality earlier than the regulation and the fitting to truthful trial respectively. But these protesters have been stored in custody for greater than forty-eight hours with out the choice of bail, and reviews point out that they have been denied meals and water throughout their detention. It was reported that Oliver Baker Vormawor was sick and was in dire want of medical consideration throughout these arduous instances. These acts quantity to clear violation of the Structure. Moreover, the requirement to inform the police of meant demonstrations was construed within the landmark case of New Patriotic Celebration V Inspector Basic of Police as merely an data or consciousness given to the police for safety of the demonstrators and never permission because it was a constitutional proper.
This complete incident raises essential questions concerning the powers, limitations and duties of the Police. These solutions are decisive of whether or not or not the rule of regulation and constitutionality is predicted to proceed. Have we actually thought-about the preamble to our structure? The very first clause of the Structure affirms energy being vested within the residents. This untold incidence is a magnified version of an identical demonstration that occurred earlier this yr. This ache is heightened by the truth that it occurred only a day after Ghana marked Nkrumah Memorial Day. It’s a tragic irony that on the eve of celebrating the legacy of a frontrunner whose rally phrases have been “Ghana our beloved nation is free eternally” we as a nation are confronted with a scenario that calls intp query the rights and freedoms of the residents in a supposed democratic state.
Opinions expressed in JURIST Dispatches are solely these of our correspondents within the area and don’t essentially mirror the views of JURIST’s editors, workers, donors or the College of Pittsburgh.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
